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10/28/2019 12:00 AMGirls’ Swimming and Diving
The North Haven girls’ swimming and diving team completed the 2019 regular season by posting recent victories against Branford and Shelton. The Indians finished with a record of 9-2 and now get ready to compete in the postseason starting with the SCC Championship this week. North Haven’s nine wins mark the most victories that the team has ever achieved in a single campaign.
North Haven began the week by earning a 92-83 road win over Branford at Walsh Intermediate School on Oct. 21. Then on Oct. 25, the Indians hosted Shelton for their Senior Night meet and prevailed by 94-79 score at Walter Gawrych Community Pool.
Senior diver Ava Santacroce made history again when she broke her own school record for a six-dive performance in the win against Shelton. Santacroce recorded a lifetime-best point total of 246.65 points to eclipse her own school-record mark of 243.60 that she had set against Cheshire on Oct. 8.
Santacroce was one of seven seniors honored when the Indians defeated Shelton on Senior Night. North Haven’s other seniors are captains Angela Gambardella and Christina Stoeffler, along with Mia Coppola, Abby Kirtland, Mackenzie Montesi, and Gillian Regan.
On the week, Gambardella swam a season-best time in the 100 backstroke (1:05.38) with Montesi (6:01.48) and Kirtland (6:16.73) both doing so in the 500 freestyle. Freshman Mikayla Rapuano set a season best in the 100 breaststroke (1:15.34), freshman Makenzie Alogna turned in a season best for the 200 individual medley (2:41.59), and junior Molly Coyle swam season bests in both the 200 IM (2:30.26) and the 100 butterfly (1:07.70). Sophomore Grace Finch posted a lifetime-best mark of 1:03.96 in the 100 freestyle for North Haven last week.
The SCC Championship gets underway with the Diving Championship at Sheehan High School at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1. The Swimming Qualifying will take place at Cheshire Community Pool on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 5 p.m. The SCC Swimming Championship will be held at Southern Connecticut State University at 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 4.
Boys’ Soccer
North Haven catapulted itself into the playoff conversation by winning two of its three games in last week’s action. The Indians earned victories versus West Haven and Law and then lost a game against Career-Hillhouse. North Haven has a record of 3-7-4 entering the last week of the regular season and can qualify for the Class L State Tournament by either winning its last two games or getting one win and a tie.
On Oct. 21, the Indians hosted SCC Housatonic opponent West Haven and posted a 6-0 shutout at North Haven Middle School. North Haven earned its first division win of the year with this victory.
Two days later, North Haven claimed a 3-1 home win over Law in another SCC Housatonic Division contest. With the win, the Indians finished with a record of 2-3-3 in divisional play this season.
North Haven closed out the week by losing a 5-2 decision versus Career-Hillhouse at the East Shore Athletic Complex in New Haven.
Girls’ Soccer
North Haven split a pair of road games against divisional opponents last week to move to 4-8-2 with two games left in the regular season. The Indians need either two victories or a win and a tie to guarantee themselves a spot in the Class L State Tournament.
On Oct. 22, North Haven took a 3-0 loss against SCC Quinnipiac Division opponent Mercy at Xavier High School. Mercy scored its first goal five minutes into the game, made it 2-0 by scoring another goal with a minute left in the first half, and then scored its final goal during the second half. Despite the defeat, Head Coach Gary Collins said that North Haven received a strong performance from its defensive backfield of senior Katie Ryan, junior Carly Fresher, junior Emma Christoforo, and freshman Giovanna Damone in the game.
The Indians bounced back the next day by posting a 3-1 road win versus foe Foran in another Quinnipiac Division matchup. With the victory, North Haven notched its first divisional win of the season to finish with a record of 1-4-1 in the Quinnipiac. North Haven netted its first goal when sophomore Ada Forbes scored on an assist from junior Julia Bogen. Forbes took a pass from Bogen, ran past the last defender, beat the goalkeeper, and then slipped the ball into the open net to give North Haven a 1-0 lead at halftime.
In the second half, junior Megan Russo made it 2-0 when she converted a penalty kick after Fresher was taken down in the box. Foran scored a goal to cut it to 2-1, but the Indians responded when senior Julia Raposo received a pass for a breakaway and buried the opportunity to extend North Haven’s lead to 3-1. Coach Collins credited senior Erika Holle for doing a solid job of disrupting Foran’s midfielders and making good decisions with the ball, as well as his defense for limiting the Lions to just eight shots on net. Sophomore goalie Sophia Chagnon made four saves to get the win in goal for North Haven.
Field Hockey
North Haven took three defeats during the final week of the regular season.
The Indians started off the week by dropping a 5-1 decision against Sheehan at North Haven Middle School on Oct. 22. Two days later, North Haven hosted Sacred Heart Academy and lost by the final score of 8-0. The next day, the Indians took a 4-0 road loss versus Lauralton Hall to finish the regular season with a record of 1-14-1.
Girls’ Cross Country
North Haven competed in the Class MM State Championship that took place at Wickham Park in Manchester on Oct. 26. The Indians finished in 15th place out of the 18 teams that were represented at the meet.
Senior Reagan Forbes turned in the top showing for North Haven by taking 42nd place with a time of 22:38 at states. Freshman Payton Orosco finished 58th by running a time of 23:59. Also competing for North Haven were sophomore Caitlyn McFarland (95th, 26:23), sophomore Sophia Melillo (112nd, 27:34), sophomore Gianna Mele (118th, 28:41), sophomore Riley Minns (123rd, 29:29), and junior Tinisha Narain (124th, 29:36).
Boys’ Cross Country
The Indians sent seven athletes to run at the Class L State Championship at Wickham Park last weekend. North Haven came in 18th place among a field of 21 teams that competed in the meet.
Junior Patrick Rourke crossed the finish line with a time of 18:22 to finish in 56th place for the Indians. Sophomore Jake Hines finished 66th behind a time of 18:35. North Haven’s other competitors at states were freshman Tyler Wurm (94th, 19:13), senior Aidan Bergin (119th, 19:54), junior Nick Howlett (120th, 19:55), sophomore Mike Rubano (131st, 20:21), and junior Tiernan Neville (132nd, 20:34).