North Haven Football Drops 31-20 Contest to Shelton; Both Soccer Squads Grab Wins
Football
The North Haven football team traveled to Shelton to take on the Gaels in a SCC Tier 1 showdown on Oct. 6. The Indians dropped a 31-20 decision to move to 3-2 on the season with a record of 1-2 in Tier 1 play. Senior captain Mark Montano rushed for two touchdowns and also threw a TD pass for North Haven in the defeat.
Shelton scored the first touchdown just 30 seconds into the game when Georgio Ghazal ran for a 79-yard touchdown. Later in the first quarter, junior Alex Ciaburro intercepted Shelton quarterback Jake Roberts to keep the Gaels’ lead at 7-0 after one.
With 7:48 remaining in the second quarter, Nick Andrade kicked a 32-yard field goal to extend Shelton’s lead to 10-0. The Indians then put their first points on the board when Mike Montano threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to fellow senior Steven Erbe. Freshman Chase DiCarlo kicked the extra point and it was 10-7. The score stayed that way at halftime, helped in part by North Haven blocking a field goal attempt by Andrade in the final seconds of the half.
Shelton (4-1, 2-1) started off the second half by going for a surprise onside kick and recovered it. Roberts followed by throwing 42-yard touchdown pass to David Yakowicz for a 17-7 advantage. The Indians countered on their next drive as Montano found ran for a 5-yard score that cut it to 17-14. However, the Gaels came right back on their ensuing series and scored on a short touchdown pass to make it 24-14 with 4:53 left in the third quarter.
Later in the frame, Nick Dodge forced a fumble that Eric Milliard recovered at the Gaels’ 20-yard line. Eleven seconds into the fourth quarter, Montano took one in from 10 yards out to cut Shelton’s lead to 24-20. Shelton responded on Ghazal’s 27-yard scoring rush for a 31-20 lead with 8:39 to play in the game, and the Gaels went on to get their fourth victory of the season.
Montano finished with 98 yards and two TDs on 17 carries and also completed all three of his passes for 77 yards. Shamus Meehan connected on four pass attempts for 83 yards. In addition to Erbe’s long TD reception, Vinny DePalma caught five passes for 62 yards, while Devan Brockamer added a 42-yard reception for North Haven
Additionally on defense, Erbe, Milliard, and Vinny Campagnuolo each recorded a sack. The Indians’ top tacklers were Orth (13), Dodge (9), Erbe (8), and Joe Gargano (7).
North Haven’s next game is a non-conference home contest against Pomperaug (1-3). The game kicks off at 7 p.m. at Vanacore Field on Friday, Oct. 13.
Girls’ Soccer
North Haven stands at 4-4-2 after splitting a pair of matchups last week. The Indians took a 3-0 home loss to Branford on Oct. 2, but bounced back to post a 4-0 shutout at Lyman Hall on Oct. 6. The win marked the second time that North Haven defeated Lyman Hall by a 4-0 score this season.
Boys’ Soccer
North Haven netted its second victory of the season last week when the Indians shut out Amistad 8-0 in a non-conference home game on Oct. 4. Later in the week, North Haven hosted Cross and took a 3-1 defeat to move to 2-7 for the year.
Girls’ Swimming and Diving
The Indians stand at 4-4 after losing to Lauralton Hall and Cheshire at Gawrych Town Pool last week. North Haven dropped a 101-85 decision to Lauralton Hall on Oct. 2 and took a 97-83 defeat against Cheshire on Oct. 5. Despite the defeats, Head Coach Martha Phelan said that the Indians turned in some great performances against two talented teams.
During the week, freshman Alyssa Laborde posted a lifetime-best time of 28.97 seconds in the 50 freestyle for North Haven. The following athletes all recorded season-best marks between the Indians’ two meets: Jasmine Nguy in the 100 butterfly (1:05.13), Laura Borrelli in the 50 freestyle (26.52), Isabella Alogna in the diving competition (195.85 points), Mackenzie Montesi in the 200 free (2:12.28) and 500 free (5:54.73), Angela Gambardella in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.08) and 500 free (5:21.60), Abby Kirtland in the 100 backstroke (1:12.31), and Kiersten Winter in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:15.35.
Volleyball
The Indians took three defeats last week and are now 3-9 on the season.
North Haven opened up the week with a road match at Lyman Hall and dropped a 3-2 decision behind scores of 25-25, 27-29, 25-15, 23-25, 15-11. Olivia Petersen had 30 assists, 13 digs, one kill, and one block for the Indians. Giselle Zumerchik posted 23 digs to go with 10 kills, two blocks, and a pair of aces, while Peyton Davis had 14 digs, 11 kills, and two aces.
The following day, North Haven had a match in Guilford and lost 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-17). Zumerchik had 15 digs with seven kills and two blocks for the Indians, who also received 11 digs, six kills, and three aces from Davis.
The Indians closed out the week with a SCC Quinnipiac division home match versus Foran and took a 3-2 loss with scores of 23-25, 19-25, 27-25, 25-15, 15-10. Petersen had 29 assists with 19 digs, Zumerchik had 16 digs and 14 kills, and Davis had 15 digs with 10 kills.
Field Hockey
North Haven dropped three contests last week and to move to 1-6-2 for the year.
On Oct. 2, the Indians hosted Lyman Hall and took a 3-1 defeat. Two days later, North Haven played a game at Mercy and lost 5-0. On Oct. 6, North Haven had a home game versus Guilford and lost by a 9-0 final.
Girls’ Cross Country
North Haven competed at the Wickham Park Invitational on Oct. 7 and finished in 31st place out of 40 teams in the unseeded varsity race.
Sophomore Reagan Forbes turned in North Haven’s best performance by running a time of 22 minutes and 38 seconds to finish in 42nd place among a field of 302 runners. Additionally for the Indians, Macey DiCarlo finished in 138th (25:04), Danielle Smith placed 176th (26:01), Phoung Thai came in 218th place (26:55), and Madeline Libero finished 253rd (28:33).
Boys’ Cross Country
The Indians finished in 45th place out of 59 teams in the unseeded varsity competition at last week’s Wickham Park Invitational.
Jonathan Opramolla posted a mark of 19:39 to finish in 120th place among 413 runners for the Indians. Fellow junior Alex Savenelli finished 216th behind a time of 20:35. Also competing for North Haven were Aidan Bergini (269th, 21:21), Alex Kwieraga (301st, 21:44), Nick Howlett (346th, 22:27), Max Petruzziello (353rd, 22:41), and Nick Cristante (362nd, 22:57).