Soper, McCarthy Named Athletes of the Week
Two sharp-shooters who helped their teams to eventful weeks are this week's iBerkshires.com/Southwestern Vermont Health Care Athletes of the Week.
The Taconic hockey team is 3-0 in the month of February, and Cody Soper is one big reason why.
Soper scored a goal in the Thunder's win at Newtown, Conn., to start the month and closed the week with a goal in a 5-2 road win at Keefe Tech.
In between, he had the game of the year in Berkshire County in a dramatic 7-6 win over McCann Tech at the Boys and Girls Club,
In that one, Soper not only had a hat trick and notched an assist. He also scored the game-tying goal in the final moments of regulation and the game-winning goal in overtime.
Taconic is 6-4-2 this winter after this recent run of success and will be looking to keep the momentum going Wednesday when it hosts Southwick.
That is the first of three games in four days to finish a regular season schedule that concludes on Saturday in North Adams against McCann Tech.
The Wahconah girls basketball team has two games left in the regular season, both on the road at Chicopee Monday and Taconic Tuesday.
Wahconah has been red hot of late, winning five in a row to improve to 10-6 and clinch a spot in the Division 4 State Tournament.
The win that clinched a tourney berth came on Saturday against Taconic, when Madison McCarthy scored 24 points in a 56-36 win.
McCarthy has been one of the most consistent scorers in the county this year, averaging more than 16 points per night for a Wahconah team that is all about defense, holding opponents to fewer than 37 points per night.
McCarthy has averaged three 3-pointer per game, accounting for 48 of her team's 74 triples (65 percent).
Wahconah ended the week as the 13th-ranked team in the state in D4 and has at least four more games (including the Western Mass tournament) to improve on that ranking.
The iBerkshires.com Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Southwestern Vermont Health Care.