Football

The Valley Regional-Old Lyme (VR-OL) football team hosted the Coventry-Windham Tech-Bolton-Lyman co-op squad for a Saturday afternoon contest at Old Lyme High School on Oct. 8. The Warriors won the game by the final score of 57-6 to improve their overall record to 4-0 on the season.

VR-OL scored the first 4 touchdowns of the day to take a 28-0 lead after the first quarter. The Warriors went on to score 20 points in the second quarter for a 48-0 halftime advantage over the Patriots. VR-OL scored its final TD during the third quarter and then added a safety in the fourth to finish off the 51-point victory.

Junior quarterback Grady Lacourciere put together a huge performance by throwing 6 touchdown passes for VR-OL in its lopsided win over the Coventry co-op squad. Lacourciere finished the game 11-of-16 passing for 163 yards for the Warriors.

Senior Nick Cox caught 5 passes for 100 yards and 4 touchdowns in the win. He also ran the ball 2 times for 26 yards. Fellow senior Didi Jean-Pierre had 2 receptions for 23 yards and 2 TDs to go along with 2 rushes for 31 yards and a score.

Senior Jake Rand led the ground attack for the Warriors by running the ball 7 times for 134 yards and a touchdown in the game. Rand also had 2 catches for 25 yards and kicked 7 extra points on the day.

Sophomore Max Novak had 2 carries for 20 yards for VR-OL. Senior Andrew Yermenson grabbed a 15-yard reception in the victory.

Senior Samuel Bourez recorded 3 pancake blocks for the Warriors on the offensive line. Fellow senior Ford Macadam had 2 pancake blocks.

Bourez and senior Adam Metz combined for a sack in the game on defense. Sophomore Matt Cooper forced a fumble and also recovered a fumble. Yermenson and Novak both had a fumble recovery, while senior Stefen Ryer had a forced fumble. Freshman Chase King contributed to a safety for the Warriors’ defense.

Cooper made 7 tackles for VR-OL in the game. Macadam had 6 tackles, while senior Joe Montazella and junior Shane Gagne Lemay had 5 tackles apiece.

VR-OL got on the board when Lacourciere tossed a 7-yard touchdown pass to Cox in the first quarter. Later in the period, Rand broke off a 58-yard touchdown run for the Warriors. Lacourciere threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cox and then followed that up with a 2-yard strike to Jean-Pierre for the fourth TD of the quarter. Rand hit his fourth extra point in the frame to put VR-OL up 28-0 after one.

The Warriors started off the second quarter with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Lacourciere to Jean-Pierre. Lacourciere went on to throw a 13-yard TD pass to Cox to continue the barrage. VR-OL finished off the opening half with a 4-yard touchdown run by Jean-Pierre. Rand hit the extra point go to give the Warriors a commanding 48-0 lead at halftime.

The only score of the third quarter came when Lacourciere threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Cox, marking the Warriors’ eighth touchdown of the game, the sixth for Lacourciere, and the fourth for Cox. Rand put his seventh extra point through the uprights for a 55-0 advantage entering the final period.

The Patriots scored on an 8-yard touchdown run for the lone score of the night in the fourth quarter. VR-OL stopped the subsequent 2-point try. The Warriors scored the final points of the game when King joined forces with a few of his teammates to take down the opposing ball carrier in the end zone for a safety, putting the finishing touchdowns on a 57-6 victory.

VR-OL has a bye week coming up for this week. The Warriors’ next game is a road tilt against Capital-Achievement (3-2, 3-1) in Pequot Conference Sassacus Division action on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 6 p.m.

Field Hockey

The Valley Regional field hockey team had three games on last week’s slate and prevailed in all three of those contests to boost its record to 6-2-1 this season. The Warriors scored a win over Morgan before defeating Westbrook-Old Lyme and Waterford in their games last week.

Valley began last week by earning a 3-2 road win over Morgan at the Indian River Complex in Clinton on Oct. 3. Freshman Bella Rice scored 2 goals for the Warriors in the victory. Senior Lily Grow scored 1 goal, while fellow senior Samantha Brookhart-Bardelli had 1 assist. Senior goalie Fallyn Belisle made 9 saves in net for Valley Regional

Three days later, the Warriors hosted the Westbrook-Old Lyme co-op squad and claimed 1-0 victory versus the Knights at Valley Regional High School. Rice netted the lone goal of the game on an assist from Grow to lift Valley to the win. Belisle made 4 saves for the shutout in net.

