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10/04/2015 12:00 AMBoys’ Soccer
North Haven collected its initial two victories of the season by posting a 5-3 home win over Career-Hillhouse that was followed by a 3-0 triumphs at another Oronoque Division rival in East Haven two days later.
Matt Iovanne scored from Colin Finkle just two minutes into the game against Career-Hillhouse and, but then the Panthers scored twice in the next 11 minutes and led 2-1. The Indians tied four minutes later on Ian Dunning’s goal. The Panthers scored again to go up 3-2, although North Haven came right back to make it 3-3 when Finkle converted a penalty kick. It was a 3-3 game just 20 minutes in and that was how it stood at halftime. Just five minutes into the second half, Ethan Pavano assisted on the go-ahead goal to Finkle, who sealed the victory and his hat trick by scoring with a minute to play. Finkle was named North Haven’s Player of the Game. North Haven outshot the Panthers 14-8 and Trevor MacDonnell picked up the win in the Indians’ net.
“The team has been working hard at practice and really are deserving of a win. We were very unfortunate in the Lyman Hall game [a 1-0 loss the week prior] and I felt that should have been out first win of the season,” Coach Fiondella said. “However, this win did not come easy and Career-Hillhouse definitely gave us a battle, which I expected. In the end, the team stayed composed in the second half and stopped Career from scoring. Congratulations to the team!”
North Haven put another in the win column on Sept. 30 by shutting out East Haven 3-0. Dunning scored from Ben Blumenthal in the 29th minute and it was 1-0 in favor of the Indians at the break. Justin Shea scored from Pavano with 15 minutes remaining in the game and then Dunning netted his second with Pavano distributing another assist with five minutes to play. MacDonnell stopped two shots for his first shutout to aid North Haven, which outshot the Yellowjackets 16-4 in improving to 2-4 overall and 2-1 in the Oronoque. Dunning, a midfielder, was voted Player of the Game by his teammates.
“[Ian] really had an outstanding performance and merited Player of the Game. I also wanted to commend Trevor MacDonnell for posting his first shutout and having a fine performance in goal. Also, Thomas Bogen took control of the defense and helped us stay calm in the back. It was a thorough defensive performance,” said Fiondella. “I have seen tremendous growth in the team. We are improving every day at practice and at the games. I commend the team for listening to the coaches’ instructions and the individual and team suggestions that we provide. We are starting to build a strong team bond chemistry, learning one another’s strengths and also helping one another improve any areas of weakness. I am proud of the team for being mentally tough in both of these last two performances and maintaining a positive attitude and staying focused. In the game of soccer, as in all sports, half the battle is psychological and being mentally prepared and focused.”
Girls’ Cross Country
North Haven is 9-0 on the season, having recently defeated all five of its opponents in a competition at Eisenhower Park on Sept. 22, after which the Indians swept a quad-meet in Shelton last week.
In the first meet, Carl Jackson’s club defeated Sacred Heart Academy (22-35), Lauralton Hall (18-41), East Haven (16-47), Platt Tech (15-50), and Bullard-Havens (15-50). Elise Symon raced to first place with a time of 22 minutes flat. Following Symon were Connie Tao in a time of 22:33 (3rd place), Clare Connell at 23:09 (4th), Erica Salvo with the same time of 23:09 (5th), Hillary Hoyt at 24:49 (13th), Reaghan Bathrick in 24:57 (14th), and Olivia Hoyt in 25 minutes (15th). Macey DiCarlo took 19th place and Maddie Libero was 20th.
“This was a very good early season meet. The team was very competitive and supported each other throughout the race,” said Coach Jackson. “I am very happy with the results and the competitiveness of the team.”
On Sept. 29, the Indians edged out Shelton (29-30), while cruising past Sheehan (17-46) and Career (15-50). Symon, Salvo, and Tao were the top three finishers in the race. Other finishers for North Haven were Clare Connell at 24:47 (17th), Olivia Hoyt at 25:03, DiCarlo in a time of 25:14 (20th), Bathrick at 25:30 (21st), Libero in 27:15 (28th), and Hillary Hoyt with her mark of 27:33 (29th).
Boys’ Cross Country
The Indians sport a record of 4-5 in a fall season that’s seen the squad hampered by early season injuries, including one to senior captain Ryan Brennan, who made All-SCC and All-State en route to team MVP honors last fall.
On Sept. 22, North Haven was victorious against three of its five opponents at Eisenhower Park in Milford. The team defeated Platt Tech (27-30), Bullard-Havens (17-46), and East Haven (21-36) to go with defeats against Notre Dame-West Haven (17-46) and Fairfield Prep (15-50).
Then one week later in Shelton, Carl Jackson’s team beat Career (15-50), while losing to Sheehan (27-29) and the host Gaels (15-46).
In the meet at Milford, the Indians were led by Ben Papsun in 19:10 (14th place), Jordan Tong also in 19:10 (15th), Josh Bryson at 20 minutes even (24th), Gabe Durante in 20:35 (31st), Jackson Frank at 20:36 (32nd), Sebastian Pepe with a time of 21:05 (38th), and Jack Opramolla in 21:15 (42nd).
At Shelton, North Haven’s effort was spearheaded by Tong and his mark of 19:42 (9th), Ben Papsun in 19:43 (10th), Bryson at 20:28 (14th), Durante in 20:35 (16th), Frank behind a time of 20:40 (17th), Andy Guo at 21:17 (21st), Pepe at 21:30 (23rd), and Opramolla in 21:34 (24th).
Football
The Indians boosted their record to 4-0 by posting a 47-0 shutout at division foe East Haven Oct. 2. The victory put North Haven at 2-0 in SCC Division II West—a half-game ahead for Foran (3-0, 1-0) for the top spot. The Indians entered the week ranked No. 6 in The Day of New London Top 10 State Coaches Poll and No. 7 in the New Haven Register/GameTimeCT.com State Top 10 Football Poll.
Anthony Sagnella's squad led 13-0 after one quarter and held a 27-0 command at halftime in handing the Yellowjackets (3-1, 0-1) their first defeat of 2015. Nick Ponzio scored on a 21-yard run and Sabrine Fronte kicked the first of her three extra points for a quick 7-0 advantage. Connor Suraci later ran one in from 10 yards out and it was 13-0 after the 2-point conversion run was unsuccessful. Mike Montano then broke free for a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter. First, he scored on a 42-yard rush that was followed by his 2-point conversion toss to Jeremy Imperati, after which Montano took home a 71-yard TD run that had the Indians leading 27-0 at intermission. Montano tossed a 36-yard scoring strike to Imperati for the lone score of the third quarter to make it 34-0. In the fourth, Paul Brockamer plunged in from a yard away and then Mark Montano closed the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown run.
Mike Montano ran 10 times for 158 yards and also completed four passes for 87 yards. Ponzio had eight carries for 47 yards, Suraci rushed eight times for 40 yards, and Brockamer added 30 yards on eight carries. Imperati made three catches for 71 yards.
Defensively, Mikos had 11 tackles and Imperati made six. Suraci had an interception and Nick Campanelli recovered a fumble.
Volleyball
In North Haven’s most-recent matches, the team lost at Lyman Hall 3-2, took a 3-0 home defeat to Branford, prevailed at Career 3-0, dropped 3-0 road decision versus East Haven and West Haven, and then won against Hamden. The Indians are 3-7 overall and 2-2 in the SCC Oronoque.
In the Lyman Hall match, set scores were 25-21, 24-26, 25-14, 18-25, 15-11. Marissa Mocarski had 12 kills with four blocks and Antonia Barbiero had 16 aces. The Indians trailed the second game 24-14, when Barbiero went on a service run that featured eight aces to help her team rally for the win.
Against Branford, the Indians dropped the contest by scores of 25-19, 25-11, 25-20. Bella DelVecchio had six digs and Anna Stowe did a nice job of service receiving, according to Coach Mark Giordano.
Then against another division in Career, the Indians swept away the opposition with scores of 25-21, 25-13, 25-11. Barbiero once again had 16 aces, Skylar Butler contributed five aces, and Marissa Mocarski had 12 kills with six blocks and seven digs.
“We played much better after a day’s rest and the return of our middle [hitter], Laurissa Amaker; outside hitter, Katie Messina; and outside hitter, Celeste Battipaglia,” Coach Giordano said. “This was the first time this season we had a full team ready to play.”