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Newington Girls Soccer Readies for Class LL Playoffs

by Dave Burnham
The Newington High School
girls soccer team came up short
against Northwest Catholic, 1-0, in
its regular-season finale Wednesday, Oct. 29, at a rain-soaked
Alumni Field.
Before the girls got down to
business, they celebrated the scholastic careers of departing seniors
Grace Ancona, Alyssa DePaolis,
Megan Gagnon, Meagan Gordon,
Juliana Santos and goalkeeper
Marissa Veilleux.
Both teams came into the
game with 9-5-1 records, and the
result of the senior-night clash
would have major implications on
the Indians CIAC Class LL state
championship schedule. A win or a
tie would give the NHS girls home
advantage in the first round, while
a loss would put them on the road.
Moments before kickoff, the
onset of heavy rain ensured tricky
playing conditions. With the ball
skidding around on the wet grass,
the first scoring chance for NHS
came 2:15 into the game when Kaila Lozadas cross was headed wide
by Kayla LaRosa. The Northwest
midfield then took control setting
up several chances, none of which
troubled the scoreboard.
With 14 minutes left in the
half, the visitors pressure paid off
when they were awarded a penalty
kick. Kenzie Tibball stepped up to
take it, but a brilliant save by Veilleux denied the goal.
It was an obvious foul on
a tackle that we didnt need to
make, said Newington head
coach Adam Wilkinson. I was
relieved when Marissa made the
save as wed started the game
pretty flat. It seemed to give us a
timely boost.
Lifted by their goalies heroics, the Indians went on the attack
and should have been awarded a
penalty of their own when LaRosa
picked up a through ball from Lozada and was tripped in the penalty area by a Northwest defender.
The referee turned away and said,
No foul, much to Wilkinsons
dismay.

Photos by Dave Burnham

www.esnapsport.wordpress.com

NHS senior Juliana Santos protects the ball from NWCs Abbey Fitzsimmons (11) and Madison Borowiec (21).

I was a little disappointed in

some of the refereeing decisions,
Wilkinson said. They had an impact on the outcome of the game.
I felt we had an equally obvious
penalty call five minutes after
Northwests that to my amazement, wasnt awarded. I guess its
a flaw in the two-man referee system. Its hard to demand consistency when you have two different
refs with different interpretations
of similar incidents.
Newington started the second
half brightly by creating plenty of
chances, including a goal that was
disallowed, but could not score.
The game remained even until
Northwest junior Bailey Julian
broke the deadlock on an assist
from Maddie Borowiec to give
the visitors the game-winning goal
with 1:30 remaining.
I thought it was a closely
fought game that could have
gone either way, said Wilkinson.
They were tough conditions, but
the players gave everything they
had. I was unhappy with the result. I felt we created more than
enough chances, particularly at the
start of the second half, to have
won the game.
I was happy with the teams
work rate and the effort and application in our defending. Several times when going forward, we
looked creative in the final third,

working through our forwards and

midfield. We created some very
good scoring chances that on any
other night would result in two or
three goals, Wilkinson continued.
I was disappointed in the
manner and the timeliness in which
we conceded the goal. Game management is something weve discussed as a team before the season
began. You cant give players like
Maddie Borowiec, Bailey Julian
and Rachel Elliott too many opportunities, as eventually, theyll
make one of them count and thats
exactly what happened in the final
two minutes.
When asked which players
impressed him on a difficult evening weather-wise, Wilkinson
commented, Marissa Veilleux,
Alyssa DePaolis and Lindsey Fairbank had very good games. Marissa made several excellent saves
to keep us in the game in the first
half and stayed focused in difficult
conditions. Alyssa was up against
difficult one-on-one opponents
and let very little pass her. Lindsey
did what she does best - breaking
up opposition attacks before they
reached our defensive line, harassing and harrying their creative
midfielders into mistakes, winning
headers and making tackles.
Wilkinson, now in his second
year as head coach of the Indians,
is refreshingly honest when as-

rivalry. Rocky Hill coasted to a

41-13 victory last season, behind
Grant Nieves 171 yards and a
touchdown. Nieves, who is now
a sophomore, also registered 10
tackles in the win. Before last seasons loss, Berlin had won the previous four contests.
The showdown will take
place at Scalise Field inside Sage
Park. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m.
Simsbury @ Newington
Newington hopes to shake off
a shutout loss to Southington when
they return home to take on the
Trojans of Simsbury. Newington
won last seasons game 28-21, but
had lost the previous four games in
the series.
Simsbury (4-4) has struggled
at times this season, but is coming off of an upset win over Manchester, 41-20. The Trojans are led
by fullback Elijah Burrows, who
is averaging over 100 yards per
game on the ground, and linebacker James Demaio, who leads the

team in tackles and sacks.