Valley wrapped up the week by posting a 6-2 win at Waterford in a non-conference road game on Oct. 8. Sophomore Alessia Pisanzio scored 3 goals with 1 assist for Valley in the victory. Junior Clara Shea had a big game on her own right by scoring 2 goals to go with 4 assists spur the Warriors’ offense. Rice also netted a goal for Valley Regional.

Valley is hosting North Branford for a contest on Friday, Oct. 14 at 3:45 p.m. The Warriors will then face East Lyme on the road on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 10 a.m.

Girls’ Soccer

The Valley Regional girls’ soccer continued its stellar play by notching two victories and a tie between its three games last week. The Warriors claimed wins over Old Lyme and Fitch to go with a tie versus Coginchaug in last week’s matches and continue to sport an unblemished record with an overall mark of 4-0-5 on the year.

On Oct. 3, Valley Regional hosted Old Lyme and doubled up the Wildcats by the final score of 4-2. Junior Emilee Surber scored a goal on an assist by senior Eileen Russell in the 13th minute of the game to give Valley a 1-0 lead. Seven minutes later, senior Reagan Doyon netted an unassisted goal to make it 2-0. Old Lyme scored a goal 2 minutes later the cut the deficit to 2-1 at halftime and then got another goal in the 50th minute to tie the score at 2.

The Warriors grabbed the lead for good when senior Grace Abderhalden scored off a free kick in the 65th minute of the contest. Surber an insurance goal from senior Kendra Cika in the 74th minute to increase Valley’s lead to 4-2. Senior Elizabeth Allen made 8 saves in net for Valley Regional.

Three days later, the Warriors played a home game versus Coginchaug and played the Blue Devils to a 0-0 tie at Valley Regional High School. Allen stopped 9 shots in goal to get the shutout and help Valley pick up a point with the draw.

Valley finished off last week’s action by posting a 2-0 shutout over Fitch in a non-conference road game on Oct. 8. Following a scoreless first half, Cika found the back of the net in the 44th minute of the game to give the Warriors a 1-0 edge. Surber netted an unassisted goal of her own in the 60th minute to put Valley up 2-0. Allen made 8 saves for another clean sheet in net.

Valley is hosting Montville for a contest on Friday, Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. The Warriors will then hit the road to face Westbrook at 3:45 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 17, followed by a home game versus Morgan on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m.

Boys’ Soccer

The Valley Regional boys’ soccer team won one of its three games last week to move to 3-7 on the season. The Warriors earned a win over Coginchaug to go with recent losses against Woodstock Academy and Portland.

Valley took a 3-1 road loss to Woodstock Academy in a non-conference game on Oct. 3. Then on Oct. 6, the Warriors traveled to Durham to face Coginchaug and posted a 4-0 shutout over the Blue Devils. Two days later, Valley played a home game versus Portland and took a 3-0 defeat to the Highlanders in the contest.

The Warriors are hosting Westbrook for a match on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 3:45 p.m. After that, Valley is playing a road game against Canton on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 1:30 p.m. and will then be back on the road to face Morgan on Monday, Oct. 17 at 6:30 p.m.

Girls’ Volleyball

The Valley Regional girls’ volleyball team claimed victory in one of its three matches last week to put its record at 6-7 for the 2022 season. The Warriors took losses to East Hampton and Hale-Ray before finishing the week with a win versus Cromwell.

Valley took a 3-0 road loss to East Hampton on Oct. 3. The Bellringers swept the match with scores of 25-11, 26-24, 26-24.

Then on Oct. 7, the Warriors hosted took a 3-0 defeat against the Noises. Hale-Ray won the match with scores of 25-18, 25-21, 25-19.

The day after that, the Warriors played a home match versus Cromwell and blanked the Panthers by 3-0 score at Valley Regional High School. Valley swept the match by the final tally of 25-5, 25-15, 25-13.

Valley is hosting Haddam-Killingworth for a contest on Monday, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. The Warriors will then be on the road to face Old Lyme at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19, after which they will host North Branford on Friday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m.