Printer Friendly Version - Warriors Take First Defeat with 28-27 Loss to Cromwell-Portland; Several Teams Ready to Compete in Postseason

Senior Nick Cox and the Valley Regional-Old Lyme football team took their first defeat of the year by losing a 28-27 contest against Cromwell Portland in a Pequot Conference Sassacus Division game on Oct. 28. Also pictured is junior quarterback Grady Lacourcire (No. 12). Photo by Kenneth Marangell/The Courier

The Valley Regional field hockey team finished regular-season action with a record of 8-5-3 after splitting a pair of games during the final week of play. Pictured from the Warriors are senior Madeline Rice, senior Callie Breitenbach, and freshmen Belle Rice. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Courier Photo courtesy of Wesley Bunnell

Senior Lily Frese and the Valley girls’ volleyball squad finished the regular season with a record of 12-8 after notching victories in two of their three matches last week. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Courier Photo courtesy of Wesley Bunnell

Senior Reagan Doyon and the Valley girls’ soccer squad posted a 4-0 shutout over Westbrook in their regular-season finale on Oct. 27. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Courier Photo courtesy of Wesley Bunnell

The Valley Regional boys’ cross country team competed in the Class SS State Championship at Wickham Park on Oct. 28. Pictured from the Warriors are junior Elliot Stack, junior Avi Siegel, junior Zackary Scott, and senior Quentin Baron. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Courier Photo courtesy of Wesley Bunnell

The Valley Regional-Old Lyme (VR-OL) football team hit the road to square off against divisional rival Cromwell-Portland (C-P) in battle of undefeated teams last week. The Warriors took a 28-27 defeat against the Panthers at Pierson Park in Cromwell to put their overall record to 5-1 with a mark of 4-1 in the Pequot Conference Sassacus Division this year. C-P now stands at 7-0 overall to go with a record of 6-0 in the division.

VR-OL held a 21-7 lead in the second quarter before C-P scored three-straight touchdowns to take a 28-21 lead into the fourth. The Warriors scored a touchdown with just over a minute remaining in the game, but the Panthers stopped VR-OL’s subsequent 2-point attempt and hung on to win the game by one point.

C-P recorded the first score of the game on a 7-yard touchdown run in the opening quarter. VR-OL came back with a 24-yard TD pass from junior Grady Lacourciere to senior Jake Rand later in the period. Rand kicked the extra point to knot the score at 7-7 after one.

The Warriors scored a pair of touchdowns during the second quarter. First, senior Didi Jean-Pierre returned a punt for a 61-yard touchdown to give VR-OL the lead. Rand’s extra point made the score 14-7.

Lacourciere went on to connect with senior Nick Cox for a 31-yard TD pass to increase the Warriors’ lead. Rand hit another PAT to put VR-OL up by a 21-7 score. The Panthers scored on a 20-yard touchdown run before halftime to cut the deficit to 21-14 at the break.

C-P found the end zone twice in the third quarter to take a lead into the fourth. The Panthers used a 4-yard touchdown pass and a 20-yard TD pass for a 28-21 advantage entering the final frame.

In the final minutes of the game, Jean-Pierre completed a long pass to Cox and then connected with Rand for 33-yard touchdown strike to bring the Warriors within a point. VR-OL went for the 2-point conversion to try and take the lead, but one of C-P’s defenders knocked down Jean-Pierre’s pass to preserve the 28-27 victory for the Panthers.

The Warriors are currently in the No. 6 spot for the Class SS State Playoff rankings in which the top eight squads qualify. VR-OL’s next game is on the road versus Stafford-East Windsor-Somers (3-4) at Stafford High School on Friday, Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m. After that, the Warriors will host the CREC co-op squad on Friday, Nov. 11 and then Old Saybrook-Westbrook on Thursday, Nov. 17, with both contests kicking off at 6:30 p.m. VR-OL will then play a road game against Haddam-Killingworth in the annual battle for the Principal’s Cup on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 6:30 p.m.

The Valley Regional girls’ volleyball squad finished its regular season on a strong note by winning two of its three matches during the last week of play. The Warriors netted victories against Coginchaug and Innovation before taking a defeat to East Lyme to complete the regular season with an overall record of 12-8. Valley is competing in the Shoreline Conference Tournament this week and then has states after that.

Valley kicked off last week’s action by earning a 3-0 road win at Coginchaug on Oct. 24. The Warriors swept the Blue Devils by the final tally of 25-19, 28-26, 25-20 in the contest.

Then on Oct. 27, the Warriors hosted Innovation for a non-conference matchup and posted a 3-0 victory over the Ravens at Valley Regional High School. Valley swept the contest with scores of 25-13, 25-11, 25-17.

The following day, Valley hit the road to face East Lyme for another non-conference match and took a 3-0 loss against the Vikings in its regular-season finale.

