Girls’ Soccer

The Valley Regional girls’ soccer team picked up an all-important win during the final week of the regular season to earn its spot in the Class M State Tournament. The Warriors played three games last week and needed just one more point in the standings to punch their postseason ticket. After dropping their first two contests, Valley clinched its postseason bid by earning an 8-1 win against Amistad on Oct. 25. The Warriors finished with a record of 6-8-2 for the regular season.

On Oct. 22, the Warriors hosted Cromwell and took a 2-1 defeat. Ava Duval scored the Warriors’ lone goal of the contest. In the first half, the Panthers scored on a free kick in the 20th minute to make it 1-0. After intermission, Cromwell scored on a corner kick in the 68th minute for a 2-0 advantage. Ava Duval scored her goal on a penalty kick in 73rd minute, but Valley was unable to close the gap any further. Valley launched 14 shots on goal to Cromwell’s 10 and saw junior Alexis DellaRocco make eight saves in net.

Two days later, the Warriors played East Hampton at home and lost by the final margin of 1-0. The Bellringers scored the lone goal of the game in the second half.

The next day, the Warriors scored their pivotal 8-1 home victory over non-conference opponent Amistad to secure their place in the playoffs. Valley received two goals apiece from freshman Sarah Cole, fellow freshman Ellie Cost, and sophomore Sage Lepore in the win. Valley struck first with a goal in the 7th minute, when Cole scored off an assist from junior Sam Calamari to make it 1-0. Cole quickly picked up another goal when she scored on an assist by senior Alexis Finnerty in the 11th minute. Duval scored on another Finnerty helper in the 12th minute to make it 3-0. After that, Cost scored two unassisted goals, with one in the 21st minute and another in the 27th minute to make it 5-0. Lepore scored a goal in the 39th minute off a helper from Cost to make it 6-0 at the end of the half.

In the second half, Lepore scored another goal in the 46th minute off an assist from sophomore Katie Morrissey for a 7-0 advantage. Valley netted its final score in the 47th minute on goal by Elizabeth Klomp that made it 8-0. Amistad scored a goal late in the second half for the 8-1 final. DellaRocco made six saves in the first half for the Warriors, after which Hannah Tejeder came in to play net during the middle of the half.

The Warriors will be back on the pitch for the first round of the Class M State Tournament on Monday, Nov. 5.

Boys’ Soccer

The Valley boys’ soccer team completed its regular season by notching a win and a tie last week. The Warriors posted an overall record of 10-2-4 for the 2018 regular season.

On Oct. 22, the Warriors earned a 1-1 tie against North Haven in a non-conference home game. North Haven scored a goal in the 10th minute to take a 1-0 lead. Valley had several chances, but the Indians’ keeper turned away some solid shots. In the second half, the Warriors evened the score when senior Chris Morales set up junior Jaden Veiga, who headed the ball in from six yards out. Sophomore Jackson Bisson played goal in the first half for Valley, and then senior Charlie Haughton stepped into the net for the second half.

Three days later, Valley netted a 7-1 win over non-conference opponent Amistad in a home game on Senior Night. The Warriors were bolstered by goals from several players on their roster on their way to the victory. For the first tally of the game, Amistad scored an own goal at the 1:20 mark. After that, senior Michael Dilger scored a pair of goals—one off an assist from junior Cameron Frazier and the other on a helper from senior Logan Bellos for a 3-0 lead. Then, Morales scored a goal on an assist from freshman Jake Burdick to give Valley a 4-0 lead. Junior Sam Ocken scored an unassisted goal to make it 5-0 at halftime.

In the second half, junior Devon Connelly scored off a corner from sophomore Sam Helsel to make it 6-0. Following a goal by Amistad, Bellos scored the last goal of the game on an assist by sophomore Andrew Sherman for a 7-1 score.

Next up, Valley plays in the Shoreline Conference Tournament and will face the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between Haddam-Killingworth and Cromwell in the semis at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 30. If the Warriors win, they would move on to face the winner if No. 1 seed Morgan and No. 5 seed Old Saybrook in the conference final on Friday, Nov. 2.

Field Hockey

The Warriors picked up two more wins last week to finish up the regular season with a record of 10-3-1-2. Valley defeated Morgan (1-0) and Somers (6-0) in last week’s matchups as Head Coach Beth McCabe-Powers’s squad gets geared up for the postseason.

On Oct. 22, the Warriors hosted Morgan in a Shoreline Conference contest and scored a 1-0 victory. Senior Mia Cost bolstered Valley with a 13-save performance in net. Sophomore Tory Rider scored Valley’s lone goal with 19:33 left in the second half to give the Warriors the one-goal win.

Then on Oct. 26, the Warriors hit the road to battle Somers and notched a lopsided 6-0 victory. Valley scored three goals in each half en route to the win, with Rider scoring three total goals for a hat trick in the contest. The Warriors grabbed their first goal with 21:13 left in the first half on an unassisted score from Rider to make it 1-0. Valley got goal another with 12:30 to go in the first, when Rider scored on an assist from junior Riley Millburne. With 5:17 to play before intermission, Millburne scored on an assist from senior Annie Cooper to make it 3-0.

