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11/11/2016 11:00 PMBoys’ Soccer
The Valley Regional boys’ soccer team claimed victory in its first three games of the Class S State Tournament to advance to the semifinal round. The Warriors (12-4-4), who are seeded 10th, opened Class S action by defeating East Hampton 2-1 in a game that was decided by a 4-1 margin in penalty kicks. Valley followed that up with a 7-1 victory at HMTCA and a 2-0 triumph at No. 2 seed Lyman Memorial in the quarterfinals on Nov. 12. The Warriors are playing 3rd-seeded Coventry (16-3) in the semis at Falcon Field in Meriden at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15. With a win, Valley will face the winner of top-seeded Old Saybrook and No. 5 Notre Dame-Fairfield for the title on Saturday, Nov. 19.
Senior Zak Tisdale and junior Charlie Ferrucci scored the goals in the second half when Valley beat Lyman Memorial to advance to the state semis for the first time in three years.
“They were very excited. Other than a few boys who played in the semis as freshmen, it’s the first time for them playing in the semis and so they’re excited,” Head Coach Mick Fearon said. “Now, it’s a matter of getting them to focus for the next game. Coventry will be a really good challenge.”
The Warriors began their journey by hosting No. 23 seed East Hampton on Nov. 8. Valley scored 15 minutes in on a corner kick when Michael Dilger sent the ball into the middle of the box and found Adrian Sperzel, who headed it past the Bellringers’ goalie for a 1-0 lead. East Hampton tied the game with 1:10 left before halftime.
In the second half, East Hampton had three solid opportunities to take the lead on corner kicks, but goalie Charlie Haughton and the Warriors’ defense kept the ball out of the net. On one play, Haughton tipped the ball off the crossbar and it was loose when teammate Jacob Azzinaro cleared it from harm’s way. Haughton had six saves in the contest.
The game remained tied at 1 and so it went to two, 10-minute, non-sudden victory overtime periods. In the first one, East Hampton’s goalie thwarted offerings from Tisadale and Dilger to keep the game even. It stayed that way and thus penalty kicks were needed to declare a victor. Valley went first and Victor Cartagena scored, after which East Hampton tied it. Ferrucci’s goal put Valley up 2-1 and then Haughton made a big save to preserve the lead. Zach Stevens scored to make it 3-1 and the Bellringers’ next attempt went wide. Sperzel followed with the Warriors’ fourth goal to put away East Hampton and send Valley to the next round.
“In PKs, you can practice as many times as you want, but it’s a different feeling when you have to walk from the halfway line to take a kick...Our boys kept their nerve and the shots they took were pretty much in the corner and that was good,” said Fearon.
On Nov. 10, the Warriors traveled north to take on 7th-seeded Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy (HTMCA) and scored five times in the first half of a 7-1 win. Cartagena scored from Ferrucci three minutes in and Valley followed with four more goals in the next 25 minutes. Tisdale scored the second and assisted Dilger for the third goal. Tisdale headed home the fourth score on an assist by senior captain Nate Gagnon, who was playing his first game after being sidelined with an injury. Cartagena’s goal made it 5-0 at intermission.
HMTCA scored 40 seconds into the latter stanza, but Ferrucci buried one five minutes later to make it 6-1. Chris Cook scored the Warriors’ last goal for the 7-1 final. Haugthon made two saves in the first half and Buddy Haydu had a save in the second half.
Two days later, Valley had its quarterfinal clash at Lyman Memorial and scored two goals in the second half for a 2-0 victory. The Warriors broke through in the 48th minute when Sean Cole crossed one to Tisdale, who put it over the goalie’s head for a 1-0 advantage. Three minutes later, Lyman Memorial tried to clear, but Ferrucci corralled the ball and took a shot from 25 yards out that was deflected in to make it 2-0. The first half was even as both teams had seven shots on goal and four corner kicks, but Valley took control in the second half by outshooting the opposition 12-2. Haughton had five saves on the night for the Warriors.
Football
The Valley-Old Lyme football team improved to 8-1 and clinched a spot in the Class M State Playoffs by shutting out Canton 41-0 on the road on Nov. 12. The Warriors are currently in the No. 2 spot in the Class M standings with an average of 125.56 points, training only St. Joseph (128.89), which is also 8-1, for the top slot. Valley can clinch a home game in the quarterfinals of the Class M Playoffs by winning its regular season finale against Haddam-Killingworth (4-5). The game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 22 in Deep River.
