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01/13/2018 11:00 PMBoys’ Ice Hockey
The North Haven boys’ ice hockey squad split a pair of non-conference contests by losing to Woodstock Academy and then bouncing back with a dramatic 2-1 victory versus Hall-Southington. Head Coach Nick Costanzo’s squad now has a record of 3-4 on the season.
North Haven lost a 7-5 home decision against Woodstock Academy at Northford Ice Pavilion on Jan. 10. Senior Alex Cianci led the scoring by netting a hat trick for the Indians, whose offense had a big night that helped them take a 5-4 lead into the third period. Senior Jamie Montesi and junior Dom Biondi scored North Haven’s other goals in the game.
Then on Jan. 13, North Haven faced off against Hall-Southington at Veteran’s Memorial Rink in West Hartford and prevailed 2-1 in comeback fashion. Trailing 1-0 going into the third period, North Haven rallied for a pair of goals, netting the game-winner in the waning seconds.
With 4:43 left in the game, Andrew Carmody tied it by scoring on a great setup from fellow sophomore Jack Morotollo. Then with just 30 seconds to play, the Indians had to take a face-off from their defensive zone. Senior Sam Pethick won the face-off to send play down to the other end, where Carmody took a shot down low that senior Kyle Spring buried on the rebound to give North Haven a 2-1 lead with two seconds left. Senior goalie Jeremy Hickcox played a great game in net to keep the Indians in it in their victory.
Girls’ Ice Hockey
The Amity-North Haven-Cheshire girls’ ice hockey team was on the ice for two SCC South Division matchups last week and split the pair to stand with a mark of 9-3 for the season.
The Blades got their week started by claiming a 7-1 victory at Notre Dame-Fairfield-Law-Foran-Weston at Milford Ice Pavilion on Jan. 10. With the Blades trailing 1-0, Andrea DelVecchio scored back-to-back goals to put them up 2-1 after one. North Haven junior Shannon Reilly had the assist on the first goal. The Blades then scored three goals in the second period to make it a 5-1 lead. Cally Dixon scored from Tess Csejka and North Haven sophomore Melissa Montesi, Reilly netted a goal on assists from DelVecchio and Haley Cable, and then Dixon scored another goal with Csejka and Montesi getting the assists. In the third period, Meghan Hogan and Tess Csejka scored unassisted goals for the Blades to wrap up the 7-1 win. North Haven senior Juliana Daddio made 17 saves in net
Three nights later, the Blades hosted familiar foe West Haven-Sacred Heart Academy at The Rinks at Shelton and lost by a 2-1 score in overtime. After a scoreless first period, WH-SHA scored the first goal of the game with 10:56 left in the second period. With 6:46 remaining in the game, the Blades tied it up when Csejka scored on an assist from Dixon. WH-SHA netted the winning goal with 2:06 to play in the overtime session for the 2-1 victory.
Boys’ Basketball
The North Haven boys’ basketball team played a pair of Housatonic Division contests last week and came away with a split to stand at 5-2 overall and a record of 2-1 in the division. The Indians lost to Hamden and then won a two-point decision against Lyman Hall in last week’s action.
On Jan. 10, North Haven took a 91-58 loss at Hamden. RJ Hager scored 17 points, while fellow sophomore Ethan Okwuosa scored 14 for the Indians. Jared Sancho had 11 points, and fellow senior Jake Lafond scored 10 points in the defeat.
Two nights later, North Haven hosted Lyman Hall for another Housatonic matchup and won a close one by the final of 66-64 in overtime. This game was nip-and-tuck the entire way as the Indians trailed 11-10 after the first quarter, but outscored the Trojans 23-20 in the second quarter to take a 33-31 lead into halftime. Lyman Hall outscored North Haven 19-17 in the third, and so the game was knotted at 50-50 heading into the final period.
North Haven was down two at the end of regulation, when Zach Pincince was fouled while attempting a shot as time expired. The senior hit two free throws with no time on the clock to send it to overtime, where the Indians won it by outscoring Lyman Hall 6-4, spurred by another big basket from Pincince.
Hager hit seven field goals and went 7-for-7 from the free-throw line to score 22 points for the Indians. Lafond had 11 points; Okwuosa, Pincince, and sophomore Dave Christoforo all scored eight points; and Sancho added seven points for Head Coach Justin Falcon’s club.