No. 4 seed Valley Regional will begin the postseason by playing a hpme match against No. 5 seed Haddam-Killingworth in the opening round of the Shoreline Conference Tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 5:30 p.m. With a win, the Warriors would move on to play at top-seeded Hale-Ray in the semis on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. The Shoreline Conference final will take place on Saturday, Nov. 5. After Shorelines, the Warriors will participate in the Class M State Tournament that gets underway on Monday, Nov. 7.

The Valley Regional field hockey team played a pair of road games to close out its regular season last week. The Warriors came away from the week with split by earning a win versus Somers-Rockville to go with a loss against Granby to finish regular-season play with an overall record of 8-5-3 this fall.

On Oct. 27, Valley hit the road to face the Somers-Rockville co-op squad and notched an 8-1 victory in the contest. Junior Clara Shea scored 3 goals in the victory. Freshman Bella Rice had 2 goals with 1 assist for the Warriors.

Senior Lily Grow, sophomore Laura Gessner, and freshman Catalena Goldberg scored 1 goal apiece for Valley in its win over Somers-Rockville. Senior Samantha Brookhart-Bardelli recorded 2 assists on the day, while sophomore Lucy Resinsky had 1 assist.

Senior goalie Fallyn Belisle played net during the first half of the game for Valley Regional. Freshman Amelia Giantonio played goal in the second half and made 5 saves.

Two days later, the Warriors back on the road to play an away game versus Granby and took a 3-1 defeat to the Bears in their regular-season finale.

Valley will begin the postseason by competing in the Shoreline Conference Tournament this week. The No. 3 seed Warriors will face No. 2 Old Saybrook in the semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 4 p.m. at the Indian River Complex in Clinton. With a victory, Valley would play the winner of No. 1 seed North Branford and No. 4 Westbrook-Old Lyme in the final at the Indian River Complex on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. The Warriors will also take part in the Class S State Tournament that gets underway on Monday, Nov. 7.

The Valley Regional girls’ soccer team played a pair of road games to finish off the 2022 regular season last week. The Warriors came away with a split of the set after taking a defeat to East Lyme and then posting a shutout over Westbrook during the final stretch of regular-season play. The Warriors completed the regular season with an overall record of 6-5-5.

In its first matchup of the week, Valley played a road game versus East Lyme and took a 3-1 defeat to the Vikings on Oct. 26. The following day, the Warriors were back on the road to face Westbrook and blanked the Knights by a 4-0 score in their regular-season finale.

Valley Regional will be competing in the Class M State Tournament that begins on Saturday, Nov. 5.

The Valley Regional boys’ soccer team hosted Cromwell for its final game of the regular season last week. The Warriors took a 5-2 defeat versus the Panthers in the contest at Valley Regional High School on Oct. 27. Valley finished with an overall record of 4-11-1 for the 2022 fall campaign.

Senior Jake McKenna and senior Michael Kollmer both scored a goal for Valley Regional in last week’s game versus Cromwell. McKenna and sophomore Birch Whitbeck each had an assist in the contest. Sophomore Kenny Batt, sophomore Cameron Costanzo, and fellow sophomore Adam Schmelzer combined to make 6 saves in net for the Warriors.

The Valley Regional girls’ cross country team sent five athletes to run at the Class SS State Championship meet that took place at Wickham Park in Manchester on Oct. 29. The Warriors finished in ninth place as a team by scoring 229 points at last week’s state meet.

Sophomore Campbell Massey led the Warriors’ pack by recording a 42nd-place performance in the Class SS State Championship. Massey hit the finish line with a time of 24:20 on her way to placing 42nd at states for Valley.

Senior Bailey Hilliar finished in 60th place with a time of 26:02 for the Warriors in the Class SS meet. Freshman Sonya Xaypanya came in 65th place by posting a mark of 26:44.

Senior Emily Mezick finished in 70th place by running a time of 27:08 in states. Junior Morgan Toth finished in 85th place with a time of 29:12 for Valley Regional.

The Valley Regional boys’ cross country team hit the course to compete in the Class SS State Championship meet last week. The Warriors finished in 13th place after posting a team score of 345 points at Wickham Park on Oct. 29.

Junior Zackary Scott turned in Valley’s top performance by finishing in 40th place at the Class SS State Championship. Scott turned in a time of 19:17 en route to claiming 40th place on behalf of the Warriors.

Senior Quentin Baron finished in 54th place with a time of 20:00 in the state meet. Junior Elliot Stack ran a time of 20:48 and came in 78th place for Valley.

Junior Aidan Babek finished in 90th place (21:12), while fellow junior Avi Siegel finished in 93rd place (21:18) for the Warriors. Senior Jeremiah Lamark finished in 100th place (21:23), and sophomore Lyle Pitman finished in 115th place (22:37) for the state competition.