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Ayer Shirley

Festive first day kicks off academic year at Page Hilltop Elementary in Ayer

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AYER/SHIRLEY – The Ayer Shirley Regional School District – like many others across the region – launched its first day of school on the last day of August this year, including at Page Hilltop Elementary School on Washington Street in Ayer, where a festive scene awaited students Wednesday morning.

Busloads and carloads of first- through fifth-graders, many sporting special first-day gear – sparkly headbands, artfully adorned backpacks, spiffy new sneakers – poured onto the campus at both ends of the school’s hillside site.

They were greeted by colorful pop-up signs on the grass – professionally installed by Stacie Dejoie, of New England Yard Greetings – and school staff waiting outside both buildings to welcome them back.

The Page Hilltop welcoming committee included teachers, Principal Fred Deppe and several Ayer police officers, including the chief.

With blue, sunny skies, comfortable temperatures and light, fresh air washed in by overnight showers that had cleared by morning, it was a picture-perfect first day of school.

Local roundup: Blue Knights, Tigers play to draw

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The Lunenburg boys soccer team played to a 1-1 draw with visiting Littleton High on Monday evening at McCarron Turf Field.

Lunenburg improves to 3-2-2 with the draw, while Littleton is now 4-1-3.

Lunenburg’s Owen Tuttle put the hosts on the board during the 26th minute only to watch the Tigers’ Tyler Castillo answer seven minutes later to deadlock the score.

Lunenburg’s Bryce Whalen made five saves in the effort for the hosts.

Girls soccer

Leominster 3, South 0 >>  Patience Roberge netted a pair of goals and Shannon Smith added another for the Blue Devils at Doyle Field.

Sarah Potter and Jillian French each notched an assist in the win, while Abigail Goodwin earned the shutout.

Field hockey

Clinton 5, St. Bernard’s 1 >> The loss drops the Bernardians to 0-3.

Hudson 4, Fitchburg >> Ruby Reid’s hat trick wasn’t enough to lift the Red Raiders (3-2-1).

Golf

Nashoba 208, Marlboro 258 >> The Wolves (6-2) were paced by Troy Gregg’s 2-under 34 at Stow Acres.

North Middlesex 210, Shrewsbury 219 >> Max Caliri and Jake Miller carded 40s to lead the Patriots (7-0) to victory at The Haven Country Club.

Ayer Shirley 25.5, Littleton 18.5 >> Tommy Berlin and Sohil Patel had matching 3-over 38s to lead the Panthers (4-1) at Groton Country Club.

Monty Tech 175, Worcester Tech 205 >> Captain Michael Cannon earned medalist honors with a 3-over 39 on the back nine at the Gardner Municipal Golf Course to lead the Bulldogs (5-0).

Volleyball

Monty Tech 3, Abby Kelley 0 >> The win lifts the Bulldogs to 5-4.

Local roundup: Spartans double up Red Raiders

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The red-hot Oakmont Regional boys soccer team doubled up Fitchburg, 4-2, on Thursday afternoon in Ashburnham.

Gael Vera’s potted a hat trick for Spartans (6-0), while Aymone Checkl and Juan Martinez Diego scored for Fitchburg (4-2-1).

Girls soccer

Oakmont 5, Fitchburg 0 Jada Sibley netted a pair of goals, while Haley Rutherford, Lindsey Elliot and Sarah Sicard had single markers for the Spartans.

Ayer Shirley 3, West Boylston 3 Sastea Cherduville scored twice for the Panthers (1-5-1).

Marlboro 2, Leominster 1 Kyra Forsberg scored for the host Blue Devils in defeat.

Volleyball

Algonquin 3, Leominster 0 The Blue Devils fell by scores of 25-10, 25-6 and 25-7.

High School Football: Leominster aims to shine at home

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Having impressed in enemy territory to open the season, the Leominster High football team will have a chance to shine on its home field tonight.

