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10/21/2018 12:00 AM

North Haven Volleyball Prevails in Pink Game, Stands at 13-4; Football Takes 28-24 Loss Versus Shelton


Senior Peyton Davis and the North Haven volleyball team improved to 13-4 this year by winning all three of their matches last week. The Indians have been clicking on all cylinders as they get ready to compete in the postseason. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

Volleyball

The North Haven volleyball team put three more victories in the books last week to improve its record to 13-4 on the season. The Indians earned wins versus Foran (3-0), Lyman Hall (3-1), and Cross (3-0) last week and have now won 11 of their last 13 matches as the postseason draws closer.

North Haven opened up last week by earning a 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-19) win at Foran in an SCC Oronoque Division showdown on Oct. 15. Senior Peyton Davis had 11 kills with three digs and two aces for North Haven. Fellow senior Giselle Zumerchik recorded 10 kills to go with four digs, while junior Melissa Seidemann added nine kills in the victory. The Indians finished with a record of 5-3 in Oronoque Division play and also completed a season sweep of Foran with this win.

On Oct. 17, North Haven hosted Lyman Hall and earned a 3-1 victory in the Indians’ annual Pink Game. North Haven lost the first set, but came back to win the match with scores of 21-25, 25-14, 25-10, and 25-17. Senior Olivia Petersen handed out 34 assists to go with nine digs and three aces for the Indians. Zumerchik had 11 kills, nine digs, and five aces, and Davis contributed 10 kills with six aces in the win.

North Haven closed out its week by posting a 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-9) victory against Cross in a home match on Oct. 19. Petersen had 29 assists, four digs, and three aces, Zumerchik recorded 13 kills and had eight digs, and Davis had six kills to go with five digs and a pair of aces for the Indians, who avenged their 3-2 defeat at Cross on Sept. 26 with the victory.

Girls’ Swimming and Diving

North Haven finished off its 2018 regular season with a record of 8-3 after recording victories in both of last week’s matchups. The Indians defeated Branford and Shelton last week and now get ready to dive into postseason action.

North Haven kicked off last week with a home meet versus Branford and defeated the Hornets 96-80 at Gawrych Town Pool on Oct. 16. Sophomore Maddie Bergin finished first for the 50 freestyle behind a time of 24.81 seconds and also claimed first in the 100 freestyle at 55.25. Junior Angela Gambardella took first place in the 500 freestyle by swimming a time of 5:21.93 for North Haven. Junior Kiersten Winter swam a time of 2:21.95 to earn first-place honors in the 200 individual medley. Sophomore Riley Jooss finished first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:05.84, while freshman Giulia Faulkner took first in the 200 freestyle at 2:12.30. In the diving competition, senior Isabella Alogna came in first place by posting a score of 201.30. North Haven’s 200 medley relay team of freshman Brooke Nebor, Gambardella, Jooss, and Bergin finished in first place by recording a mark of 1:56.24.

Three days later, the Indians were on the road to face Shelton in their regular-season finale and prevailed 97-73 at the Shelton Community Center Pool. Gambardella took first place in the 200 individual medley (2:17.33) and the 100 breaststroke (1:10.20) for North Haven. Nebor claimed first place for both the 100 butterfly (1:06.17) and the 100 backstroke (1:06.69). North Haven’s 200 medley relay of Nebor, Gambardella, Jooss, and Bergin finished first at 1:57.48. The Indians’ 200 freestyle relay of freshman Taya Laborde, Winter, freshman Noelle Carmody, and freshman Scarlett Vogel finished first with a time of 1:50.94.

With the regular season complete, North Haven now prepares to compete in the postseason, beginning with the SCC Championship. The SCC Diving Championship takes place at Sheehan High School at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27. The SCC Swimming Qualifier will be held at the Cheshire Community Pool at 4 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 29. The SCC Swimming Championship is at Southern Connecticut State University on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. Two weeks after SCCs, the Indians will be competing in the Class M State Championship.

Football

North Haven hosted fellow SCC Tier 1 opponent Shelton in a battle of undefeated teams on Oct. 19. The Indians took a 28-24 defeat against the Gaels in a back-and-forth contest at Vanacore Field for their first loss of the season. The Indians moved to 5-1 overall with a record of 2-1 in SCC Tier 1. Shelton improved to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in Tier 1 with the win.

North Haven trailed Shelton 14-7 at halftime, before scoring a touchdown and then adding a field goal in the third quarter to bring a 17-14 lead into the fourth. The two teams traded touchdowns in the final period, with Shelton scoring the go-ahead TD with 7:09 remaining. Senior captain Nick Dodge ran 17 times for 122 yards, while fellow senior captain Devan Brockamer had 13 carries for 91 yards for the Indians, who saw three different players score touchdowns in the loss.

Shelton took an early 7-0 lead after Jake Roberts ran for a 5-yard touchdown just four minutes into the game. North Haven tied it up 20 seconds into the second quarter on a 2-yard touchdown rush from junior Corey Hooks and an extra point by sophomore Chase DiCarlo. Roberts later scored on a 1-yard TD run to put Shelton ahead 14-7 with 3:51 to play until halftime.

Two minutes and nine seconds into the third quarter, Justin White threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to fellow junior Noah Perillie, and the game was tied at 14 following another DiCarlo extra point. Later in the frame, DiCarlo booted a 22-yard field goal to give the Indians a 17-14 lead with 1:41 to go in the third.

