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10/17/2016 12:00 AMGirls’ Swimming and Diving
The North Haven girls’ swimming and diving squad competed in two meets last week and split the pair to stand with a record of 4-5 on the season. The Indians began the week by posting a 94-84 home victory against Sacred Heart Academy at Gawrych Town Pool on Oct. 11. Three days later, North Haven faced Shelton at the Shelton Community Center Pool and took an 89-81 defeat. The Indians saw numerous lifetime-best and season-best performances in the win against Sacred Heart Academy. The Shelton meet, which had no diving, came down to the final event in the 400 freestyle relay as the host Gaels came away with the victory.
Head Coach Martha Phelan said that she’s encouraged by several aspects of her team this season, including a talented freshman class that features seven swimmers and two divers, as well as tight-knit chemistry throughout the roster.
“With the influx of nine freshmen, the team is building a great foundation of talent for the next four years. All of these freshman train year-round, which bodes well for our ability to compete in a very strong conference. The upperclassmen have continued to build on prior success, consistently posting personal- and lifetime-best times,” said Coach Phelan. “I am fortunate to have a squad with great team chemistry, which certainly creates a positive environment for the girls to flourish in. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to work with a wonderful group of young women. As always, I am so grateful to have the best assistant/diving coach, Bob Lewis. His dedication and commitment to the team is a big reason for our success.”
In terms of last week’s performances, senior Callyn Priebe had a big week by swimming lifetime-best marks in the 200 individual medley (2:19.34), the 100 freestyle (58.38), and the 100 butterfly (1:05.27). Fellow senior Molly Duffy notched a lifetime best of 6:08.92 in the 500 freestyle. Highlighting the junior class, Jasmine Nguy did a lifetime best in the 100 fly (1:03.62) and a season-best in the 200 IM (2:21.73), Laura Borrelli swam season bests in the 100 free (58.42) and 50 free (26.0), and Michaela Salvo turned in a lifetime best for the 100 free (1:03.59), plus a season best in the 50 free (28.48).
For North Haven’s sophomores, Melissa Greene posted lifetime-best times in the 100 freestyle (1:28.72) and the 50 freestyle (39.66), while Ashley Cipollini swam a season best for the 100 free (1:27.35). In the freshman ranks, Angela Gambardella’s time of 1:02.98 in the 100 butterfly was a season best, Kiersten Winter had lifetime bests in both the 100 breaststroke (1:17.55) and the butterfly (1:10.46), and Christina Stoeffler tallied a lifetime-best total of 141.55 points in the diving. Additionally, freshman Mia Coppola went a lifetime best of 7:07.39 in the 500 freestyle, Gabrielle Weaver did a lifetime best of 34.72 for the 50 free, and Brinley Rainey came through with a lifetime-best mark of 1:18.22 in the 100 freestyle.
North Haven concludes its dual-meet season with a meet versus Law at Foran High School at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 21, after which the Indians will compete at the trials and finals of both the SCC Championship and the Class M State Championship.
Girls’ Cross Country
The Indians wrapped up their regular season slate by facing Oronoque Division foes Cross and Branford at the Supply Pond last week. North Haven defeated host Branford 24-33 and dropped a 24-32 decision to Cross.
Boys’ Cross Country
North Haven completed its regular season by competing in a tri-meet against Oronoque Division opponents Branford and Cross at the Supply Pond in Branford on Oct. 13. The Indians took a 24-34 defeat to the host Hornets and lost to Cross 25-30.
Volleyball
North Haven lost its first two matches last week before beating Hillhouse for a record of 5-11. The Indians opened play by taking a 3-0 defeat at Oronoque Division opponent Branford on Oct. 11 and then dropped a 3-0 home contest to Hamden two days later. North Haven closed the week with a 3-0 home sweep of Hillhouse on Oct. 14, a night which saw the Indians host their annual Pink Game in support of breast cancer awareness with the proceeds going to the Sisters’ Project, a non-profit organization in Wallingford that raises money to aid local cancer patients and their families.
Against Hamden, North Haven lost by the final of 25-17, 25-21, 25-23. Celeste Battipaglia had five kills with five digs and three aces for the Indians, while Bella DelVecchio contributed 15 digs.
Hosting Oronoque opponent Hillhouse, the Indians swept the Academics with scores of 25-9, 25-16, 25-16. Laurissa Amaker posted 12 kills and two digs, DelVecchio had six aces with three digs and a kill, and Jessica McInnis registered 24 assists with six aces.
Boys’ Soccer
North Haven took three recent defeats by losing at Cross 1-0 on Oct. 7, at Fairfield Prep 6-0 on Oct. 11, and at home versus Shelton, 4-0, on Oct. 14.
The game against Cross was held at Rice Field in New Haven and saw the Indians and Governors battle to a scoreless tie at halftime. Cross scored the game’s only goal in the second half and hung on for the victory.
“This one was another tough one. This is one of the best Wilbur Cross teams that I have seen over the past few years. They are a strong and confident team and are currently 9-1 this season,” Head Coach Federico Fiondella said. “We were a bit unlucky in this game and, unfortunately, could not put a goal away. I commend the team. They played well overall and were determined to stop the Cross attack. One of the areas that we have been working on a lot at practice is counter-attacking and going to goal in numbers. We need to attack more often and with confidence.”
Mikhail Panferov was named North Haven’s Player of the Game for his solid play after being moved into the center midfielder’s position for this contest.
“We thought that his size, physicality, and determination to always win the ball would help stop a very strong Wilbur Cross attack,” said Fiondella. “Mike was a huge asset in the middle and won a lot of 50-50 balls for us. He never stopped working and really played his heart out. This was a well-deserved Player of the Game for Mike.”
Four days later, the Indians faced Fairfield Prep at Rafferty Stadium on the campus of Fairfield University. The Jesuits scored five times in the first half and went on to the 6-0 win.
“We started off well in this game. The first 10 minutes were fairly solid, but we started to struggle once Prep scored their first goal. Team confidence played a role. Players seemed to be so worried about defending Prep that they did not join the attack, which allowed Prep to win the ball and attack us even more,” said Coach Fiondella. “Fairfield Prep is not an easy team to play. They are fast, strong, and technical. The second half was much better for us. We adapted to our halftime instructions and played with some more confidence and energy.”
Sophomore defender Justin Shea was selected as the Player of the Game. Fiondella credited Shea for continuing “to press forward, even though we were down by many goals.” The coach also complimented Ben Blumenthal for a solid performance, as well as goalie Riley Powell for making some “amazing saves” as Prep pressed North Haven’s defense.
Fiondella additionally praised his senior class of captains Steven Pugliese and Matt Iovanne, plus Jonathan Goodrich, Ryan Harvey, and Ben Kuru, for the fine job they’ve done of guiding North Haven through what’s been a tough season.
“Our schedule is a difficult one and though we keep working hard at practice. It is not easy to come out of every game with an unfavorable result. There have been a few last-minute losses and some almost wins and we have been unfortunate in a few games,” said Fiondella. “I give credit to the senior class because they never complain and always show up at our games and practices ready to go, hoping to improve as a team. That is not easy to do and the rest of the team has followed in their footsteps.”
Girls’ Soccer
The Indians were defeated twice last week to move to 5-6-1 this year. On Oct. 10, North Haven hosted Cheshire and lost by the final of 5-0. On Oct. 14, the Indians had a game at Amity and took a 4-0 defeat.
Field Hockey
North Haven faced two of the SCC’s top squads last week and took a pair of defeats. The Indians lost 6-0 to Branford at home on Oct. 11 and then dropped a 7-0 contest at Hand on Oct. 13.