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Cougars Go Back-to-Back as Shoreline Champs

After winning its first Shoreline Conference title last season, the Haddam-Killingworth boys’ lacrosse team returned to the field with a new head coach in Fred Federico, looking to repeat as league champions this spring. It took two come-from-behind victories, but the Cougars accomplished their mission by earning a one-goal win over Morgan in the conference final to defend their Shoreline title.

Top-seeded Haddam-Killingworth claimed a 7-6 victory against No. 3 seed Morgan in the championship game of the Shoreline Conference Tournament at the Indian River Complex in Clinton on May 26. Coach Federico knew that H-K was facing its biggest rival in the Huskies, who were playing the game on their home field. However, with the team’s season-long goal of claiming another conference crown within reach, the Cougars were motivated to go back-to-back as Shoreline champs.

“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to win the league championship. There was no extra motivation needed to get everyone on the same page,” Coach Federico said. “Our rival is Morgan, and the neutral site was Morgan’s field. There was a lot of incentive to play a great game. Everyone was really focused. We had a great game plan for them, and they had a great game plan for us.”

H-K got out to a bit of a slow start versus Morgan and trailed the Huskies 4-2 at halftime of their Shoreline title bout. Junior Nolan Braren scored both of the Cougars’ goals during the first half. Despite trailing by two at the break, Coach Federico saw his players remain confident and knew that they’d have a good chance to come back.

H-K stormed out of the halftime break and scored three goals within the first four minutes of the second stanza to take a 5-4 advantage. The Cougars added a pair of goals in the third quarter to increase their lead to 7-4.

Morgan battled back and tightened the score to 7-6, but the Cougars hung tough and held on for the victory to take the Shoreline Conference title for the second year in a row. H-K improved its overall record to 14-4 and will enter phase two of the playoffs by competing in the Class S State Tournament this week.

Senior Corey Phipps scored 3 goals to go with 1 assist for H-K in the victory. Junior Alex Phipps scored 2 goals, while Braren also netted 2 goals and also had 1 assist. Sophomore Cooper Pitts and freshmen Gunnar Howes dished out 2 assists apiece for the Cougars.

Coach Federico said the key to the comeback was H-K’s ability to dominate face-offs and ground balls during the second half. Federico praised his players for giving it their all until the final whistle. And when that whistle blew and the Cougars walked off the field with their second-straight Shoreline title, everyone in the program felt proud about achieving a season-long goal.

“They won the title last season, and the plan was to repeat. Everyone was so excited,” said Federico. “We’ve had a lot of success this season. We have the best parents. It’s a tight-knit group. Everybody who is on the team plays. Everyone is just so excited.”

Prior to playing in the championship game, H-K hosted No. 4 seed Valley Regional in the Shoreline semifinals and defeated the Warriors by a 10-6 score on May 24. It was for the first game in several days for the Cougars, who had to forfeit their regular-season finale versus Wethersfield because they didn’t have enough players due to injury.

Consequently, H-K struggled early on versus Valley and fell into a 3-0 deficit. Howes then scored a goal from Corey Phipps, after which Braren scored on an assist by Alex Phipps to make it 3-2. With a goal from each of the Phipps’s, H-K took a 4-3 lead before Valley tied it back up.

The Cougars then responded by scoring five-straight goals with two from sophomore Charles Maxwell and one each by Corey Phipps, Braren, and Howes. Junior Nathan Kelly tacked on a late goal to solidify the 10-6 victory. Pitts, Corey Phipps, and senior captain Sam Young all recorded assists in win for Coach Federico’s club.

“We started off really slow, which was to kind of be expected. We had been idle for a while. We were so injured that we were playing backups and JV guys in our last two regular-season games,” Federico said. “We started slow against Valley, but I knew once we knocked the rust off, we would be fine. The resiliency in that game helped us overcome the two-goal deficit against Morgan.”

H-K had to rally back from halftime deficits in both of its Shoreline Conference contests. The Cougars also had to battle through injuries during the season. However, Coach Federico credited his athletes for always persevering in the face of adversity.

Federico credited the senior leadership on this year’s team, led by captains Young and Matteo Piacenti, along with fellow senior Corey Phipps. Federico said that H-K’s success and its ability to handle adversity stems from the example set by his senior trio.

“We don’t give up. We only have three seniors, but they really control everything that we do. It really starts with that leadership and everything goes from there,” said Federico. “They’re the catalyst for our success. It makes us confident. It starts in practice. Everyone follows those guys. The leaders of our team are amazing.”

After winning the Shoreline title, Coach Federico wanted the Cougars to rest up and get ready for the Class S State Tournament that begins with a first-round matchup versus Tolland this week. Federico is hoping that H-K’s momentum will continue going in a positive direction as his team plays in states.

“We have to get healthy. Everyone was really banged up after Valley and Morgan,” Federico said. “Hopefully, everyone is a little more healthy after some rest. Tolland will be a fun and challenging game for us.”

H-K has the No. 8 seed in the Class S State Tournament and is hosting No. 9 seed Tolland for a first-round game on Wednesday, June 1 at 4:30 p.m. With a win, the Cougars would play the winner of No. 1 Waterford and No. 16 Old Lyme in the quarterfinals on Saturday, June 4. The semis are on Wednesday, June 8, and the state final takes place at Sacred Heart University on Sunday, June 12.

The Haddam-Killingworth boys’ lacrosse team’s roster features senior captains Sam Young and Matteo Piacenti; senior Corey Phipps; junior Alex Phipps, Michael Reilly, Aiden Griswold, Nolan Braren, Aaron McLeod, Neal Scheppach, Jack Insalaco, and Nathan Kelly; sophomores Cooper Pitts, Aiden Strong, Kaden Lisitano-Rhode, Braden Civello, Alex Battistoni, and Charles Maxwell; and freshmen Gunnar Howes and Jake McKenzie.