The Blue Devils’ home opener will see LHS welcoming Doherty to Doyle Field at 7 p.m. in a clash of teams whose results in Week 1 couldn’t have been much more different.

Leominster comes off a 48-6 thumping of archrival Fitchburg High at Crocker Field, handing the Red Raiders the 500th loss in program history in the process. Last Thursday’s contest saw the Blue Devils put up 41 points in the first half, the most points ever in a half in the storied rivalry, according to historian Mark Bodanza.

Meanwhile, Doherty is coming off a 20-0 blanking at Algonquin Regional.

The Highlanders will have their collective hands full with a Blue Devils team that played smothering defense last week and showcased an impressive offense led by a poised freshman quarterback.

Osiris Lopez looks cool and calm under center last week in enemy territory and while some of that likely comes as part of the freshman’s disposition, having the players Lopez has around him certainly can’t hurt either.

While Lopez showed the ability to take open space when it’s presented to him, he also had no problem fitting throws into tight windows for receiver Kaiden Drinkwater and getting the ball into the hands of powerful running back Ma’Kai Stinson Newton and all-everything weapon Ricky Encarnacion.

With the time the Leominster offensive line gave the skill position players last week, there were plenty of gaping holes to exploit and the Blue Devils did just that.

And speaking of milestones, Leominster is inching closer to becoming just the third program in Massachusetts history to reach the 800-win plateau. Last week’s victory over the Red Raiders was win No. 793.

Only Brockton and Everett have reached that mark.

Tough runners to be tested

St. Bernard’s opened with a rout of Blackstone Valley Tech last week, cruising to a 30-0 win at the Bernardian Bowl.

And while the venue will be the same for tonight’s tilt, the outcome will likely be a bit different as the Bernardians welcome a potent Stoneham side to Fitchburg. The Spartans, playing out of the Middlesex League’s Freedom Division, opened with a 24-16 victory over Winthrop.

St. Bernard's Damien Jones carries the ball during last Friday's game against Blackstone Valley Tech. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Nick Mallard)
St. Bernard’s Damien Jones carries the ball during last Friday’s game against Blackstone Valley Tech. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Nick Mallard)

The guest Spartans will be tasked with slowing down the two-headed running attack of Antonio Mancini and Damien Jones, a pair of seniors who combined for over 300 yards on the ground last week.

Keep it rolling

Coming off a 28-7 win at Littleton to start the Jordan Murphy era, North Middlesex Regional faces a tall task in the quest to start 2-0, traveling to Auburn to face a solid Rockets team.

Meanwhile, Oakmont Regional, a 38-12 winner over Narragansett Regional last week, heads to Clinton hoping to remain unbeaten.

Looking to rebound

Several local ties will look to get back to .500 on the young season after dropping their openers. While falling to 0-2 wouldn’t spell the end of a season, it’s certainly an uphill climb to the playoffs from such a hole.

Fitchburg looks to shake off the aforementioned drubbing it took last week when it travels to Holden tonight to face Wachusett Regional. Likewise, Nashoba Regional — on the wrong side of a 27-7 decision to Grafton — will look to get a win when it hosts Longmeadow and Lunenburg — which fell at Oxford, 31-25 — plays host to Quabbin Regional looking for win No. 1 on the season.

Ayer Shirley, which dropped a 22-20 game in overtime at Worcester Tech last Friday, hosts Worcester North on Saturday afternoon.

Local roundup: Blue Knights storm past Tyngsboro

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LUNENBURG — On the strength of a pair of goals apiece from Bethie Boone and Caitlin Ware, the Lunenburg field hockey team cruised to a 5-0 win over visiting Tyngsboro on Friday afternoon at McCarron Turf Field.

The Blue Knights improve to 2-0 on the young season while the Tigers fall to 2-1.

Maddie Salovardos potted the other goal for the winners as Lunenburg peppered Tyngsboro goalie Izzie Shaffer with over 30 shots in the game.