Roberts scored from one yard out to put Shelton up 21-17 just 13 seconds into the fourth quarter. North Haven responded by going on a drive that culminated with a 4-yard TD run from junior Max Augustine just a minute and a half later. DiCarlo kicked the extra point to make it 24-21 in favor of North Haven with 10:14 remaining. However, Shelton came back with a touchdown drive of its own and took a 28-24 lead on Roberts’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Paul Ferrigno with 7:09 left. The Indians turned the ball over on downs on their own 45-yard line with a little more than minutes to play in the contest.

Hooks ran 11 times for 52 yards to aid the Indians’ offense, which was playing without senior captain quarterback Shamus Meehan and fellow senior Noah Pastore, who were both sidelined with injuries. White completed two of his four passes for 47 yards in the game. On defense, junior Luke Maruca recorded a sack for North Haven. Perillie made eight tackles, while senior Albert Hooks had seven tackles.

North Haven’s next game will be versus SCC Tier 1 foe Xavier at Vanacore Field at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26. Xavier enters the game at 1-4 overall and 0-2 in Tier 1. Last year, North Haven earned a 50-49 overtime victory versus Xavier on the road.

Boys’ Soccer

North Haven played three games in SCC Housatonic Division action last week and came away with a pair of victories. The Indians took a loss to Xavier, but bounced back by posting victories against Cross and Notre Dame-West Haven later in the week. North Haven has an overall record of 8-5-1 and is 2-4-1 in the division entering the last week of the regular season.

North Haven faced Xavier on the road on Oct. 15 and dropped a 3-0 decision to the Falcons.

Two days later, the Indians hosted Cross and prevailed 2-0 at North Haven Middle School for their first divisional win of the year. Senior Justin Maturo and sophomore Kasey Mongillo scored North Haven’s goals in the victory. North Haven split its season series with the Governors after having previously taken a 1-0 defeat at Cross on Sept 22.

Two days later, North Haven captured a 1-0 road win at Notre Dame-West Haven for another victory in SCC Housatonic play. Sophomore Tanner Powell netted the lone goal of the game with senior AJ Fraschilla getting the assist. Earlier in the year, the Indians battled Notre Dame to a 2-2 tie in North Haven on Sept. 26.

Girls’ Soccer

The Indians lost three contests last week to move to 3-9-2 with two games remaining in the regular season. North Haven took losses against Cheshire, Hamden, and Foran in last week’s matchups.

On Oct. 15, North Haven hosted Cheshire and took a 9-0 defeat in an SCC Quinnipiac Division game. Two days later, the Indians dropped a 4-0 decision at Hamden in another divisional contest. North Haven finished off its week by losing a 3-0 contest at Foran on Oct. 20.

Field Hockey

North Haven took defeats against Cheshire, Mercy, and Lauralton Hall last week.

North Haven started the week by losing a 7-0 contest in Cheshire on Oct. 15. The following day, the Indians faced Mercy for another road game and took a 4-0 loss. Then on Oct. 19, the Indians hosted Lauralton Hall and dropped a 1-0 decision to move to 0-12-1 on the season. Junior goalie Sophia Aquaro made 17 saves in net for North Haven.

Boys’ Cross Country

North Haven came in 14th place out of 19 teams at the SCC Championship meet that took place at East Shore Park in New Haven on Oct. 19.

Senior Jack Opramolla turned in North Haven’s top showing by taking 48th place in a field of 128 runners with a time of 18 minutes and 15 seconds on the 5K course. Freshman Mike Rubano came in 82nd place by running a time of 19:08. Senior Jackson Frank finished 88th with a mark of 19:24, junior Aidan Bergin finished 93rd behind a time of 19:43, and sophomore Nick Howlett came in 104th place at 20:18 for the Indians. Senior Jake Barra finished in 111th with a time of 20:59, while fellow senior Alex Kwieraga came in 117th place by running a time of 21:34.

North Haven, which went 10-4 during the regular season, will compete at the Class MM State Championship at Wickham Park in Manchester at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27.

Girls’ Cross Country

Junior Reagan Forbes led the Indians by finishing in 34th place at last week’s SCC Championship. North Haven came in 16th place out of 18 teams at the SCC meet, which was held at East Shore Park in New Haven on Oct. 19.

Forbes ran a time of 22 minutes and 5 seconds to take 34th place out of 122 competitors for the 5K at the SCC Championship. Freshman Riley Minns finished 92nd with a time of 24:46, while senior Shannon Reilly came in 105th place by clocking in at 25:45 for North Haven. Senior Madeline Libero placed 104th by running a time of 25:53, and fellow senior Lily Corcoran finished 112th with a mark of 29 minutes flat.

The Indians, who went 6-8 for the regular season, will be running in the Class MM State Championship on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 3:45 p.m. at Wickham Park in Manchester.

Freshman Giulia Faulkner and the Indians’ girls’ swimming and diving squad put a bow on an 8-3 regular-season record after earning wins versus Branford and Shelton in last week’s action. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier
Sophomore Tanner Powell scored the only goal of the day when the North Haven boys’ soccer team edged Notre Dame-West Haven by a 1-0 score to move to 8-5-1 for the season. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier