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09/25/2016 12:00 AMFootball
The North Haven football team moved to 2-1 after defeating Foran on the road by a 38-21 score on Sept. 23. The Indians fell behind 7-0 and then responded by scoring three-straight touchdowns on their way to the win. Foran, an SCC Tier 2 team, was able to throw the ball with success against North Haven, but the Indians’ rushing attack was too much for the Lions (1-2) to overcome as they totaled 355 yards on the ground.
“Both our offenses are dynamic and explosive. We did what we do best and they did what they do best offensively,” Head Coach Anthony Sagnella said. “We had a bunch of penalties that probably cost us about 10 or 14 points, but defensively, when it mattered, we made a couple of key stops and that was probably the difference.”
Foran scored the game’s first TD on a 66-yard pass before North Haven tied it on junior Mark Montano’s 34-yard run and Colin Finkle’s extra point kick. The game stayed tied at 7 until the second quarter, when Tom Dodge found Montano for a 26-yard scoring strike and a 14-7 advantage at halftime.
Early in the second half, Montano broke off a 38-yard touchdown rush to put the Indians in command at 21-7. The Lions countered with a 16-yard TD run, but North Haven came right back when Dodge tossed a 13-yard touchdown to fellow senior captain Kyle Melillo, and the Indians brought a 28-14 lead to the fourth quarter.
Senior captain Max Sullivan took home a 19-yard TD run in the fourth and, after Finkle made his fifth extra point in as many tries, North Haven led 35-14. For good measure, Finkle drilled a 32-yard field goal that made it 38-14 before Foran scored on a 5-yard rush late in the game.
Dodge completed all three of his passes for 58 yards and the two touchdowns to go with 17 carries for 150 yards. Montano ran 11 times for 123 yards with two TDs and he also had the touchdown reception. Sullivan added 69 yards and a score on 11 rushes.
Defensively, Montano and Korbin Pecora both had interceptions, while senior captain Jack Steinman recorded sack. The Indians’ top tacklers were Zach Orth (14), Craig Somma (12), Dodge (10), and Melillo (9).
North Haven now gets ready to face SCC Tier 1 opponent Hand, which improved to 1-2 by beating East Haven 35-0 last week. The game takes place at the Surf Club in Madison at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30. The Indians lost to Cheshire in their first Tier 1 game this fall.
“I think it’s going to be a battle and have a playoff atmosphere. It’s like looking in a mirror when we look at Hand because they’re a lot like us in a lot of places,” said Sagnella. “They’ve always been a program we’ve respected and held in high esteem. They’re well-coached and have similar philosophies to us. There’s a lot of history in terms of our kids playing against their kids from 4th grade on and so the game is a rivalry that has an energy to it and it’s always exciting.”
Field Hockey
The Indians recorded their first two wins of the season last week and did so by shutting out both opponents. Head Coach Kim Bouffard’s club blanked Lyman Hall 1-0 at home on Sept. 20 and then came back to prevail in Shelton 2-0 the following afternoon. North Haven closed the week by taking an 8-0 loss at Cheshire to stand at 2-3 for the season.
Against Lyman Hall, sophomore Lindsay Rowland scored the game’s lone goal in the first half off an assist from junior Mehak Sharma. Goalie Sophie Aquaro, a freshman, made seven saves in the cage for the shutout.
The Shelton game was scoreless at halftime and then sophomore Emily Casamento put North Haven on the board by scoring on junior Gillian Grant’s assist. Sharma later assisted sophomore Jackie Howlett for an insurance goal in the 2-0 victory. Aquaro stopped five shots for her second shutout.
North Haven’s senior captains this year are Lucy Aquaro, Arianna Mongillo, and Rochelle Furino.
Volleyball
North Haven notched a 3-0 win at Hillhouse last week that was sandwiched between a 3-0 home loss to Branford and a 3-2 defeat versus Lauralton Hall at home. Following these three Oronoque Division matches, the Indians sport an overall record of 2-5 with a mark of 1-3 in the division.
On Sept. 19, North Haven hosted Branford and took a 25-21, 25-13, 25-14 defeat. Bella DelVecchio had 10 digs, while Jess McInnis handed out 14 assists to go with a pair of aces for the Indians.
In the Hillhouse match on Sept. 21, North Haven swept the Academics 25-15, 25-9, 25-17. Celeste Battipaglia had seven kills and five aces, Laurissa Amaker tallied 10 kills with seven aces, and McInnis recorded 21 assists and three aces.
After that, the Indians hosted Lauralton Hall on Sept. 23 and lost a narrow 22-25, 25-23, 25-16, 15-25, 15-13 decision. McInnis had 24 assists and six aces, DelVecchio notched 21 digs with three aces, and Amaker had 12 kills and 12 digs.
Girls’ Swimming and Diving
North Haven is now 3-0 following last week’s win versus Hamden. The Indians hosted the Green Dragons at Gawrych Town Pool on Sept. 23 and emerged victorious by the count of 92-78.
Girls’ Soccer
The Indians played three Housatonic Division contests last week and came away with a win, a tie, and a loss to stand at 2-3-1 overall with a divisional mark of 1-2-1. North Haven began the week by playing Amity to a 1-1 stalemate at home on Sept. 20. The next day, the team went to Law and took a 2-0 defeat. The Indians ended the week on a good note by posting a 5-1 home victory over Hamden on Sept. 22.