This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
10/29/2017 12:00 AMFootball
The North Haven football team pulled off a victory for the ages when the Indians claimed a 50-49 overtime victory at Xavier in a crazy, back-and-forth contest on Oct. 28.
North Haven held a 27-0 lead in the third quarter before the Falcons scored four straight touchdowns to go up 28-27 early in the fourth. The teams exchanged TDs in the final frame, and the game went to overtime deadlocked at 42. Xavier started the extra session by scoring a touchdown, but the Indians pulled within one when Zack Orth scored from a yard out on fourth down, after which North Haven won it on fellow senior captain’s Mark Montano’s 2-point conversion run on the final play of the game.
Montano ran 25 times for 134 yards and two touchdowns, completed four passes for 94 yards, and also returned a kickoff for a TD in the victory. Orth gained 98 yards on 22 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns for the Indians, who improved to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in SCC Tier 1 play with the win. North Haven is ranked seventh in the Class L State Playoff rankings, in which the top eight squads qualify.
North Haven jumped out to a 7-0 lead when junior Devan Brockamer (7 carries, 68 yards) booked 46 yards for a touchdown just more than three minutes into the game. Freshman Chase DiCarlo kicked the extra point, and the Indians had a 7-0 lead that stood up after the first quarter.
The Indians’ defense kept Xavier (3-4, 1-2) off the board throughout the first half. In the second quarter, North Haven’s offense put together an 85-yard drive that culminated with a 1-yard TD run from Orth and a 14-0 lead at intermission.
Montano started off the second half by returning the kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. Junior Noah Pastore (10 carries, 39 yards) later scored on a 1-yard rush, and North Haven seemed to be in command with a 27-0 advantage. However, Xavier quarterback Will Levis got the Falcons’ offense rolling as they started piling up the yards and also took advantage of a few North Haven fumbles to score four straight touchdowns and take a 28-27 lead early in the fourth quarter. Levis, who passed for 465 yards in the game, threw a pair of touchdowns passes and then ran for a score to cut it to 27-21 after three quarters. Xavier then went ahead by one following a short TD run just five seconds into the fourth.
North Haven promptly responded as Montano ran for a 4-yard touchdown and found senior Steven Erbe on the 2-point conversion pass to put the Indians up 35-28. However, Levis came back by tossing a 5-yard touchdown to Alex Kulasenski to make it a 35-35 game with 6:31 to play. Montano followed with a 15-yard scoring rush that returned the lead to the Indians with 3:16 remaining, but Xavier answered again as Levis connected with a Kulasenski on a 12-yard TD pass that knotted it at 42-42 with 1:55 left.
The game went to overtime, where Xavier’s Tyrone Abrahams scored from 10 yards away to give the Falcons a 49-42 advantage following the extra point kick. North Haven started its first drive of OT from the Xavier 10-yard line. Orth scored from a yard out on fourth down and, rather than attempt a game-tying extra point, North Haven Head Coach Anthony Sagnella opted to go for two and the win. Montano took the handoff and plunged across the goal line to give the Indians a thrilling 50-49 victory.
Additionally for North Haven’s offense, senior Jack Clapp grabbed two receptions for 83 yards. On defense, Orth recorded a sack and the team by making 10 tackles. Montano had four total kick returns for 180 yards, and Brockamer gained 55 yards on his two kickoff returns. DiCarlo went 4-for-5 on extra points.
North Haven’s next game is at home against SCC Tier 2 squad Foran (4-3) on Friday, Nov. 3. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3.
Boys’ Soccer
North Haven wrapped up its 2017 campaign with a pair of contests last week. The Indians tied Foran and then defeated Valley Regional for a record of 3-11-2 on the year.
North Haven traveled to Milford to face Foran on Oct. 23 and battled to a 0-0 tie against a Lions’ squad that the Indians had lost to earlier in the season.
Three days later, North Haven hosted non-conference opponent Valley Regional on Senior Night and prevailed by the final score of 2-1.
Girls’ Soccer
The Indians hosted Cross for the last game of the regular season and came away with a 1-0 victory on Oct. 27 to cap a season sweep of the Governors. North Haven won its last three regular season games to finish at 7-7-2.
The Indians will next compete in the Class L State Tournament that begins on Monday, Nov. 6 and concludes with the championship game on either Friday, Nov. 17 or Saturday. Nov. 18.
Volleyball
North Haven played three matches in its last week of the season and won one of them to finish with a record of 6-14. The Indians’ win came against Sacred Heart Academy in their season finale.
On Oct. 23, the Indians hosted Law and lost 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-9). Olivia Petersen recorded 18 assists to go with nine digs, Carly Brown punched up 10 digs, and Giselle Zumerchik had eight kills, five digs, and a pair of aces for North Haven.
Two days later, North Haven faced fellow Quinnipiac Division opponent Lauralton Hall on the road and dropped a 3-0 decision.
The Indians closed out their season by taking a posting a 3-1 victory at Sacred Heart Academy on Oct. 26.
Field Hockey
The Indians completed the 2017 season by dropping pair of contests last week. North Haven finished the year with a record of 2-11-3.
On Oct. 23, North Haven hosted Sacred Heart Academy and lost 5-1. Jackie Howlett scored the Indians’ goal in the game.
Three days later, the Indians were at Hamden for their season finale and took a 10-0 defeat.
Girls’ Cross Country
The Indians hit the course at Wickham Park to run at the Class MM State Championship on Oct. 28. North Haven finished in 15th place as a team at the meet.
Sophomore Reagan Forbes timed in with a mark of 22 minutes and 27 seconds to take 31st place for the Indians. Senior Macey DiCarlo finished in 57th place by a running a time of 24:13, while fellow senior Danielle Smith came in 87th place at 25:47. Additionally for North Haven, senior Phoung Thai finished 103rd (26:16), junior Shannon Reilly came in 111th place (26:44), and junior Madeline Libero placed 126th with a time of 28:26.
Boys’ Cross Country
North Haven competed at last week’s Class L State Championship and finished in 23rd place.
Junior Jack Opramolla finished in the front of the Indians’ pack by taking 82nd place with a time of 19:03. North Haven’s other runners at the state meet were senior Corey Reilly (117th, 19:41), junior Jackson Frank (128th, 20:04), junior Alex Savenelli (137th, 20:24), sophomore Aidan Bergin (148th, 20:48), junior Alex Page (156th, 21:14), and junior Nick Cristante (170th, 22:03).
Girls’ Swimming and Diving
On the heels of a 7-4 regular season, North Haven is competing in the SCC Championship this week and has the Class M State Championship on the way.
For states, the Diving Championship is at Bulkeley High School at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 8; the Swimming Qualifying takes place at Masuk High School at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11; and the Swimming Championship will be held at Southern Connecticut State University at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15.