“Last night was competitive. It was a battle. Those Lyman Hall kids always play hard. We knew it would be a fight and both teams kept grinding,” Coach Falcon said. “Hats off to Zach Pincince. His free throws at the end of regulation and his last basket in OT were the reason we were successful. He had a couple moments last night he will never forget.”
Girls’ Basketball
The Indians’ girls’ basketball squad had a busy week with three games and took three defeats to move to 4-6 on the season.
North Haven opened up Oronoque Division play by hosting Hand on Jan. 10 and lost a 63-41 contest to the Tigers. Sophomore Laura Petrafesa scored 11 points, sophomore Zoi Burns had eight points, junior Leah Zeisner scored seven, and senior Kylie Brandt had six points for the Indians.
Then on Jan. 12, the Indians had another divisional matchup with a game at Lyman Hall and lost 54-38. Burns scored 13 points, Zeisner had 10 points, and Brandt added seven points.
The following afternoon, North Haven played at Wilbur Cross and dropped a 37-27 decision versus the Governors. The Indians held a 14-3 lead after the first quarter, but Cross outscored North Haven 24-6 between the second and third quarters on its way to the win. Petrafesa scored 10 points, and Zeisner added seven points for North Haven.
Boys’ Swimming and Diving
The North Haven boys’ swimming and diving team hosted three meets in four days at Gawrych Town Pool last week and earned a pair of wins to improve to 2-3 for the year. North Haven defeated Foran and Law with a loss against Amity sandwiched in between.
North Haven picked up its first victory of the year by topping Foran 90-75 on Jan. 9. The following afternoon, the Indians took a 95-77 home loss versus Amity. North Haven came back to get its second win with a 91-77 victory over Law on Jan. 12.
Junior JP Stoeffler swam a lifetime-best mark of 2:13.63 in the 200 individual medley last week, while junior Tommy O’Connor went a lifetime best of 58.43 in the 100 freestyle. Senior Marcus Zikaras recorded lifetime-best times in the 50 freestyle (28.91) and the 100 backstroke (1:15.06), with fellow senior Albi Koleci doing so in the 100 butterfly with a mark of 1:10.52. Freshman diver Joe O’Connor posted a lifetime-best point total of 139.30 for North Haven during last week’s action.
Other athletes who notched lifetime-best marks for the Indians last week were sophomore Stephen Borrelli in the 500 freestyle (6:21.50) and the 100 breaststroke (1:24.44), freshman Cameron Cargan in the 500 freestyle (6:21.87), freshman Marco Criscola in the 500 free (7:00.50) and the 100 breaststroke (1:29.64), junior Will McCleery for the 100 backstroke (59.56), plus sophomore Carlo Frunzio in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:08.47. Additionally, junior Kevin Powers swam season-best times in the 200 IM (2:28.79) and the 100 fly (1:03.62) for Head Coach Martha Phelan’s team.
Girls’ Indoor Track
The Indians saw several athletes compete at last week’s SCC Coaches Invitational, which was held at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven on Jan. 13.
Junior Erica Marriott had a nice meet for North Haven by placing third in the 55-meter dash and sixth in the long jump. In the 55, Marriott ran a time of 7.57 seconds to take fourth place in the preliminaries and then timed in at 7.48 in the finals for a third-place finish. In the long jump, Marriott reached a distance of 16 feet-3 inches to take sixth place.
Additionally for North Haven, senior Ashley Brown posted a ninth-place finish in the 300 by running a time of 44.25. Brown also teamed up with juniors Camille Sahirul, Katie Rogers, and Giselle Zumerchik in the 4x200 relay, and the quartet finished in ninth behind a time of 1:55.49.
Boys’ Indoor Track
The Indians competed at the second SCC Developmental meet of the season at Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven on Jan. 9. Sophomore Kyle Maruca took second place in the shot put with a throw of 45 feet-4 inches for North Haven. Senior Eric Milliard was next in line as his toss of 44-8 put him in third place. Senior Joe DePrimo finished in sixth place with a 41-1. Also at the meet, senior Matt Coyle cleared 9-6 in the pole vault to finish in ninth place.
Later in the week, North Haven was represented by some athletes at the SCC Coaches Invitational. Milliard finished fifth in the shot put with a throw of 45-3.75, and Maruca placed sixth at 45-1.75 for the Indians.