Fridays kickoff is at 6:30
p.m.
Cromwell @ Enfield
Cromwell (4-4) has fought
through a rough start to the season
and the Panthers are now in position to have a winning record for
the first time all season. The young
squad is fresh off a 26-0 bulldozing of Lewis Mills, behind three
rushing touchdowns from supersophomore Kristian Sapp. They
now travel to play the Raiders of
Enfield.
Enfield (2-6) is in the midst of
a rare losing season, but they are
coming off of a win over Stafford/
East Windsor last week. Longtime coach Jay Gaucher, who also
coaches Enfields girls basketball
team, leads the Raiders.
Come watch Cromwell try to
avenge last seasons 20-13 loss to
Enfield. Fridays kickoff is 7 p.m.
Bulkeley/Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy @

sessing his teams performances

in 2014.
As a team weve not been
consistent. Weve produced some
outstanding performances during several games this season, but
weve also had some games were
we looked tired, disinterested and
devoid of ideas.
The first Northwest Catholic game was a great team performance. Our two games versus
Conard and Southington were
dominant and even our 2-1 loss
away to Simsbury was a very good
performance. However, couple
that with two losses versus Hall
and the tie away at Farmington

where we looked like wed never played together before paints

that picture of inconsistency. Its
something you cannot afford in a
conference like the CCC West,
noted Wilkinson.
Kaila Lozada has been on
an incredible scoring streak [23
goals and goals in 12-consecutive
games] this season. A lot of our
defensive players have stepped
up their game. Lindsey Fairbank
at defensive center midfield has
raised her game back to the level
she was at last year. Amanda Gagnon, who moved into the center
of defense, has helped steady the
ship as well as Alyssa DePaolis,
who has put in steady performances after a little dip in form early in
the season.
With the loss to NWC, the
Indians finished the season as
#17 seeds in Class LL and face
a lengthy bus trip to meet tough
FCIAC opponent Darien Tuesday,
Nov. 4. The winner of that game
travels to #1 seed Glastonbury
Thursday, Nov. 6.
Id like us to be higher
[seeds] so we could avoid teams
like Glastonbury in the second
round, but its not to be, Wilkinson said. Sometimes I wish that
we had the conference schedule of
some of the higher-ranked teams.
I feel that due to the competitive
nature of nearly all our conference
games, we go into the states as prepared for tough games as possible.
I just hope that whoever we play
underestimates us because of our
middle-of-the-road ranking and
we can use it to our advantage.

Newington goalkeeper Marissa Veilleux, escorted by her parents and sister Jessica on Senior Night, saved a penalty against Northwest Catholic Oct. 29.

High School Football Preview: Week Nine

Rocky Hill @ Berlin

Rocky Hill (4-4) is coming off
a tough 32-27 loss to Bristol Central at Muzzy Field. The Terriers
ran for nearly 300 yards but were
unable to stop the run in the defeat. It doesnt get any easier this
week when they travel to play undefeated Berlin this Friday night.
The Redcoats of Berlin are coming off their most impressive win
of the season, a wild 12-7 victory
over powerhouse Platt.
Berlin has a solid offense,
but its been the defensive side of
the ball that has shined. The stingy unit is allowing less than five
points per game and has blanked
three of their eight opponents this
season. Linebackers Jeremy Eliades and Owen Taylor are leading
the defensive charge, teaming
up to wreak havoc on opposing
teams offenses.
The two neighboring towns
schools have developed a fierce

Wethersfield
Wethersfield kept rolling last
week with a 30-0 blanking of
RHAM. The win improved the Eagles to 8-0 and three games away
from a perfect regular season.
They return home this Friday to
welcome the Bulkeley/HMTCA.
The Hartford-based academy
school has lost six of eight games
in their first year combining football programs. Wethersfield had
beaten the Bulldogs of Bulkeley
sixth straight times before this
season, including a 46-22 blowout
last season. Quarterback Matt Sanzaro torched the Bulldogs secondary, throwing for 242 yards and
five touchdowns in the win.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Xavier @ Shelton
Get your popcorn ready for
this one. Shelton is looking to
avenge a demoralizing loss to
Xavier last season. The Gaels
of Shelton led 12-0 entering the

fourth quarter, but allowed two

late touchdowns--including the
game-winner with nine second
left--and lost 15-12.
Xavier has lost two consecutive games after winning their
first six contests this season. Their
latest loss was a 10-3 snoozer to
Daniel Hand. Shelton has won all
eight of their games this season,
including last weeks 33-6 demolition of Hamden. All-world quarterback Mark Piccirillio leads the
Gaels. The senior signal caller has
thrown for 15 touchdowns and ran
for 18 more through eight games.
Shelton is one of only three undefeated teams left in the Class LL
(Southington and Newtown are the
other two schools.)
The conference collision is
schedule for Friday at Finn Stadium in Shelton. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
Questions or comments?
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