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10/23/2016 12:00 AMFootball
The North Haven football team went toe to toe against another SCC Tier 1 heavyweight when the Indians hosted undefeated Shelton at Vanacore Field on Oct. 21. North Haven held a six-point lead and had possession of ball in the fourth quarter, but wound up allowing a touchdown a few minutes later and took a 35-34 loss. It was the 28th-straight win for Shelton and the Indians now stand at 3-3.
Head Coach Anthony Sagnella was pleased to see North Haven win the physical battles more so than in the team’s previous defeat to Notre Dame. He feels a big focus for the Indians in their final four games will be to execute more effectively in the late minutes of these close contests.
“We had a few goals going into the Shelton game and wanted to improve in some areas and, playing emotionally and the entire game with intensity, we did that. That’s a positive to come away with from the Shelton game—that we matched them intensity-wise and matched their physicality,” Sagnella said. “We had the game in the palm of our hand. With six minutes left, we had the ball and had the lead and that’s where it disintegrated on us. We have to concentrate on trying to finish a game. We just have to finish a game. We’ve competed with everybody on our schedule and just have to mentally finish a game.”
Shelton (6-0) scored the game’s first two touchdowns before Jamorea Hooks plunged in from a yard out to make it 14-7 after one. In the second quarter, Jack Steinman threw a 28-yard TD pass to Kyle Melillo and Colin Finkle followed by kicking the extra point to tie the game at 14. Later in the frame, Tom Dodge ran in a 7-yard touchdown run and the Indians were up 21-14. The Gaels struck back with a touchdown pass and then scored on a short return following a blocked punt to hold a 28-21 halftime advantage.
Mark Montano broke off a 20-yard scoring scamper in the third quarter and Finkle’s kick tied the game again, 28-28. Finkle then had to leave the game with an injury. With 11:50 to play, Montano took home an 11-yard touchdown run and North Haven led 34-28 after John Crispi missed the extra point. North Haven had the ball midway through the quarter with a chance to chew up some clock, but was forced into a passing situation. Dodge threw an interception and Shelton went on to connect for a 10-yard TD pass and take a 35-34 lead. The Indians had one more drive that also ended with an interception.
Girls’ Cross Country
Senior Elise Symon raced to a fourth-place finish with a time of 19 minutes and 54 seconds at last week’s SCC Championship meet at East Shore Park in New Haven. By virtue of her performance, Symon earned All-SCC honors for the third year in a row and made the First Team for the second-straight season.
As a team, the Indians finished in 11th place. Also competing for North Haven were Reagan Forbes, who placed 66th with a mark of 23:38, as well as Macey DiCarlo (74th, 23:51), Hillary Hoyt (79th, 24:06), Clare Connell (90th, 24:26), Shannon Reilly (96th, 24:39), and Olivia Hoyt (99th, 24:56).
Boys’ Cross Country
Gabe Durante finished in 42nd place with a time of 17:54 to lead the pack for the Indians at the SCC Championship on Oct. 20. North Haven came in 17th place as a squad.
Corey Reilly was North Haven’s next finisher as he placed 93rd in a time of 19:13. Also running for the Indians were Jackson Frank (103rd, 19:38), Jonathan Opramolla (107th, 19:42), Jordan Tong (108th, 19:44), Josh Bryson (113rd, 20:14), and Alex Savenelli (117th, 20:36).
Field Hockey
North Haven picked up its third win of the season and then played close contests in its two other matchups last week.
The Indians’ victory came at home in the form of a 3-1 triumph versus Shelton on Oct. 17. Lindsay Rowland scored North Haven’s first goal from Jackie Howlett, Arianna Mongillo netted the second goal on another Howlett helper, and then Howlett scored on Emily Casamento’s assist to seal the win for Head Coach Kim Bouffard’s squad.
Later in the week, North Haven dropped a 2-0 decision at Sheehan on Oct. 20. The following day, the Indians hosted Amity and lost by a 1-0 final.
Girls’ Swimming and Diving
North Haven completed its regular season with a winning record of 6-5 by winning its last two meets. On Oct. 17, the Indians hosted Branford and came away with a 99-83 victory. Four days later, North Haven faced Law at Foran High School and prevailed by the score of 101-80.
The Branford meet marked Senior Night and the Indians honored their four seniors from this year’s team, who are Lauren Spencer, Callyn Priebe, Molly Duffy, and Victoria Ferraro. In last week’s meets, Duffy swam season-best times in the 200 freestyle (2:16.37), the 100 breaststroke (1:13.62), and the 50 freestyle (29.26). Priebe set a lifetime-best mark of 1:07.22 in the 100 backstroke, while Spencer went a season-best 1:21.45 in the 100 breaststroke.
For the junior class, Jasmine Nguy swam a lifetime best in the 200 freestyle (2:04.60) and the 200 individual medley (2:20.56), Michaela Salvo did a lifetime best of 1:13.71 in the butterfly and a season-best 2:22.05 for the 200 free, and Avery Hill had season-best times in the 500 free (6:32.41) and the breaststroke (1:24.37). Juniors Ashley Cipollini (37.28) and Melissa Greene (38.34) both swam lifetime bests in the 50 freestyle. Sophomore Emily Gibson had lifetime-best performances in the 50 free (30.10) and the 200 free (2:36.89).
In terms of North Haven’s freshmen, Kiersten Winter swam a lifetime best for three events: the 200 individual medley (2:30.03), the 500 free (5:56.68), and 100 fly (1:10.17). Also recording lifetime-best marks were Mackenzie Montesi in the 50 free (28.80) and the 500 free (5:54.54), Daria Padro in the 50 free (33.06) and the 100 free (1:12), Gillian Regan for the 200 free (2:34.47) and the 500 free (6:46.80), Marla Zikaras in the 50 free (35.80), plus Christina Stoeffler in the diving with a score of 143.85. Freshman Mia Coppola had a season best of 3:01.40 in the 200 IM, while Angela Gambardella did season bests for the 200 free (2:03.92), the 500 free (5:29.75), and the 100 backstroke at 1:09.26.
Girls’ Soccer
The Indians came up on the short end of two recent contests, but still remained in contention to qualify for the State Tournament at week’s end. North Haven lost to Law at home by a 3-2 final on Oct. 17 and took a 5-0 defeat in Hamden on Oct. 19. With their record of 5-8-1, the Indians can make states by winning one of their two final regular season games. North Haven played at Cross-Hillhouse-Career on Oct. 24 (after press time) and will host West Haven in its regular season finale at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27.
Boys’ Soccer
North Haven dropped three decisions last week by taking a 5-2 loss at Career-Hillhouse on Oct. 17, a 6-1 home loss to West Haven two days later, and a 5-2 defeat at Amity on Oct. 21.
Volleyball
The Indians had a pair of meets last week and took two defeats for a record of 5-13 this year. North Haven first lost a 3-0 contest at Lauralton Hall on Oct. 17. Then on Oct. 21, the Indians were defeated 3-1 at West Haven.