Printer Friendly Version - Blades Skate to Three More Victories; North Haven Girls’ Hoops Beats Branford and West Haven

Melissa Montesi and the Blades’ girls’ ice hockey team have been scoring goals in droves and stand at 8-2 on the season after winning three of their last four games. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The Amity-North Haven-Cheshire (A-NH-C) girls’ ice hockey squad has been busy lately as the Blades recently played four games in an eight-day stretch. Head Coach John Peschell’s club came away with wins in three of those games to raise its record to 8-2 on the year.

After taking a 6-1 loss at Greenwich on Dec. 30, the Blades promptly bounced back by claiming a 7-5 victory against Avon-Southington-East Granby-RHAM (A-S-EG-RHAM) at the Westminster School in Simsbury on Jan. 2. North Haven junior Shannon Reilly recorded a hat trick for the Blades in the high-scoring duel. The Blades netted the game’s first goal just 21 seconds in when Andrea DelVecchio scored from Haley Cable, but then A-S-EG-RHAM scored three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead after one period. Just 12 seconds into the second period, Sara Cable scored from Haley Cable and Shannon Reilly to make it a 3-2 game. Following a goal by the opposition, the Blades scored four goals in a row to hold a 6-4 advantage through two. DelVecchio scored from Meghan Hogan, Reilly scored on an assist by Cally Dixon, Reilly netted her second goal with DelVecchio getting the assist, and then Haley Cable scored from Hogan to cap off the Blades’ four-goal outburst. A-S-EG-RHAM scored with 6:12 remaining to cut it to 6-5, but just 51 seconds later, Reilly lit the lamp on an assist from DelVecchio to cap off her hat trick and give the Blades an insurance goal in their 7-5 victory.

The following night, the Blades hosted Northwest Catholic-Mercy at The Rinks at Shelton and won 9-0. North Haven’s Juliana Daddio made 25 saves in net to get the shutout for the Blades, while Tess Cjeska scored three goals for the hat trick. Csejka scored from Melissa Montesi to give the Blades a 1-0 lead after the first period. In the second period, Megan Spring and Hogan scored unassisted goals, after which Dixon scored on helpers by Csejka and Montesi for a 4-0 advantage after two. The Blades added five goals in the third period as Csjeka scored unassisted, Nadia DiNatale scored from Olivia Dittman and Hogan, Reilly scored on a DelVecchio assist, Csejka got the hat trick by scoring from Grace Kosch, and then Spring scored unassisted to wrap up the 9-0 win.

Then on Jan. 6, A-NH-C notched a 4-0 victory over Guilford in a SCC South Division contest at DiLungo Rink in East Haven. The Blades scored all four of their goals in the second period. Reilly scored from DelVecchio and Haley Cable, DiNatale got a goal on a Montesi assist, Dixon netted an unassisted goal, and Cable scored from Kosch for the final goal. Daddio stopped 17 shots for another shutout.

The Indians hit the ice for a recent game against SCC/SWC Division II opponent Amity and took a 4-1 loss at Bennett Rink in West Haven on Jan. 6.

Senior Jamie Montesi scored on an assist from Jack Marottolo for North Haven, which dropped to 2-3 on the season.

The Indians’ girls’ basketball squad hosted a pair of recent matchups and was triumphant in both of them to stand with a record of 4-3 on the season. North Haven defeated Branford and West Haven on its home floor in last week’s action.

On Jan. 3, North Haven faced Branford in a rematch of the season opener between the two teams and prevailed 44-40 against the Hornets, who had won the initial meeting 48-36 on their home court. Despite a pair of three-point baskets from sophomore guard Laura Petrafesa, the Indians came out slowly versus Branford and trailed 13-8 after the first frame. However, North Haven surged back by outscoring the Hornets 12-3 in the second quarter to take a 20-16 lead into the locker room at halftime.

North Haven put together another great performance in the third quarter and was up 31-23 going into the fourth. Head Coach Ray Degnan said that clutch free throws from Petrafesa and fellow sophomore guard Zoi Burns were key for the Indians in the closing minutes, but he added that the leadership of senior point guard Kylie Brandt proved the biggest factor in North Haven locking up its third win of the season. Brandt scored six points in the fourth quarter and took control of the game with her ball-handling skills and superior toughness, according to Degnan. Brandt finished the night with 12 points, while Petrafesa was the leading scorer with 21 points for the Indians, who improved to 3-3.

“I am not sure if anyone realizes it, but this is the first time we have had a .500 or better record at any point in any season in over two years,” Coach Degnan said. “Laura was fantastic on the offensive end. They had no answer for her. I also thought Brandt showed a refuse-to-lose attitude down the stretch that was incredibly impressive. The girls are buying into our mantra this year: trust the process.”

Three days later, Degnan’s team welcomed West Haven to Fred Kelly Gymnasium for a Saturday afternoon matchup and won 39-30 versus the Blue Devils. Trailing by a point after one quarter, the Indians outscored West Haven 10-3 in the second quarter to turn the tide in their favor. Brandt had another stellar performance by netting 18 points for North Haven. Burns and Petrafesa added six and five points, respectively.

North Haven was on the court for one game last week and took its first defeat of the season with a 61-54 home loss against Foran on Jan. 2. The Indians moved to 4-1 on the campaign with the loss.

North Haven fell behind the Lions 16-10 after the first quarter and trailed 30-18 at halftime. Head Coach Justin Falcon’s squad came out strong in the second half and outscored Foran 21-10 in the third quarter to draw within one at 40-30 entering the final frame. However, the Lions scored 21 points to North Haven’s 15 in the fourth quarter and went on to get the 61-54 victory.

Sophomore guard RJ Hager had a big night for the Indians by making 11 shots from the floor, including three three-pointers, on his way to scoring 24 points. Fellow sophomore guard Ethan Okwuosa scored 15 points, while senior guard Jake Lafond had seven points.

North Haven competed in the Elm City Relays that took place at Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven on Jan. 5.

Junior Erica Marriott posted the fastest time in the preliminaries of the 55-meter dash by a running a time of 7.55 seconds at the meet. Junior Giselle Zumerchik came in seventh place for the prelims of the 55 hurdles with a 9.64 and then finished sixth in the finals behind a time of 9.36.

Also for the Indians, the 4x400 relay of senior Ashley Brown, junior Camille Sahirul, junior Katie Rogers, and sophomore Reagan Forbes finished in sixth place (4:32.74), plus the 4x800 relay of senior Macey DiCarlo, junior Kelly Fresher, senior Angela Sanzari, and Forbes recorded a mark of 11:41.71 to finish in seventh.

Sophomore Kyle Maruca took second place in the shot put with a throw of 45 feet-11 inches for North Haven. Senior Eric Milliard placed fifth (44-11), senior Joe DePrimo finished eighth (40-10.5), and sophomore Luke Maruca came in 10th place (40-3) in the event.

Additionally, North Haven’s 4x400 relay of junior Robert Farley, senior Brad Schweickert, sophomore Evan Schweickert, and junior Jack Opramolla took fifth place in 3:54.49, while the 4x800 of Opramolla, Evan Schweickert, junior Jackson Frank, and Brad Schweickert finished in sixth with a time of 9:03.17.

Sophomore Laura Petrafesa scored 21 points when the North Haven girls’ basketball team defeated Branford last week, after which the Indians won against West Haven to improve to 4-3 for the year. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier