FOOTBALL

Seventh grade:
Crusaders 24, Nashua PAL 7

The Nashua Seventh Grade Elks Crusaders ended their season in style with a 24-7 win over rival Nashua PAL.

The Crusaders had a strong ground game with hard running from Kyle Salemi, Ryan Rutstein and Joe Buturla.

The passing game was equally effective as Ben Levine connected with both Colby Martel and Adam Akel for positive yardage.

The rushing attack led to all four touchdowns led by Mark Case, Zach Gauthier and Ben Levine who added two scores. Defensively, the Crusaders had interceptions from Akel and Zach Berthiaume and controlled the line of scrimmage with hard work in the trenches by Nate Johnson, Kalique Jones, Kyle O’Conner, Charlie McKelvey, Stone Foley, Cody Cargill, Colin Keavey, Brad Dietrich and Nate Zalzal.

The Elks were without injured players Alex Swisher and Zach Hureau.

EIGHTH GRADE:
Manchester East 22, Crusaders 6

Nashua fell to Manchester East, 22-6, with Tanner Plourde scoring Nashua’s only touchdown on a 90-yard kick return to open up the second half.

In addition to the kick return, Plourde also ran the ball 10 times, recorded two first downs, and hauled in one pass. Quarterback Andrew Penkala also ran the ball 15 times and recorded three first downs.

Also running the ball effectively for the Elks were Tommy Cullerton, Jaylan Pacheco, and Casey McNally. Wide receivers Alex Fortier, Jacob Babb, Brendon Frost, and Cole Desmond played well, while the Nashua offensive line was anchored by Brandon Martin, Braden McDonnell, Tim Santerre, Warren Curtis, Justin Arnesen, and Josh McElligott.

The Crusader defense received big plays from Quincy Cotto (fumble recovery), Mark Lagasse (sack), and Plourde (fumble recovery). The following players also accumulated multiple tackles: Nathanael Tejeda, Pacheco, Penkala, Martin, and McNally. Also playing well on defense were Adam Paquette, Desmond, Arnesen, McDonnell, and McElligott.

FIELD HOCKEY

Middle Schools

Nashua wins two more

The Nashua Middle School Field Hockey team (6-2) is on a five-game winning streak with recent wins over Amherst Middle School and Woodbury Middle School in Salem.

In their home game vs. Amherst, Nashua won 2-0 on goals from Paula Durant and Madison Sewade. Campbell Haller had the assist for Nashua. Courtney Tello had five saves in goal for Nashua.

Nashua also beat Woodbury, 4-2, scoring first when Paige Callahan connected off a pass from Hannah Farley. Julia Gagnon was the next to score off a scuffle in front of the net.

Woodbury came back to score to make it 2-1 at the half, but Katherine Tello scored two goals in the last 10 minutes of the game on a breakaway down the right side of the field.

Campbell Haller had an assist on the day while Courtney Tello had six saves in goal and Kayleigh Eckinrode , Elizabeth Deck, Jenna Chiavelli, Emily Closson, Mackenzie Smith and Sophie Searles all played well defensively for Nashua.

Nashua then easily won a road rematch with Amherst, 7-0 as Nashua’s Abbey Rowe and Julia Gagnon combined for the first goal in the first 30 seconds of the game. Rowe also had two assists on the day and Gagnon had two goals of her own. Britney Pearson and Katherine Tello were dominant on the field and assisted on two of the goals.

Also, Stella Liakakos had her first goal of the season and Paula Durant, Campbell Haller and Lindsay Hult rounded out the scoring for Nashua. Also helping out offensively were Madison Sewade, Emma Pucillo, Molly Caron, Michela Puleo and Kirsten McIntire. Kylie Whitman, Julia Cote, Taylor Cote, Brooke Yabroudy, and Lauren Shaw also were tenacious on offense in the circle.

Playing well defensively were Gabby Laferriere, Erin Sewell, Josephine Coehlo, Theresa Ellison, Emma Tommasetti , Mikayla Breslin, Lauren Schalk, Liz Harrington, Liv Hlebichuck, Erica Brennan, Kiley O’Brien and Amy Marison.

Nashua will finish out its season with games against Hillside, Chelmsford and Milford.

HOCKEY

Nashua Panthers

PeeWee A wins fourth straight

The Nashua Panthers completed a recent sweep, downing Haverhill 4-1 and Groton 3-2 to extend their win streak to four in a row and improve to 5-1-1 In the Valley Hockey League.

In goal, Cameron Reinbold continued to make big saves earning both wins stopping a total of 28 of 31 shots for a .903 save percentage in the weekend sweep. In the four-game winning streak Reinbold has recorded a stellar 1.50 GAA.

