This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
09/18/2017 12:00 AMSource Sports Writer
Boys’ Soccer
The Cougars’ boys’ soccer squad collected wins over Valley Regional and Cromwell last week. Haddam-Killingworth stands with a record of 3-0 on the young season.
H-K started off by netting a 3-1 victory over Valley Regional on Sept. 11. The Cougars outshot Valley 19-3. Valley Regional scored the game’s first goal, but H-K responded less than three minutes later on a goal by Sam Purdy. The Cougars then took the lead for good on a header by Gabriel Mangiafico right before the half. The scoring was wrapped up by Ben McLaughlin on a free kick with 38 seconds remaining in the game.
“We got a great game out of our back four [defenders], holding the Valley Regional attack to only three shots,” said Head Coach Denis Recchia.
Following that victory, the Cougars blanked Cromwell 4-0 on Sept. 14. The only goal of the first half was scored by Benjamin Marchetti from the penalty spot. The second half was all H-K as the team received goals from Alex Obymachow, Mangiafico, and Marchetti.
Girls’ Soccer
H-K played a pair of close contests Valley Regional and Cromwell last week. The Cougars played to a 0-0 draw with Valley Regional on Sept. 12 before taking a 1-0 loss to Cromwell on Sept. 15. H-K is now 0-2-1 on the year.
Volleyball
Haddam-Killingwort faced off against Morgan, Cromwell, and Coginchaug in its second week of action. The Cougars won all three contests to improved their record to 3-1 on the season.
H-K began last week by sweeping Morgan 3-0 on Sept. 11, after which the Cougars edged out Cromwell by a 3-2 final on Sept. 13. H-K capped off its perfect week with a 3-0 sweep of Coginchaug on Sept. 15.
Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country
On Sept. 9, the H-K cross country program opened up its fall season by traveling to Somers, New York to compete against 35 New York schools in the Somers Big Red Invitational.
The Cougars’ boys’ team, which is currently ranked seventh in Connecticut, opened its season in victorious fashion by easily winning its Division 3 race. H-K scored 28 points to outdistance Dobbs Ferry, New York, which placed second with 89 points. The team was led by a pack of Cougars at the front of the 5,000-meter race in tri-captain senior Andrew Meredith (2nd place in 16:37), along with fellow seniors Dan Schumann (3rd, 16:38) and tri-captain Jonah Spector (4th, 16:41). Also racing for H-K were senior Conor McCabe (7th, 17:21), junior Kyle Criscuolo (12th, 18:00), junior Seth Freeman (13th, 18:01), and senior tri-captain Kurt Sodergren (14th, 18:03).
The H-K girls were competing without several members of the varsity team, but still placed second in their Division 3 race with 43 points, losing a close race to The Hackley School from New York. The girls were led by senior tri-captain Kelsey D’Amico, who placed third in a time of 20:28 and was followed closely by senior Julie Kelly, who finished fourth with a mark of 20:33 for the 3.1-mile course. Senior tri-captains Lexie Bouthillier (7th, 21:24) and Maggie Fisher (10th, 22:23) were next in line for the girls, whose team scoring was rounded out by sophomore Alex Zupan as she placed 29th in a time of 26:20.
H-K’s freshman teams also competed in the meet. Matt Jennings won the boys’ race in a time of 9:00 for the 1.5-mile course. For the girls’ race, freshman Meara Bodak took fourth place at 10:52.
Football
H-K took a 34-26 loss against Coginchaug/Hale-Ray on Sept. 16 and is now 1-1 this year.
Tobey Callender carried the ball 15 times for 95 yards and a touchdown for the Cougars, while Jordan Callahan had two interceptions, giving him three for the year. The game was a back-and-forth duel that was tied 20-20 at halftime. The contest remained tight in the second half with the Blue Devils leading 34-26 late in the fourth quarter. The big play came when Coginchaug intercepted a Cougars’ pass in the end zone with under two minutes remaining to seal the win.
Cody Ellex, H-K’s senior quarterback, had a strong game on offense by throwing for one touchdown and rushing for another. Callender had a big day, including a huge 67-yard run in the first quarter, to set up the Cougars’ first score. Unfortunately, Callender was sidelined with an arm injury for most of the second half.
H-K travels to Morgan (0-2) for its next game on Friday, Sept. 22 at 6:30 p.m.
Field Hockey
The Cougars took on Old Saybrook in their lone game last week. H-K lost a 3-2 contest against the Rams on Sept. 13.