With 18:11 left in the second half, Rider completed her hat trick when she scored on a corner off helpers from Millburne and freshman Abby Amara. Then with 9:57 remaining, Amara scored on assists from Cooper and Millburne on another corner to make it 5-0. Finally, with 6:30 to go, Cooper picked up a goal that was assisted by junior Grace Proctor and Amara on a penalty corner for the 6-0 final. Mia Cost made four saves and recorded her seventh shutout on the season.

Next, the 3rd-seeded Warriors will play in the Shoreline Conference Tournament semifinals against No. 2 seed North Branford at 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 29 at the Indian River Complex in Clinton. With a win in that contest, the Warriors would face the winner between No. 1 seed Westbrook versus No. 4 seed Old Saybrook in the final at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 1 at the Indian River Complex.

Football

The Warriors took their first defeat of the season when they dropped a 21-14 overtime decision against Cromwell-Portland in a Pequot Conference Sassacus Division contest at Valley Regional High School on Oct. 26. The Warriors rallied from a 14-0 deficit to force the overtime period, where the Panthers won the game by scoring a touchdown. Valley-Old Lyme now has an overall record of 5-1 to go with a mark of 4-1 in the division.

Cromwell-Portland (6-1, 5-1) scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the game to take a 7-0 lead. The Panthers put another touchdown on the board for a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. Later in the period, the Warriors committed a fumble on offense, but Jason O’Brien was trailing the play and jumped on the ball as it rolled into end zone for a touchdown that made the score 14-6 at halftime.

After halftime, the Warriors received the kickoff and fumbled the ball, but their defense came up huge by preventing the Panthers from scoring. Late in the fourth quarter, senior captain quarterback Ryan Santos connected with O’Brien for a 12-yard touchdown pass. Jae’Len Arnum punched the ball into the end zone on the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 14-14. After that, Cromwell-Portland had a chance at a game-winning field goal, but missed the kick, and so the game went to overtime.

The Panthers had the first possession in OT and scored a touchdown to take a 21-14 lead. With a chance to tie or potentially take the lead, the Warriors were unable to score a touchdown, and Cromwell-Portland came away with the victory.

Up next for Valley-Old Lyme will be a road matchup against Rockville (5-2) at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2.

Boys’ Cross Country

Valley competed in the Class SS State Championship at Wickham Park in Manchester on Oct. 26. The Warriors finished in sixth place overall as a team at the meet.

Senior Jason Montecavo was the top finisher for Valley by taking 16th place with a time of 18 minutes flat. Junior Macklin Miezejeski finished in 17th place by running a time of 18:02 for Valley Regional. Other runners who competed for the Warriors at states were senior Peter Halsey (37th, 18:49), freshman Ryan Reed (50th, 19:08), and Marcus Santamaria (104th, 20:55). Evan Driscoll (132nd, 21:53) and fellow junior Anthony Joia (137th, 22:12) rounded out the pack for Valley Regional.

Girls’ Cross Country

The Warriors posted an 11th-place finish at last week’s Class SS State Championship meet.

Freshman Ava Cunningham turned in the top finish for the Warriors by taking 27th place with a time of 21 minutes and 14 seconds. Sophomore Caitlyn Bogan crossed the finish line at 23:41 to earn 61st place. Junior Lacey Hall finished with a time of 24:03 to take 70th place at the meet. Freshman Isabella Sacks finished in 88th (24:41), while sophomore Audrey Lenda came in 99th place with a time 25:21. Also running for Valley at states were sophomores Hanna Babek (103rd, 25:24) and Charlotte Norling (116th, 26:17).

Volleyball

The Warriors dropped a pair of contests last week to finish the regular season with a record of 4-16. Valley is competing in the Shoreline Conference Tournament this week.

On Oct. 22, the Warriors took a 3-1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-16, 25-19) defeat at Hale-Ray. Senior captain Emily Hutchinson totaled nine kills, two blocks, and one dig, while fellow captain Maddy Just had nine kills, two aces, 10 digs, one assist, and 20 receptions for Valley. Other key contributors included sophomore Ava Boyles (10 kills), Junior Reeve Fergueson (3 aces, 6 digs, 7 receptions), sophomore Alena Crosby (19 assists), and senior Zoe Hollwedel (26 digs, 28 receptions, 2 aces).

Two days later, the Warriors lost a 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-17) match at non-conference opponent Fitch. Hutchinson had six kills to go along with one ace, three blocks, and four digs. Just had five kills, two aces, 10 digs, and 15 receptions for Valley. Boyles (5 kills, 1 block, 3 digs), Hollwedel (26 receptions, 17 digs), Crosby (20 assists, 10 digs), sophomore Jamie Pullin (4 kills, 2 blocks, 3 digs), and junior Carlee Kirla (2 aces, 4 digs, 6 receptions) also contributed for the Warriors in the contest.

Valley is playing at East Hampton in the quarterfinals of the Shoreline Conference Tournament on Monday, Oct. 29.