Against Haverhill, Dylan Carr led the way with two goals while Tyler Martin and Andrew Nordstrom each added a goal.

Nashua fell behind early 1-0 after the first period, but the Panthers found their groove in the second period scoring three times. Nordstrom tied the score 1-1 on an assist from Michael Maroun then Martin made it 2-1 on assists from Brianna DeFelice and Brayden Goode. Carr then made it 3-1 on assists from Maroun and Nordstrom.

Carr capped off the scoring for Nashua with an unassisted power play goal with just under two minutes remaining.

Up front, Cody Evans provided many offensive opportunities for the Panthers and defensively Christopher Gillis and Joey Turner played well.

The Panthers again rallied from a 1-0 deficit against Groton but Martin scored his first of two goals in the game assisted by Nordstrom and Mitchell Lynch tying the score 1-1 after the first period.

Nashua took the lead for good in the second period as Lynch found Goode in front of the net who one-timed the biscuit lighting the lamp. In the third period, Martin made it 3-1 on a Bobby Orr-like goal flying through the air assisted by Turner.

U12 Girls top Wakefield

The Panthers dominated all facets of the game to defeat Wakefield 6-0 in a Middlesex Yankee Girls Conference Hockey clash and improve to 4-2-0. In goal, Sofia Hausberger picked up her first shutout of the season for the Panthers.

Offensively Julie McLaughlin led the way with her second hat trick of the season scoring three times while adding two assists. Brianna DeFelice added two goals and an assist and Paige Anger scored her first goal in a Panthers jersey earning the Pink Panther honors.

Hayley Kastner recorded two assists while Taylor Anger, Sophia Panagakis and Meredith Partridge each recorded an assist. Hollie Matthes provided constant pressure upfront.

Defensively, Victoria Cornaro, Kenzley Goode and Reilly Morris were all instrumental in preserving the shutout.

The Panthers and Wakefield were scoreless after the first period. The second period was a different story as McLaughlin scored twice and DeFelice and Paige Anger both scored allowing Nashua to take a commanding 4-0 lead and never looked back.

McLaughlin and DeFelice each added late third period goals to cap off the scoring.

BULLETIN BOARD

Basketball

Nashua Nighthawks tryouts

The Nashua Nighthawks travel basketball program is holding its annual tryouts for its boys and girls teams.

The tryouts will be held on Saturday October 25 at Girls, Inc. in Nashua. The cost to tryout is $20 per player (or $25 per family). Every player must attend one of the following sessions to be eligible to play.

The sessions are as follows: 8 a.m., seventh grade boys; 9:30 a.m., fourth grade boys; 10:30 a.m., fifth grade boys; 12 p.m., sixth grade boys; 1:30 p.m., eighth grade boys; 3 p.m. four and fifth grade girls; 4 p.m., sixth grade girls; 5:30 p.m., seventh grade girls; 7 p.m., eighth grade girls.

Baseball

NH Grizzlies training

The New Hampshire Grizzlies will be offering training for baseball players at their private facility in southern New Hampshire until Feb. 23.

All training will be done by managers/coaches of the NH Grizzlies EBL Teams. Each has many years of training high school/collegiate /MLB players; four are former Grizzlies.

Sessions will cover skills that are age appropriate.

The times are Mondays 6-7:15 p.m. for players age 12 and under, and Mondays 7:30-8:45 p.m. for players 13 and above.

The cost is $100 per month. Pre-registration with payment for each month will be required.

Participants will be limited in order for the instructors to give personalized attention.

For more information or to register, contact the Grizzlies at teamnhbaseball@comcast.net.

NH Grizzlies openings

The New Hampshire Grizzlies U14 baseball team has a few openings left for the 2015 season.

This is a full year program with winter workouts starting in October.

Managers are not parents and all practices are at the team’s private indoor facility.

For more information, email teamnhbaseball@comcast.net or call 577-1772.

Four Grizzlie alums were either drafted or have played for Major League teams. Over 100 members have played on collegiate teams at all three divisions, some with scholarships.

John Roper pitching lessons

The John Roper Pitching School, run by the former Major Leaguer and Nashua Pride hurler begins in November, consisting of private and semi-private pitching lessons.

Pitching classes include pitchers fielding practice, pick off moves, covering bunts etc. There is a maximum of 10 students per class. Group pitching lessons will be a maximum of six students. For more information, go to leaguelineup. com/teamgid or email jcrope1@yahoo.com.

Softball

NH Hammerheads
seeking players

The NH Hammerheads Softball Club, a competitive travel softball program in the Manchester area, is looking for a few 16U players to fill their 2014-2015 roster.

If interested, please contact Andrea to schedule a individual tryout at nhhammerheads@yahoo.com or 860-6872.