For the contest against Canton (0-9), the Warriors scored 21 points in the first quarter and tacked on 20 more points in the second for a 41-0 victory. It was Valley’s fifth-straight win and the team’s third-straight win via shutout. Matt Sapere threw three touchdown passes, while Ian Humphreys found the end zone on both offense and defense to lead the rout.
Sapere’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Humphreys started the scoring for the Warriors. Daniel Stecher followed with a 10-yard TD rush and Valley led 14-0. Sapere then threw a 24-yard TD to Garrett Burdick that put the Warriors up 21-0 following Burdick’s extra point kick.
In the second quarter, Humphreys intercepted Canton’s quarterback and took it the distance for a 36-yard touchdown return and a 28-0 lead. Sapere later found Ernest Jean-Pierre on a 21-yard scoring pass and, after Burdick’s fifth extra point, the Warriors had a 35-0 command. Sophomore Jaelen Arnum closed the scoring at 41-0 with a 13-yard TD run.
Sapere completed all five of his passes for 123 yards and three TDs in the victory with Burdick catching a pair of passes for 50 yards. On the ground, Stecher collected 37 yards on four carries, while sophomore Nicholas Braga rushed five times for 41 yards.
Defensively, juniors Jud O’Brien and Josh Donahue both had an interception, as did sophomore Ryan Santos. Also, junior Jon Balocca and sophomore Ben Falivene combined for a sack. Mitch Conrad, Stecher, and sophomore Justin Robida all had seven tackles with Conrad making four tackles for a loss.
Volleyball
The Warriors won their first two matches in the Class S State Tournament before taking a 3-1 loss at Hale-Ray in the quarterfinals on Nov. 11. Valley finished the campaign with a record of 16-8.
Valley, which was seeded 11th in the tournament, opened Class S play by posting a 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-8) home win over No. 22 Canton on Nov. 7. Valley served up 24 aces as a team, led by Rhyan Nedobity, who went 21-for-22 from the service line with nine aces. Jessica Paholski and Maddie Millard both had five aces, while Emily McLaughlin picked up three. McLaughlin led the Warriors’ attack with six kills, plus Emily Hutchinson had five with Paholski getting four. Electra Cassells went 12-for-12 hitting with three kills and Millard had 22 assists for the evening.
Two days later, Valley played at No. 6 seed University and claimed another 3-0 win (25-18, 25-21, 25-20) win in a second round matchup. Paholski stood out for the Warriors with nine kills and eight aces. Cassells added three aces and both she and McLaughlin had four kills apiece.
Two days after that, the Warriors took on 3rd-seeded Hale-Ray, which had defeated them in five sets in the Shoreline Conference Tournament semifinals the previous week. This time, Hale-Ray came away with a 3-1 victory that was decided by set scores of 25-7, 21-25, 25-20, 25-21. Paholski went 15-for-16 on serve with three aces and eight digs for Valley. Alex Figuenick served 14-for-14 with two aces and she also had 14 digs. Millard collected 28 assists to go with three aces in what Head Coach Kathy Scott said was “perhaps her best match of the season.” Additionally, McLaughlin recorded eight kills, Cassells was 14-for-16 hitting with four kills, Heidi Clark tallied 11 receptions, Hutchinson had two kills and a couple of big blocks, and Nedobity added two kills.
Coach Scott praised her athletes for progressing immensely during what turned out to be another in a nice line of solid seasons for the Valley volleyball squad.
“The team was really disappointed, but we were proud of the effort and the aggressive play we maintained throughout the match. We’ve come so far from the beginning of the season and, for a rebuilding kind of year, there is some satisfaction in what we accomplished,” Coach Scott said. “This is a great group of young people. They have heart, balance, compassion, and they enjoy and support each other, which in large part is the reason we came so far this year.”
Field Hockey
Valley was the No. 12 seed in the Class S State Tournament and played at No. 5 North Branford in a first round game on Nov. 8. The Warriors took a 3-1 defeat and finished the year with a record of 8-9-2.