Morgan Girls’ Soccer Makes States; Football Loses to Cromwell-Portland
Girls’ Soccer
The Morgan girls’ soccer team took a 2-1 loss to Old Saybrook on Oct. 10, but came back to earn a 2-0 shutout of Coginchaug on Oct. 13. With the victory, the Huskies improved to 6-5-1 and qualified for the State Tournament.
Against Old Saybrook, Alyssa Lemay scored off an assist from Robin Vuilleumier for Morgan’s lone goal that came in the second half. Kate Driscoll made three saves for the Huskies, who were outshot 9-7.
In the Coginchaug victory, Kylee Clifton and LeMay netted Morgan’s goals with LeMay and Courtney Viglione getting the assists. Driscoll had a pair of saves to record the shutout in net.
Boys’ Soccer
The Huskies lost 3-0 to Old Saybrook on Oct. 10 and then defeated Coginchaug 3-1 on Oct. 14 to finish out the week at 7-3-1 overall with a mark of 6-3-1 in the Shoreline Conference.
The Old Saybrook contest was a back-and-forth game until the Rams broke through with a goal for a 1-0 lead at the half. Morgan came out fired up to start the second half by not allowing Old Saybrook to cross its half of the field for the first 10 minutes. However, the Rams ultimately wound up netting their second goal that gave them back the momentum and put the Huskies away.
“We had some good chances on net. but we couldn’t finish. If we had scored one of those, I think it would have been a different game, especially if we scored first,” said Head Coach Ross Demay. “It has been an up-and-down season to say the least. As we are approaching the end of the season, our goal is to get healthy as we have had one game to this point where everyone was healthy, and to qualify for the [Shoreline Conference] Tournament.”
Morgan’s second game of the week was a league game against Coginchaug, which took a 1-0 lead by scoring seven minutes into the contest. The Huskies came to life, however, as Ford Pender set up Jhonnyer Paida for a header that tied the game seven minutes later. Tyler Newfield and Juan Avila scored two more goals for the Huskies in their 3-1 victory.
“We would have liked the shutout, but there was no real flow to the game. We had a defensive breakdown and a [1-on-1 on goalie Anes Gadun]. I guess as a positive, the only goals that he has been scored upon were within eight yards, but communication is definitely something that we need to get better at,” said Demay. “We need to keep our head up and not let down. It was good to see the effort of Jhonnyer and Ford to bring us back. Juan is slowly gaining back his confidence and his love for the sport as he has been dealing with injuries all season. It is good that he is scoring as well, while being triple-teamed by everyone who has played us. Once we are 100 percent and our chemistry comes, we will be back to where we need to be.”
Football
Morgan took a 37-7 loss to undefeated Peqout Conference opponent Cromwell-Portland on Oct. 14 to drop to 3-2 on the season. Madden Ward completed 15 passes for 139 yards and also rushed for 51 yards for Morgan. Isaac Eriksen scored the Huskies’ lone touchdown and gained 63 yards on 15 carries.
The Panthers struck first on a 60-yard scoring reception before Eriksen ran it in from two yards out to tie the game at 7. Cromwell-Portland ended the quarter up by six after an 80-yard TD return following a blocked field goal attempt. Cromwell-Portland then used a 26-yard touchdown pass to take a 19-7 lead into halftime. In the fourth quarter, the Panthers scored touchdowns from 43, two, and nine yards out to cap off the night.
Next up for the Huskies is a home game against Granby Memorial (1-4) on Saturday, Oct. 22 with a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.
Volleyball
Morgan dropped a five-set contest to North Branford on Oct. 11, lost to Valley Regional 3-1 on Oct. 13, and then improved to 6-10 following a 3-2 victory over East Hampton the next day in last week’s action.
Field Hockey
The Huskies were shut out 4-0 by North Branford on Oct. 11, lost to Haddam-Killingworth by the same score on Oct. 13, and then took a 7-1 loss to Hamden on Oct. 15 last week.