Valley Qualifies for States with an Eye on Shorelines
The Valley Regional boys’ soccer team is headed back to the Class M State Tournament in 2019 after last week’s action. The Warriors played games against Hale-Ray, Old Saybrook, and Windham as part of last week’s slate came away with two ties along with a loss. Head Coach Mick Fearon’s squad has just three games left on the season and still controls its own destiny in terms of making it into the Shoreline Conference Tournament, as well.
The Warriors punched their postseason pass on Oct. 14 with a 2-2 tie at home against Hale-Ray. Three days later, Valley put up a strong fight against one of the Shoreline’s top teams in Old Saybrook and tied the Rams in a 3-3 road contest. On Oct. 19, the Warriors lost a 6-0 road contest against a tough out-of-conference foe in Windham.
Coach Fearon thought that this week’s opponents were a good test for his team as they tune-up for the postseason.
“It’s a lot of tough games in a row. The last two weeks have already been like tournament time,” said Fearon. “Even just the last five or six days we’ve seen three really good quality teams that would be in the state tournament. So it’s good to see that kind of competition.”
Against Hale-Ray, the Warriors showed their resiliency in being able to pick up a tie and a point in the standings. Valley scored quickly off a Sam Helsel unassisted goal, but then Hale-Ray scored two more goals before the end of the first half to take a 2-1 lead. Then in the second half, Jake Burdick put the ball into the net to tie the game for good at 2-2.
“We scored in 30 seconds when Sam Helsel got a goal off a rebounded shot from Cameron Frazier that the keeper saved but couldn’t hold onto. The last five minutes of the first half Hale-Ray scored two goals off a couple of free kicks, and we were down 2-1 at halftime,” Fearon said. “It looked like it was going to end up 2-1, but with 13 minutes to go Cameron Frazier knocked it into the box and Jake Burdick scored the game-tying goal on a header. That tie put us into the state tournament.”
One of the biggest factor in the game was the play of both goalkeepers. Ian Silva had a strong performance in front of the net facing 15 shots and corralling four saves.
Coach Fearon has been impressed by Hale-Ray as a whole this season. Some of the squad’s older players have really come into their own and can give any team trouble.
“Hale-Ray starts seven or eight seniors, and a lot of them have been starters since they were sophomores or freshmen,” Fearon said. “Their keeper did a pretty good job with eight saves, and he’s got a good defense in front of him. The keeper and the center two backs really limited us.”
Three days later, the Warriors headed to Old Saybrook where they played in some tough conditions against the Rams. Both teams managed three goals in the contest to come away with the draw, and if Valley is going to make any noise in the Shoreline Conference Tournament, Old Saybrook could be a likely opponent. Again, Valley had to come back to prevent the loss in this contest.
“It was gale-force winds against Saybrook, and the goalkeepers were only kicking 30 yards. The first half was virtually all Saybrook. They were up 3-1 at the half. They really have a nice team that knocks it around really well,” said Fearon. “They earned their goals, but we also made some errors that led to goals. They are looking for the No. 2 seed in the Shoreline Tournament. It was one of those games that either team could have won in the last five minutes. It was probably more of a good point for us than for them.”
The Rams scored in the first three minutes of the match, but Valley was able to tie the game off an unassisted goal from Sam Helsel coming off of his own rebound. Unfortunately the lead was short-lived and Old Saybrook scored less than a minute later. Then with four minutes left in the half, the Rams went up 3-1.
In the 55th minute, Devon Connelly was in the box and the ball broke free to Burdick, who struck the ball into the bottom corner to make it 3-2. Then to tie the game, Evan Benson came up the right side for a shot, and just before the keeper was about the catch it, Burdick jumped in front and headed it into the goal.
Both games featured some clutch play from Burdick, and Coach Fearon has taken note of the sophomore’s stellar play. Burdick and Frazier have been a versatile pair for the Warriors according to Fearon, and he has been able to shift them around depending on matchups.
“Right now Jake has 12 goals this season as a sophomore. He’s the type of player that can play midfield or up front,” said Fearon. “He’s a year-round soccer player, and he’s probably our best player on the team. You just hope that you aren’t relying on him too much. Cam and Jake have been playing forward, midfield, and occasionally at the back. Putting one at a position takes away from the other, but that’s we’ve been doing to fill in for some injured players.”
Vice captain Ryan Shasha has been nursing an ankle injury so it’s imperative that other players step up to keep the team afloat in his absence. Burdick is one of those players as well as Sam Helsel, who has a two goals and two assists to his credit.
“Sam comes on as a forward. Probably over the last two weeks, he’s been getting used to the pace of the high school game and the physicality,” Fearon said. “He works really hard when he’s up front. We’re looking for other players to step in and get some goals with Ryan injured. Sometimes it seems without him, we’re lacking the ability to put some teams away.”
Valley has a contest with Shoreline Tournament implications against Morgan on Oct. 21 [after press time]. If the Warriors win, they are guaranteed a spot in Shorelines, if they lose, then Valley will be scoreboard watching to see who makes it to the dance. In the end, Coach Fearon believes that Valley can compete with any other team in the conference, as do his players, but the Warriors have to be playing their best soccer to get it done.
“We can beat any team in the Shoreline, but we could also lose to any team in the Shoreline. There is tremendous parity in the league this year. Everybody is taking points off each other,” said Fearon. “We need to be really playing well to beat teams. If we’re not playing well, we come out on the wrong end.”
• The Valley Regional boys’ soccer team’s roster features senior captain Cameron Frazier, senior vice captain Ryan Shasha; seniors Evan Benson, Devon Connelly, Sam Ocken, Michael Pitruzello, Baron Schafer, Dylan Sparaco, Jaden Veiga, and Jeremy Villavicencio; juniors Jackson Bisson, Michael Brooks, Sam Helsel, Tate Ingham, Ronald Llivichuzhca, Keenan Pindar, Cameron Ruel, Ryan Shea, Andrew Sherman, and Ryan Silva; sophomores Jake Burdick, Tucker Burr, Hayden Lombardi, Simon Partyka, Andrew Salbinski, and Ian Silva; freshmen Samuel Hutchinson and Michael Kollmer.
• Head Coach Mick Fearon continues his 18th season at the helm of the Warriors. Fearon’s coaching staff includes Bryant Ziobron and Dan DeNegre.
• For the rest of the regular season, the Warriors are playing home games versus Cromwell and Haddam-Killingworth.