Printer Friendly Version - North Haven Boys’ Lacrosse Takes Two in States, Before Losing in Quarterfinals; Baseball Eliminated in First Round

Senior Shamus Meehan and the North Haven boys’ lacrosse team put the clamps on their first two opponents in the Class M State Tournament to advance to the quarterfinal round. The Indians took a loss to Guilford in the quarters to finish with a mark of 11-8 this season. File photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

North Haven claimed victory in its first two games of the Class M State Tournament, before taking a defeat in the quarterfinal round last week. The Indians started off the tourney by routing Norwich Tech-Windham Tech and then knocking off a higher-seeded Berlin team. North Haven lost to Guilford in the quarterfinals to finish with a record of 11-8 on the year.

The Indians entered the Class M bracket as the No. 12 seed and posted a 19-0 home shutout against No. 21 Norwich Tech-Windham Tech in a qualifying-round contest on May 24.

Then on May 29, North Haven was on the road to face No. 5 seed Berlin for a first-round game and triumphed by the final score of 9-6. Head Coach Eric Bailey said the Indians’ defense shut down Berlin’s offense and that his team’s defense played well against the Redcoats’ zone defense. North Haven’s defensive unit was led by seniors Shamus Meehan, Lou Mineri, and Vin Vigliotto, junior Jack Priebe, and sophomores Andrew Sacco, Rafe Lawless, and James Yosua. Senior goalie Sean Quinn made seven saves.

Senior Jack Broggi had a big game for North Haven’s offense by scoring five goals in the victory. Sophomore Kasey Mongillo netted three goals, and senior Matt Crisco also had a goal for the Indians. Sophomore Kyle Nichols chipped in with three assists, while freshman Jake Hines scooped up eight ground balls.

Two days later, the Indians took an 11-3 loss at No. 4 seed Guilford in a quarterfinal game.

North Haven was eliminated from the Class L State Tournament when the Indians took a 9-0 loss at East Lyme in a first-round game on May 28. North Haven, which was the No. 19 seed, finished its year with an overall record of 12-11 after losing to 14th-seeded East Lyme.

East Lyme scored three runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 3-0 lead over North Haven. The Vikings added a pair of runs in the fourth inning and scored four runs in the fifth to extend the lead to 9-0.

Seniors Hunter Garthwait, Gianni DiMartino, John Gontarek all had singles for the Indians. Junior Mason Balmer also got a base hit in the game, while fellow junior Owen Silk drew a walk. Garthwait started on the mound and pitched the first four innings. Senior Reid Kankel pitched one inning, and sophomore JJ Mazzaro tossed a scoreless inning of relief for North Haven.

North Haven posted a record of 11-9 for the regular season this year. In addition to making states, the Indians qualified for the SCC Tournament, where they earned a 5-4, 11-inning quarterfinal victory against Notre Dame-West Haven and then lost to Cheshire in the semis. Bob DeMayo finished his 61st season as head coach of the Indians and now has 915 career victories.

North Haven defeated Suffield in the qualifying round of the Class M State Tournament and then took a versus Avon in a first-round match. The Indians, who also qualified for the SCC Tournament this year, completed their campaign with an overall record of 14-7.

North Haven was the No. 9 seed in the Class M tourney and started off the draw by earning a 7-0 home win over No. 24 Suffield in qualifying-round action on May 24. Senior Julia Migliorini posted a 6-0, 6-0 shutout at No. 1 singles, freshman Ally Vollero won a 6-0, 6-1 decision at No. 2 singles, senior Lilly Mezzi claimed a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 3 singles, and junior Anna Wootton prevailed by a 6-2, 6-2 final in the No. 4 singles match.

North Haven’s No. 1 doubles team of senior Daniella Bryson and Jess Tran earned a 6-4, 6-1 win, the No. 2 team of senior Yasmin Mohamed and junior Claire Looney netted a 6-0, 6-1 win, and the No. 3 team of senior Melinda Vissicchio and sophomore Sophia DelVecchio toughed out a 7-6, 6-7, 10-2 victory.

Then on May 25, the Indians were on the road to face No. 8 seed Avon and dropped a 5-2 decision in a first-round contest. Migliorini triumphed by the final score of 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, while Vollero won a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 decision in the No. 2 matchup.

Following the State Tournament, Migliorini and Vollero represented North Haven when they competed at the State Open Championship at Conard High School on June 1. Migliorini, the No. 4 seed in the singles bracket, notched an 8-0 win over Nhi Nguyen from Sacred Heart in the first round and then defeated Sophia Islam from Bethel by an 8-0 score in a second-round contest. By virtue of reaching the round-of-16, Migliorini earned All-State honors in singles play at the State Open for the fourth-consecutive season.

Also at the Open, Vollero posted an 8-4 win over Erin Murray of RHAM in a qualifying-round match, after which she took an 8-1 loss against 14th-seeded Abigail Murray from Southington in the first round.

The Indians qualified for the Class L State Championship as a team and saw several athletes compete at the event on May 24 and 25.

In the singles tournament, senior Matteo Franco earned a 9-7 victory in a qualifying-round contest and then took a loss in the first round. Fellow senior Matt McCarthy prevailed by an 8-3 final in the qualifying round and lost a decision in his first-round matchup. Seniors Max Petruzziello and Nick Cristante also took first-round defeats at the meet.

For the doubles bracket, North Haven’s team of senior Jake Barra and freshman Ben Rudikoff won a 6-3, 6-3 decision in first-round action, after which they took a defeat in the second round. The duo of senior Quinn Dallai and sophomore Tanner Powell claimed a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the first round and later took a loss in their second-round matchup. The team of junior Laekhram Singh and sophomore Matt Labanara dropped a decision in the first round.

North Haven came into states after posting a record of 11-7 during the regular season. The Indians also qualified for the SCC Tournament and took a quarterfinal loss to Hand to finish at 11-8 overall.

North Haven was represented by several athletes at the Class MM State Championship last week. The Indians scored seven points and finished in 23rd place at the meet.

North Haven scored all seven of its points in the shot put, led by a third-place performance from Luke Maruca in the event. Maruca, a junior, turned in a throw of 45 feet-8 inches to place third in the shot put and score six points for the Indians. Fellow junior Matt Mullen took third place with a toss of 42-5 to score North Haven’s other point.

Senior Jonathan Opramolla finished 13th in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.44 seconds. Fellow senior Jacob Wurm placed 22nd in the 400 (56.66) and finished 24th in the pole vault by clearing 10 feet-6 inches.

North Haven’s 4x800 relay of Opramolla, sophomore Nick Howlett, senior Jobin Valiyaveettil, and sophomore Patrick Rourke posted a time of 8:43.29 and finished in 11th place. Freshman Jack Pollard finished 39th in the preliminaries of the 100-meter dash by running a time of 12.11 seconds.

Senior Julia Migliorini and the Indians’ girls’ tennis squad started off states with a qualifying-round win over Suffield, before taking a defeat against Avon in a first-round contest. Migliorini went on to win a pair of matches at the State Open Championship later in the week. File photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

Senior Jacob Wurm competed in the 400-meter dash and the pole vault when the Indians represented at the Class MM State Championship last week. File photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier