The common theme when talking to Griswold High boys soccer coach Vin Laraia on Thursday could be described in one word; redemption.
The Wolverines are looking for that in more aspects than one this season.
Griswold downed Montville, 2-1, Thursday afternoon which Laraia thought could serve as a confidence boost for a team that came so close last season to winning the Eastern Connecticut Conference Small Division title.
"Our guys are really happy about this win (Thursday) because they were questioning themselves after last year," Laraia said.
That's because the Wolverines only lost to Lyman, a team which has never lost an ECC Small Division game in its three-plus years in the league, 1-0 twice last season.
"Our goal this year is to win the ECC Small and beat Lyman," Laraia said. "They want to go into the Lyman game undefeated and they want to beat Lyman this year. They're very bitter about those 1-0 losses and they feel they can beat Lyman."
The Wolverines will get two opportunities to do so, on Oct. 5 at 6:30 p.m. at Lyman and again on Oct. 27 at 6:30 p.m. on the football field in Griswold.
Laraia said the team is not the only ones looking for redemption, there's also an individual with something to prove this year; keeper Brandon McNeil.
The senior captain kept Montville at bay after the Indians took over the momentum halfway through the second half courtesy of a penalty kick. McNeil shut them down thereafter, turning aside seven consecutive chances including a pair of bullets by Tyler and Connor Leeman.
"He's got something to prove, he finished second in the (ECC) voting last year for All-ECC and he wants to be that," Laraia said. "He worked hard over the summer and he's trying hard out there."
Note
HS Football
Last week's Killingly-Wolcott game was the last scheduled football game between the two long-distance opponents.
The two schools had a home-and-home agreement and there was talk on the sidelines last week that a new two-year deal had been struck, but nothing is official yet.
"I don't have an answer for that," Wolcott coach Patrick Russo said last Saturday night. "There's been talk but we won't (finalize) anything until the end of the season. People here have been great to us, I take my hat off to coach (Chad) Neal and the hospitality both last year and this year. We've built a little relationship with him, we've been to the same coaching clinics with him and hung out with him and had dinner. There's good people here in Killingly, we really respect what they do."
Friday, September 24, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
HS Cross Country: Plainfield's Ruffo growing up
She used to be a young, little girl running among adults in local road races, winning some of the female events despite being just 12 and 13- years-old.
She's still young and small, but Plainfield freshman Keri Ruffo is growing up.
Now a high school freshman, Ruffo ran her first official high school dual meet on Tuesday afternoon in Central Village, winning it with ease.
"I love it," Ruffo said when asked how happy she was to be a part of the Plainfield Panthers cross country team. "It's so much different from middle school, much better, more fun, more competition."
Ruffo is a chip off the old block. Her father, Pat, used to be an athlete at Plainfield in late 1970's and early 80's, known for his prowess in baseball. On Tuesday, he was on the sidelines watching his daughter run past and thinking the same thing as her coaches, Ben Bowne and Kevin Grant, "don't go too fast, it's still the first race of the season."
That's hard to get through to a freshman running her first race at home as Ruffo sprinted out to a lead and never looked back, with the exception of once.
"I looked a little behind me at the (football) scoreboard (about three-quarters of the way through the race) to see if they were behind me," Keri Ruffo said.
She didn't have to worry about that, there was not a Griswold runner within a minute of her.
"I was shocked," Ruffo said.
Griswold coach Mike Flynn - knowing his runners had just completed competing in the Windham Invitational over the weekend - had asked his team to go out as a unit and stay ahead of St. Bernard, don't worry about winning the race.
Those were the same orders issued to Ruffo who had run in the freshman race at Windham; Hardly winded at the finish, she said she also complied with those wishes.
"It's a long season, she's young, we had an Invitational last Saturday and have another one this Saturday, she's running the freshman race there and we want her to have a shot at those big meets," Grant said about the strategy of asking Ruffo to restrain herself a bit. "Our team is pretty strong this year, we figured we could use thise as a workout, just like the Griswold girls did."
Grant said he thought Ruffo's tempo was a "little more on target" than the Griswold girls who he thought "were going a little too slow for their ability."
"Keri did a great job," Grant said.
Whalers on the road
The Killingly High football team got a little break.
