North Haven boys’ soccer comes into this season with hopes of reclaiming the Oronoque title it last won three years ago. Of course, the Indians’ two duels with three-time defending champion Branford will prove pivotal, but Federico Fiondella’s squad had some other division business to attend to last week and emerged with a pair of victories. After taking a 3-1 loss at Fairfield Prep, North Haven notched a 2-0 home win against Cross and then a 2-0 triumph at fellow Oronoque foe East Haven to stand at 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the division. The Indians play at Branford at 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 29.

“I’ve discussed our objectives with our 15 seniors and we agreed that we have big objectives. I challenged them to allow me to be strict and nitpicky about fixing our mistakes and they all agreed with that,” said Coach Fiondella, whose team shared the Oronoque crown with Branford and two other squads in 2011. “We have an incredible amount of potential and are holding the team to a high standard and so we’re looking for that medium between giving them pats on the back and constructive criticism so they can get better.”

The Indians began last week by dropping a 3-1 contest at Fairfield Prep on Sept. 15. The Jesuits scored one goal in the first half and then made it 2-0 early in the second before junior central-midfielder Thomas Bogen scored from junior central-defender Ian Dunning in the 70th minute. Unfortunately, Prep netted an insurance goal five minutes later and claimed the win. Senior goalie Joe Russo made eight saves and Bogen was named Player of the Game for the Indians.

Two days later, North Haven hosted Cross and scored two goals in the last 10 minutes en route to victory. First, senior captain central-midfielder Ryan Chieffo was credited for the score when a Governors’ player knocked the ball into his own net in the 70th minute. Just five minutes later, the Indians extended their advantage to 2-0 on a goal off a corner kick from Chieffo to Dunning, who put it home and was chosen as Player of the Game. North Haven outshot Cross 20-6 and Russo made six saves in net.

Then playing at East Haven on Sept. 19, the Indians faced a similar scenario as the game was scoreless at halftime. However, Dunning scored from senior Chris Broadbent in the 43rd minute, followed by senior Walter Muralles’s goal from Chieffo in the 54th minute for the 2-0 victory. Broadbent was North Haven’s Player of the Game and Russo made one save for the Indians, who outshot East Haven 18-1.

“The Cross and East Haven games were similar in that we really dominated and had possession most of the time, but still struggled to put away more goals,” said Fiondella. “So that’s something we want to correct for when we play a better team where we might not have as many shots.”

Senior captain outside-midfielder Colin Uyeki shared his thoughts on the games against Cross and East Haven and also discussed his team’s prospects for the season.

“Those games were carbon copies of each other in that we started out a little slow in both games and then scored our goals in the second half. One of the things about our team this year is that we want to be a good two-half team instead of a team that just plays great in either the first or second half. We want to play a solid 80 minutes,” said Uyeki, who was sidelined from both games due to injuries. “Coach wants us to grow throughout the season and, through our first five games, we’ve learned a lot about ourselves. We’re an emotional team and we see ourselves as a frontrunner battling for the Oronoque with Cross and Branford.”

Uyeki captains the Indians with Chieffo and central-defender Janos Kanyo. North Haven’s other seniors are first-year starting keeper Russo and fellow goalie Josh Paolillo; along with forwards Yuri Panferov, Muhammad Butt, and Antonio Barecchia; central-midfielder Muralles; outside-midfielders Broadbent, Kumal Kothari, David Cifarelli, and Graham Munson; plus outside-defenders Mike DellaValle and Phil DeRienzo.

Coach Fiondella discussed the leadership he’s seen from his senior captain trio, as well as the overall attitude displayed by the entire senior class.

“I’ve been incredibly impressed with our captains’ leadership. There is something special about them and they will go down in history as our top group of captains. All three are incredible players who are humble and it’s like having three assistant coaches with the way they send messages from the coaches across to their teammates,” Fiondella said. “I’ve known most of our seniors since I coached them in youth soccer and so it’s emotional that this is their last year. A senior class can make or a break a season and, from day one, they’ve all shown huge leadership, gotten on board with our coaching philosophy, and I’m proud of them.”

Along with Bogen and Dunning, North Haven’s junior class consists of forward John Jensen and goalie Trevor MacDonnell. Outside-defender Steve Pugliese and forward Colin Finkle are the two varsity sophomores. Freshman central-midfielder Ethan Pavano is also a varsity athlete. The Indians additionally have two Varsity in Training players in central-defender Sean Flannery and fellow sophomore Matthew Iovanne, a central-midfielder.

Fiondella is joined on his coaching staff by longtime assistant RJ Notaro, goalkeeper coach Pete Solomon, and technical assistant Antonio Russo, along with JV head coach RT Iadarola and assistant Johnny Johnson. The middle school squad is coached by Nick Mongillo and Larry DiBernardo.

North Haven also has eight managers who are all high school students in Arianna Shahrabi, Kaitlin Pugliese, Marissa LaLuna, Alex Holle, Matthew DellaValle, Anthony Verrillo, Alec Lynch, and Faisal AlDahlawi.