Lunenburg goalie Malia Ruggiero made eight saves to preserve the shutout for the hosts.

Leominster 1, Oakmont 0 Emma Miller-Ayala netted the game’s lone goal to lift the Blue Devils (2-0), while Kailyn Cuddahy earned the shutout.

Boys soccer

Ayer Shirley 4, Narragansett 0 Jason Arboleda, Austin Olum, Teddy Solitro and Jacob Teo found the back of the net, while Griffon Cotter earned the shutout for the Panthers (1-1)

Abby Kelley 5, Sizer 0 The White Tigers were blanked in their season opener.

Girls soccer

Leicester 6, Monty Tech 0 The loss drops the Bulldogs to 0-2.

Narragansett 3, Ayer Shirley 2 Sastrea Cherduville and Kate Simpson scored for the Panthers (0-2).

Volleyball

North Middlesex 3, Ayer Shirley 0 The Patriots won with set scores of 25-21, 25-13, and 25-11.

Nora Tesini had five kills and five aces in the victory, while Megan Boucher chipped in with two kills and two aces for North Middlesex (2-1).

Groton-Dunstable 3, Fitchburg 0 Set scores were 25-7, 25-13 and 25-23.

Keishla Troche Pereira had four aces, two kills, two assists and four digs for Fitchburg, while Aleena Pichierre added two aces and 10 assists and Jade Vue dished out nine assists.

Leominster 3, Marlboro 1 The win was the first in the head coaching career of Sam Comeau.

Golf

St. Paul 261, St. Bernard’s 241 Patrick Ginnity shot a 2-under 34 at Green Hill Golf Course to earn medalist honors for the Bernardians (0-1).

Local roundup: Blue Knights storm past Tyngsboro

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LUNENBURG — On the strength of a pair of goals apiece from Bethie Boone and Caitlin Ware, the Lunenburg field hockey team cruised to a 5-0 win over visiting Tyngsboro on Friday afternoon at McCarron Turf Field.

The Blue Knights improve to 2-0 on the young season while the Tigers fall to 2-1.

Maddie Salovardos potted the other goal for the winners as Lunenburg peppered Tyngsboro goalie Izzie Shaffer with over 30 shots in the game.

Lunenburg goalie Malia Ruggiero made eight saves to preserve the shutout for the hosts.

Leominster 1, Oakmont 0 Emma Miller-Ayala netted the game’s lone goal to lift the Blue Devils (2-0), while Kailyn Cuddahy earned the shutout.

Boys soccer

Ayer Shirley 4, Narragansett 0 Jason Arboleda, Austin Olum, Teddy Solitro and Jacob Teo found the back of the net, while Griffon Cotter earned the shutout for the Panthers (1-1)

Abby Kelley 5, Sizer 0 The White Tigers were blanked in their season opener.

Girls soccer

Leicester 6, Monty Tech 0 The loss drops the Bulldogs to 0-2.

Narragansett 3, Ayer Shirley 2 Sastrea Cherduville and Kate Simpson scored for the Panthers (0-2).

Volleyball

North Middlesex 3, Ayer Shirley 0 The Patriots won with set scores of 25-21, 25-13, and 25-11.

Nora Tesini had five kills and five aces in the victory, while Megan Boucher chipped in with two kills and two aces for North Middlesex (2-1).

Groton-Dunstable 3, Fitchburg 0 Set scores were 25-7, 25-13 and 25-23.

Keishla Troche Pereira had four aces, two kills, two assists and four digs for Fitchburg, while Aleena Pichierre added two aces and 10 assists and Jade Vue dished out nine assists.

Leominster 3, Marlboro 1 The win was the first in the head coaching career of Sam Comeau.

Golf

St. Paul 261, St. Bernard’s 241 Patrick Ginnity shot a 2-under 34 at Green Hill Golf Course to earn medalist honors for the Bernardians (0-1).