It will still have to play New London in November, but it learned on Tuesday that the game between the Redmen and Whalers will be played in Danielson rather than New London on November 12. The Whalers continue to have trouble with the new turf at Canamella Field as was reported in the Norwich Bulletin on Tuesday and likely will not be able to use the new field at all this season.
Only two games, Oct. 22 against Fitch and on Thanksgiving Day versus Norwich Free Academy remain unchanged at the moment.
"It's a challenge for the kids, I know they were hoping for a new field," New London Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Nick Fischer, said Monday, "but coach (Jeff) Larson has done an outstanding job prepping the kids under difficult circumstances."
Not only has New London had to shift most of their games from home to away with the one exception being the game at the Coast Guard Academy against Montville, the team has also had to practice on a make shift field behind the school.
"It's a challenge the kids will have to learn how to deal with, it's disappointing, but it's not a crisis," Fischer said.
She's still young and small, but Plainfield freshman Keri Ruffo is growing up.
Now a high school freshman, Ruffo ran her first official high school dual meet on Tuesday afternoon in Central Village, winning it with ease.
"I love it," Ruffo said when asked how happy she was to be a part of the Plainfield Panthers cross country team. "It's so much different from middle school, much better, more fun, more competition."
Ruffo is a chip off the old block. Her father, Pat, used to be an athlete at Plainfield in late 1970's and early 80's, known for his prowess in baseball. On Tuesday, he was on the sidelines watching his daughter run past and thinking the same thing as her coaches, Ben Bowne and Kevin Grant, "don't go too fast, it's still the first race of the season."
That's hard to get through to a freshman running her first race at home as Ruffo sprinted out to a lead and never looked back, with the exception of once.
"I looked a little behind me at the (football) scoreboard (about three-quarters of the way through the race) to see if they were behind me," Keri Ruffo said.
She didn't have to worry about that, there was not a Griswold runner within a minute of her.
"I was shocked," Ruffo said.
Griswold coach Mike Flynn - knowing his runners had just completed competing in the Windham Invitational over the weekend - had asked his team to go out as a unit and stay ahead of St. Bernard, don't worry about winning the race.
Those were the same orders issued to Ruffo who had run in the freshman race at Windham; Hardly winded at the finish, she said she also complied with those wishes.
"It's a long season, she's young, we had an Invitational last Saturday and have another one this Saturday, she's running the freshman race there and we want her to have a shot at those big meets," Grant said about the strategy of asking Ruffo to restrain herself a bit. "Our team is pretty strong this year, we figured we could use thise as a workout, just like the Griswold girls did."
Grant said he thought Ruffo's tempo was a "little more on target" than the Griswold girls who he thought "were going a little too slow for their ability."
"Keri did a great job," Grant said.
Whalers on the road
The Killingly High football team got a little break.
It will still have to play New London in November, but it learned on Tuesday that the game between the Redmen and Whalers will be played in Danielson rather than New London on November 12. The Whalers continue to have trouble with the new turf at Canamella Field as was reported in the Norwich Bulletin on Tuesday and likely will not be able to use the new field at all this season.
Only two games, Oct. 22 against Fitch and on Thanksgiving Day versus Norwich Free Academy remain unchanged at the moment.
"It's a challenge for the kids, I know they were hoping for a new field," New London Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Nick Fischer, said Monday, "but coach (Jeff) Larson has done an outstanding job prepping the kids under difficult circumstances."
Not only has New London had to shift most of their games from home to away with the one exception being the game at the Coast Guard Academy against Montville, the team has also had to practice on a make shift field behind the school.
"It's a challenge the kids will have to learn how to deal with, it's disappointing, but it's not a crisis," Fischer said.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Grove returns as head coach in Montville today
Montville coach Tanner Grove was re-instated immediately after the Indians win over New London, he met the busses on their return to the high school Saturday and will be back on the job today (Monday). Grove was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs in August and was suspended for the first game of the season. Thus, he had to miss the 21-19 win over New London at the Coast Guard Academy.
Rob Alves and Gary Wilcox served as co-head coaches in the interim while Grove had to stay away from the team.
Alves admitted prior to the game on Saturday that there was a lot of pressure taking over the team for its game against the Whalers.
"I'm very happy, it's a lot off my chest, it really is," Alves said about the return of Grove as head coach. "At the same time, it was a great learning experience and, hopefully, I kept the team going in a positive direction."
After the game, Wilcox said it was nice to see how the team came together and overcame the distractions.
"This whole team stepped up big and overcame adversity," Wilcox said. "We started the season with an issue and these coaches and kids stepped up so big, myself and coach Alves literally focused this group of coaches and kids to overcome all of the nonsense to overcome all of this. Even in the second half (when New London scored 13 of its points) when we had that adversity coming, we held together, we bent, but we didn't break."
Notes
Where were the rosters this weekend?
I went to four high school football games and only one, the Killingly-Wolcott game, had rosters out for the public to bring with them into the game.
Quinebaug Valley-Plainfield had only two copies of team rosters, both of them in the press box. The Norwich Free Academy-Windham game had some made up, but they were in a box inside the ticket booth and there were almost none available at the Montville - New London game (I was fortunate to come away with two of the few that existed).
I realize it was the first game of the year, but when you are charging the public to see a game, the least you could give them is something to follow it better with. It doesn't have to be a complete program, but one sheet with rosters on both sides is better than nothing.
Interesting soccer pairing today, the Lyman and Norwich Free Academy girls and boys play a doubleheader at Lyman Memorial in Lebanon. The girls play in the first game at 4:30 p.m., the guys play in the nightcap at 6:30 p.m. The Norwich Bulletin will be covering both games. Also coming tomorrow, the first fall notebook of the high school season - look for it in your mailbox, newsstands and on-line.
Rob Alves and Gary Wilcox served as co-head coaches in the interim while Grove had to stay away from the team.
Alves admitted prior to the game on Saturday that there was a lot of pressure taking over the team for its game against the Whalers.
"I'm very happy, it's a lot off my chest, it really is," Alves said about the return of Grove as head coach. "At the same time, it was a great learning experience and, hopefully, I kept the team going in a positive direction."
After the game, Wilcox said it was nice to see how the team came together and overcame the distractions.
"This whole team stepped up big and overcame adversity," Wilcox said. "We started the season with an issue and these coaches and kids stepped up so big, myself and coach Alves literally focused this group of coaches and kids to overcome all of the nonsense to overcome all of this. Even in the second half (when New London scored 13 of its points) when we had that adversity coming, we held together, we bent, but we didn't break."
Notes
Where were the rosters this weekend?
I went to four high school football games and only one, the Killingly-Wolcott game, had rosters out for the public to bring with them into the game.
Quinebaug Valley-Plainfield had only two copies of team rosters, both of them in the press box. The Norwich Free Academy-Windham game had some made up, but they were in a box inside the ticket booth and there were almost none available at the Montville - New London game (I was fortunate to come away with two of the few that existed).
I realize it was the first game of the year, but when you are charging the public to see a game, the least you could give them is something to follow it better with. It doesn't have to be a complete program, but one sheet with rosters on both sides is better than nothing.
Interesting soccer pairing today, the Lyman and Norwich Free Academy girls and boys play a doubleheader at Lyman Memorial in Lebanon. The girls play in the first game at 4:30 p.m., the guys play in the nightcap at 6:30 p.m. The Norwich Bulletin will be covering both games. Also coming tomorrow, the first fall notebook of the high school season - look for it in your mailbox, newsstands and on-line.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Windham had good start, poor finish
It was almost like it was 2009 again in Willimantic on Friday night.
That was when Tim Doyle fielded Steve Calitri's opening kickoff near his own goal line and found his way up field for a season-opening 99-yard kick off return that spurred the Windham Whippets on to a win over Norwich Free Academy.
On Friday night, after the kick off and a four-yard run by Shane Doughty, it was Alex Partosan who played the option to perfection and then kept the ball, turned it upfield, and went the 75 yards to give Windham the early eight-point advantage.
"It felt familiar to last year at the beginning of the game," Windham coach Brian Crudden said.
Anthony Facchini felt the same way and on the Norwich sideline, that was not a good feeling to have.
"That was letdown and it was like, here we go again," the NFA running back said. "But I know that we're not last year's team, we're a lot better than that. We've worked so hard in the offseason and preseason that I knew it wasn't going down like that, not like last year."
The Wildcats did answer the touchdown later in the first quarter, but then allowed Windham to score again right before the half. The Whippets put together 231 yards of offense in the first half and held on to the ball for 15 minutes, 48 seconds of the 24-minute half.
Still, NFA coach Jemal Davis wasn't overly concerned.
"They got the coin toss, got the ball and they were able to stop us early," Davis said. "It's tough any time you come up to Windham, especially for the first game of the season, Brian just does an excellent job of preparing his kids and giving you stuff that you can't prepare for."
The turn in fortunes came early in the second half when Windham, thanks to a penalty for coming out of the locker room late and a misunderstood call on the kick, gave NFA the ball on the Whippets 40-yard line. Facchini scored to make it a two-point game and, after a windham turnover, the Wildcats scored again to take the lead for good.
Facchini, who only had 60 yards in eight carries in the first half, finished with 199 yards in 23 carries.
"We obviously know that Anthony is an exceptional athlete, a big, physical kid and he's got some big guys up front, and with that combination, we felt that if we just don't turn the ball over, get some stops, we can control the tempo of the game and run the clock out," Davis said.
NFA won, 25-14.
Notes:
The running game may be old news in the NFL, but not in high school ball. Windham passed the ball seven times Friday night, the Wildcats only five. The longest pass completion of the night was by Windham's Alex Partosan for nine yards. The only completion for NFA's Erik Washburn was good for only a yard.
Penalties and turnovers haunted Windham.
The Whippets were flagged 10 times for 95 yards, the worst being a holding call that negated a 38-yard touchdown run by Shane Doughty in the first quarter that could have put the Wildcats in a big hole early.
Windham also turned over the ball four times, two on fumbles, two on interceptions.
"From the staff on down to kids, we were disorganized and undisciplined, that's disappointing," Windham coach Brian Crudden said.
It's never easy picking winners in the first week of the season and I struggled on Friday night's games. The East Lyme/Torrington game I considered a toss-up so I went with the local folks and Torrington bit me on that one. There was no question that Stonington versus Waterford could go either way as well and that came down to a flip of the coin. I went out on the limb to pick Capital Prep/Hartford Classical over Griswold, the charter school teams have an assosrtment of athletes that changes on a yearly basis and you really don't know what they have before they play. At least, I got the NFA and Ledyard picks right and wasn't far off on either. I said 42-7 Ledyard, the Colonels won 43-7 and I picked NFA to win 24-13, not far from the actual final of 25-14.
I have Fitch, Bacon, New London, Lowell Catholic and Wolcott winning today.
That was when Tim Doyle fielded Steve Calitri's opening kickoff near his own goal line and found his way up field for a season-opening 99-yard kick off return that spurred the Windham Whippets on to a win over Norwich Free Academy.
On Friday night, after the kick off and a four-yard run by Shane Doughty, it was Alex Partosan who played the option to perfection and then kept the ball, turned it upfield, and went the 75 yards to give Windham the early eight-point advantage.
"It felt familiar to last year at the beginning of the game," Windham coach Brian Crudden said.
Anthony Facchini felt the same way and on the Norwich sideline, that was not a good feeling to have.
"That was letdown and it was like, here we go again," the NFA running back said. "But I know that we're not last year's team, we're a lot better than that. We've worked so hard in the offseason and preseason that I knew it wasn't going down like that, not like last year."
The Wildcats did answer the touchdown later in the first quarter, but then allowed Windham to score again right before the half. The Whippets put together 231 yards of offense in the first half and held on to the ball for 15 minutes, 48 seconds of the 24-minute half.
Still, NFA coach Jemal Davis wasn't overly concerned.
"They got the coin toss, got the ball and they were able to stop us early," Davis said. "It's tough any time you come up to Windham, especially for the first game of the season, Brian just does an excellent job of preparing his kids and giving you stuff that you can't prepare for."
The turn in fortunes came early in the second half when Windham, thanks to a penalty for coming out of the locker room late and a misunderstood call on the kick, gave NFA the ball on the Whippets 40-yard line. Facchini scored to make it a two-point game and, after a windham turnover, the Wildcats scored again to take the lead for good.
Facchini, who only had 60 yards in eight carries in the first half, finished with 199 yards in 23 carries.
"We obviously know that Anthony is an exceptional athlete, a big, physical kid and he's got some big guys up front, and with that combination, we felt that if we just don't turn the ball over, get some stops, we can control the tempo of the game and run the clock out," Davis said.
NFA won, 25-14.
Notes:
The running game may be old news in the NFL, but not in high school ball. Windham passed the ball seven times Friday night, the Wildcats only five. The longest pass completion of the night was by Windham's Alex Partosan for nine yards. The only completion for NFA's Erik Washburn was good for only a yard.
Penalties and turnovers haunted Windham.
The Whippets were flagged 10 times for 95 yards, the worst being a holding call that negated a 38-yard touchdown run by Shane Doughty in the first quarter that could have put the Wildcats in a big hole early.
Windham also turned over the ball four times, two on fumbles, two on interceptions.
"From the staff on down to kids, we were disorganized and undisciplined, that's disappointing," Windham coach Brian Crudden said.
It's never easy picking winners in the first week of the season and I struggled on Friday night's games. The East Lyme/Torrington game I considered a toss-up so I went with the local folks and Torrington bit me on that one. There was no question that Stonington versus Waterford could go either way as well and that came down to a flip of the coin. I went out on the limb to pick Capital Prep/Hartford Classical over Griswold, the charter school teams have an assosrtment of athletes that changes on a yearly basis and you really don't know what they have before they play. At least, I got the NFA and Ledyard picks right and wasn't far off on either. I said 42-7 Ledyard, the Colonels won 43-7 and I picked NFA to win 24-13, not far from the actual final of 25-14.
I have Fitch, Bacon, New London, Lowell Catholic and Wolcott winning today.
Friday, September 17, 2010
HS football: Gleim looked good for Quinebaug Valley
Plainfield may have won the football game, 22-19, but the star of the show was Quinebaug Valley running back Shane Gleim.
The former Tourtellotte/Ellis Tech back had a pair of 60-plus yard runs that kept the Pride in the game against the young Panthers in the season opener for both on a rainy night Thursday night in Putnam.
Gleim carried the ball just 11 times, but rushed for 151 yards, 68 of those came early in the second quarter.
Plainfield had just scored on the last play of the first quarter to take the early lead. The Pride took over on their own 25-yard-line after the kickoff and moved up five yards on an encroachment call against the Panthers. That's when Quinebaug Valley coach Shane Szydlo called Gleim's number. Running out of the right wing in the Pride's double-wing offense, Gleim hadn't gone anywhere in his first two carries of the game, that changed this time when he spied a hole and made a quick decision.
"It was originally a sweep where I was supposed to run all the way to the (left) side, but if the cutback lane was there, we take it," Gleim described. "I had three blocks in front of me, I saw the opening with only a defensive back and I just cut it back, had one man to beat."
Unfortunately, he couldn't shake that one man and was finally taken down at the two-yard line. On the next play, Mike Seifert (14 carries, 60 yards) took it in for the score to cut the deficit to one point.
Plainfield scored again before the half and there was concern the game would not be finished when the two teams came out of the locker room to be greeted by heavy rain and lightning which delayed the contest for 30 minutes.
Gleim had seen his yardage total go down in the two carries since his 68-yard burst, he went negative-6 in those. But he made up for that midway through the third quarter after Quinebaug Valley had climbed out of a hole of its own making following a penalty that pushed it back to its own 11-yard -line. Shane Herlihy (5 carries, 35 yards) went 12 yards and a facemask penalty pushed the Pride up to their own 38-yard line. On a wet field, with rain pouring down, Gleim took advantage of the slick conditions by reversing the field, again to the left side, and found daylight for a 62-yard touchdown.
"I got two blocks, one from Norman Henry, and another pancake block right in front of me, so I had no to beat except the one kid that I stiff-armed and then it was just a touchdown- it was all about the blocking," Gleim said.
But even those two runs were not enough to lift the Pride to a victory in their first outing as a combined Putnam/Tourtellotte/Ellis Tech unit.
"As a team, yes, I'm happy; personally, I expected better," Gleim said. "As a team we came together in the second half. In the first half, (Plainfield) was kind of throwing us around, doing whatever they wanted."
The good thing for Quinebaug Valley, it gets a week to rest and think about this game as its next game doesn't take place until Saturday, Oct. 2 at home against Abbott Tech.
NOTES
Although some may have thought it a bad decision to play a game on Thursday night due to the threat of bad weather, it worked out for Plainfield and Quinebaug Valley.
The predicted rain came and came down hard for a time from late in the second quarter to the beginning of the fourth. There was also the one flash of lightning that prompted officials to clear the field for half-an-hour prior to the start of the second half. The predicted damaging winds never materialized and, due to the lack of rain in the area, the field absorbed most of the water and never got real sloppy.
It doesn't look like New London's home field is going to be ready any time soon.
The Whalers this week announced that the game with Waterford on Oct. 8 has been moved from New London to Waterford. The chairman of the building committee for the new turf field in New London, Peg Curtin, had originally indicated that she had hoped the field would be finished by that time.
New London has also asked for the home game against Wilton on Oct. 1 to be moved from Friday to Saturday, Oct. 2 at 1 p.m. The Whalers hoping to play the Warriors on Waterford's home field.
The New Haven Register preseason poll has Notre Dame of West Haven predicted to be the top team in the state again this year. The West Haven school took 12 of the 18 first-place votes from a panel of sportswriters with Masuk - led by former New London quarterback Casey Cochran - getting two and Xavier, New Canaan, Staples and New London getting one each.
Xavier, New Canaan, St. Joseph and Staples rounded out the top five in the balloting followed by Masuk, Cheshire, New London, Berlin and Bridgeport Central. Other ECC schools getting votes included Montville, who finished just out of the top 10, Ledyard and East Lyme.
The former Tourtellotte/Ellis Tech back had a pair of 60-plus yard runs that kept the Pride in the game against the young Panthers in the season opener for both on a rainy night Thursday night in Putnam.
Gleim carried the ball just 11 times, but rushed for 151 yards, 68 of those came early in the second quarter.
Plainfield had just scored on the last play of the first quarter to take the early lead. The Pride took over on their own 25-yard-line after the kickoff and moved up five yards on an encroachment call against the Panthers. That's when Quinebaug Valley coach Shane Szydlo called Gleim's number. Running out of the right wing in the Pride's double-wing offense, Gleim hadn't gone anywhere in his first two carries of the game, that changed this time when he spied a hole and made a quick decision.
"It was originally a sweep where I was supposed to run all the way to the (left) side, but if the cutback lane was there, we take it," Gleim described. "I had three blocks in front of me, I saw the opening with only a defensive back and I just cut it back, had one man to beat."
Unfortunately, he couldn't shake that one man and was finally taken down at the two-yard line. On the next play, Mike Seifert (14 carries, 60 yards) took it in for the score to cut the deficit to one point.
Plainfield scored again before the half and there was concern the game would not be finished when the two teams came out of the locker room to be greeted by heavy rain and lightning which delayed the contest for 30 minutes.
Gleim had seen his yardage total go down in the two carries since his 68-yard burst, he went negative-6 in those. But he made up for that midway through the third quarter after Quinebaug Valley had climbed out of a hole of its own making following a penalty that pushed it back to its own 11-yard -line. Shane Herlihy (5 carries, 35 yards) went 12 yards and a facemask penalty pushed the Pride up to their own 38-yard line. On a wet field, with rain pouring down, Gleim took advantage of the slick conditions by reversing the field, again to the left side, and found daylight for a 62-yard touchdown.
"I got two blocks, one from Norman Henry, and another pancake block right in front of me, so I had no to beat except the one kid that I stiff-armed and then it was just a touchdown- it was all about the blocking," Gleim said.
But even those two runs were not enough to lift the Pride to a victory in their first outing as a combined Putnam/Tourtellotte/Ellis Tech unit.
"As a team, yes, I'm happy; personally, I expected better," Gleim said. "As a team we came together in the second half. In the first half, (Plainfield) was kind of throwing us around, doing whatever they wanted."
The good thing for Quinebaug Valley, it gets a week to rest and think about this game as its next game doesn't take place until Saturday, Oct. 2 at home against Abbott Tech.
NOTES
Although some may have thought it a bad decision to play a game on Thursday night due to the threat of bad weather, it worked out for Plainfield and Quinebaug Valley.
The predicted rain came and came down hard for a time from late in the second quarter to the beginning of the fourth. There was also the one flash of lightning that prompted officials to clear the field for half-an-hour prior to the start of the second half. The predicted damaging winds never materialized and, due to the lack of rain in the area, the field absorbed most of the water and never got real sloppy.
It doesn't look like New London's home field is going to be ready any time soon.
The Whalers this week announced that the game with Waterford on Oct. 8 has been moved from New London to Waterford. The chairman of the building committee for the new turf field in New London, Peg Curtin, had originally indicated that she had hoped the field would be finished by that time.
New London has also asked for the home game against Wilton on Oct. 1 to be moved from Friday to Saturday, Oct. 2 at 1 p.m. The Whalers hoping to play the Warriors on Waterford's home field.
The New Haven Register preseason poll has Notre Dame of West Haven predicted to be the top team in the state again this year. The West Haven school took 12 of the 18 first-place votes from a panel of sportswriters with Masuk - led by former New London quarterback Casey Cochran - getting two and Xavier, New Canaan, Staples and New London getting one each.
Xavier, New Canaan, St. Joseph and Staples rounded out the top five in the balloting followed by Masuk, Cheshire, New London, Berlin and Bridgeport Central. Other ECC schools getting votes included Montville, who finished just out of the top 10, Ledyard and East Lyme.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
HS Volleyball:Griswold looking to improve mental approach
They have five seniors in the starting lineup, three strong juniors and a freshman who played well in her debut in a Griswold volleyball uniform.
The Wolverines have plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the year, especially after kicking it off with a, 3-2, win over Norwich Free Academy Wednesday night.
"We're all returning players, we have a freshman who's doing really well, I really think we can go far in the ECC's and even states," Griswold senior setter Tessa Velasquez said.
There were some iffy moments on Wednesday when they started to doubt themselves and the Wildcats, despite being young and inexperienced on the varsity level, took the opportunity to rally back after losing the first two games of the match.
The Wolverines settled back and relaxed after winning 25-15 and 25-14 in the first two games, then found it hard to recover that same intensity to finish up the match, despite leading 13-3 in the third game.
"We were shanking balls, we weren't focused like the first two games that we had played," said senior Nina Wojtkiewicz who finished with 16 kills, 15 digs, and four assists.
Wojtkiewicz, the emotional leader of the Wolverines, found herself hitting shots back into the net and the euphoria that she had exhibited in the first two games, suddenly turned to wrinkles of worry upon her expression-filled face.
"We lost those two games and I was like' this can't happen, we're not going to let this go,' ", she said.
As Wojtkiewicz goes, so go the Wolverines.
"She gets a little too hard on herself at times and she has to know that she's our senior leader on the court," Griswold coach Jamie Bruno said. "She has to play steady no matter what, she has to be our rock. If she loses her head and she's not as focused, the rest of the team loses its focus."
Fortunately for Bruno, the Wolverines regrouped in the fifth game and played "smart", something they hadn't necessarily done in the middle two games.
"We were trying to get kills, when we really didn't need them, NFA was just playing safe," Bruno said. "We just had to put the pressure on them by using smart shots."
The little hiccup in the middle didn't take away from the fact that it was still a Large Division team that Griswold had beaten and Bruno, like Velasquez, feels the team certainly has the potential to turn some heads this fall.
"We definitely can go places, we just have to get through the mental blockades that we set for ourselves," Bruno said. "We can be our own worst enemy at times, that's our biggest hurdle to get over, and we can do it by just staying focused through the whole match."
The Wolverines have plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the year, especially after kicking it off with a, 3-2, win over Norwich Free Academy Wednesday night.
"We're all returning players, we have a freshman who's doing really well, I really think we can go far in the ECC's and even states," Griswold senior setter Tessa Velasquez said.
There were some iffy moments on Wednesday when they started to doubt themselves and the Wildcats, despite being young and inexperienced on the varsity level, took the opportunity to rally back after losing the first two games of the match.
The Wolverines settled back and relaxed after winning 25-15 and 25-14 in the first two games, then found it hard to recover that same intensity to finish up the match, despite leading 13-3 in the third game.
"We were shanking balls, we weren't focused like the first two games that we had played," said senior Nina Wojtkiewicz who finished with 16 kills, 15 digs, and four assists.
