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09/10/2018 12:00 AMBoys’ Soccer
The Morgan boys’ soccer team is looking to pick up where it left off after winning Shoreline Conference and Class S state titles last season. The Huskies are out to a good start after securing a 5-1 victory at Cromwell in their season opener on Sept. 7.
Zachary Tuccitto started off his junior season by recording a hat trick against the Panthers. The Huskies received a pair of goals from senior David Saturno, who also contributed an assist.
Saturno opened the scoring with a goal just three minutes into the game on an assist from senior Jhonnyer Paida. Tuccitto scored 10 minutes later off a pass from sophomore Max Skidmore and then picked up his next goal on a Saturno helper just five minutes into the second half. Ten minutes after that, Saturno struck again with an unassisted goal for his second of the game. After Cromwell scored its lone goal of the game, Tuccitto netted his third goal for the hat trick.
Girls’ Soccer
The Huskies started their season by playing Bethel to a 0-0 tie at the Indian River Complex on Sept. 7.
Morgan outshot Bethel 15-2 and created several chances offense, but was unable to muster a goal. Senior goalkeeper Rebecca Cockley made a pair of saves on the day.
Head Coach Steve Sullivan was impressed by the play of his squad. He was equally impressed with the performance of Bethel’s goalie, who made 15 saves to keep the game scoreless.
“I was very pleased how well we played and how much we dominated the game by outshooting Bethel 15-2,” Sullivan said. “Bethel’s goalkeeper really kept them in the game. It happened to be one of those nights where we could not find the back of the net.”
Volleyball
The Morgan volleyball team blanked Valley Regional by the final score of 3-0 on the road in the first match of the season on Sept. 6. The Huskies swept the Warriors behind final scores of 26-24, 25-13, and 25-19.
Junior Charlotte Davenport totaled 16 kills, a pair of aces, four blocks, five digs, and two assists in the victory. Fellow junior Sarah Kuever handed out 20 assists to go with three digs, six blocks, four kills, and an ace. Senior Nikole Salinas led the Huskies with seven aces, while Mackenzie Anderson provided eight digs, six kills, three aces, and five assists.
Football
The Huskies’ football squad took a 39-26 defeat against Stafford-Somers-East Windsor (S-S-EW) in its first matchup of the 2018 campaign.
Morgan received a strong performance from senior quarterback JP Nye, who threw for 364 yards and three touchdowns in the defeat. Senior Deven Talarczyk had eight catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns, while fellow senior Ryan Caldwell caught six passes for 120 yards and a TD. Senior Mike Savage led the rushing game with 47 yards.
On defense, Senior Zak Johnson had five tackles, including two for a loss, and junior Michael Zingarella recorded four tackles with three for a loss.
S-S-EW scored first with a 3-yard touchdown run to go up 6-0. Morgan responded with a 44-yard TD pass from Nye to Talarczyk to tie the game. S-S-EW returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown to take a 12-6 lead.
In the second quarter, Morgan scored two touchdowns to grab a 20-12 advantage. The first TD came on Nye’s bomb to Caldwell from 73 yards away to tie the game. Nye later ran in a 14-yard touchdown for the second score. Savage followed by converting the 2-point conversion for an eight-point lead. S-S-EW scored the final two touchdowns of the first half to take a 26-20 lead into the break.
After a scoreless third quarter, S-S-EW scored two TDs in the fourth to make it 39-20. Morgan scored the final touchdown of the night on Nye’s touchdown pass to Talarczyk for the 39-26 final. The Huskies are entering their fourth season with Peter Nye as head coach.