Wojtkiewicz, the emotional leader of the Wolverines, found herself hitting shots back into the net and the euphoria that she had exhibited in the first two games, suddenly turned to wrinkles of worry upon her expression-filled face.
"We lost those two games and I was like' this can't happen, we're not going to let this go,' ", she said.
As Wojtkiewicz goes, so go the Wolverines.
"She gets a little too hard on herself at times and she has to know that she's our senior leader on the court," Griswold coach Jamie Bruno said. "She has to play steady no matter what, she has to be our rock. If she loses her head and she's not as focused, the rest of the team loses its focus."
Fortunately for Bruno, the Wolverines regrouped in the fifth game and played "smart", something they hadn't necessarily done in the middle two games.
"We were trying to get kills, when we really didn't need them, NFA was just playing safe," Bruno said. "We just had to put the pressure on them by using smart shots."
The little hiccup in the middle didn't take away from the fact that it was still a Large Division team that Griswold had beaten and Bruno, like Velasquez, feels the team certainly has the potential to turn some heads this fall.
"We definitely can go places, we just have to get through the mental blockades that we set for ourselves," Bruno said. "We can be our own worst enemy at times, that's our biggest hurdle to get over, and we can do it by just staying focused through the whole match."
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Boys cross country: NFA employs different strategy
It was at the Class LL state cross country championships three years ago that Norwich Free Academy coach Chad Johnson realized he had pushed his team too hard in the regular season. They stood before him on that October day at Wickham Park and just didn't have anything left to give; their legs shot.
It was at that time that Johnson decided to adopt a new strategy, run less earlier on and build to the state championships and State Open competitions.
On Tuesday, he went one step further.
Saying his team had potential to do something in October, he sat his top five runners. On top of that, his No. 6 runner had to sit out with an injury. He was relying on the depth of his team to beat an Eastern Connecticut Conference opponent, East Lyme.
The gambit turned out to be a call he probably would like back after his Wildcats lost to the Vikings, 24-32.
"The front guys set different goals for the season and the East Lyme meet wasn't one of them," Johnson said. "I felt confident in our seven through 14 guys that they would be able to get the job done, we didn't want to give it away. But East Lyme ran an inspired race and our guys didn't perform as well as I thought they would."
It puts NFA behind in the conference, a loss that they need some help to recover from if they're going to get anything more than a share of the ECC Large Division title come October.
"That's fine," Johnson said. "We need to run with a true team mentality and when you're asking your guys to get up for a race 13 times, you have to ask for different guys to get up. I expected the guys that we had out there to perform better than they did, but I also think East Lyme ran a heckuva race as well. They ran confident, we ran scared."
Johnson added that, contrary to what some may think, that's not a bad thing. It's part of the maturation process as those runners, who had never been in that situation before, now have experienced it.
"Next time they're in that situation, maybe they will know how to handle it," Johnson said. "We'll get better from this race."
It was at that time that Johnson decided to adopt a new strategy, run less earlier on and build to the state championships and State Open competitions.
On Tuesday, he went one step further.
Saying his team had potential to do something in October, he sat his top five runners. On top of that, his No. 6 runner had to sit out with an injury. He was relying on the depth of his team to beat an Eastern Connecticut Conference opponent, East Lyme.
The gambit turned out to be a call he probably would like back after his Wildcats lost to the Vikings, 24-32.
"The front guys set different goals for the season and the East Lyme meet wasn't one of them," Johnson said. "I felt confident in our seven through 14 guys that they would be able to get the job done, we didn't want to give it away. But East Lyme ran an inspired race and our guys didn't perform as well as I thought they would."
It puts NFA behind in the conference, a loss that they need some help to recover from if they're going to get anything more than a share of the ECC Large Division title come October.
"That's fine," Johnson said. "We need to run with a true team mentality and when you're asking your guys to get up for a race 13 times, you have to ask for different guys to get up. I expected the guys that we had out there to perform better than they did, but I also think East Lyme ran a heckuva race as well. They ran confident, we ran scared."
Johnson added that, contrary to what some may think, that's not a bad thing. It's part of the maturation process as those runners, who had never been in that situation before, now have experienced it.
"Next time they're in that situation, maybe they will know how to handle it," Johnson said. "We'll get better from this race."
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