Eye On The CIAC

Last week marked maybe the first week of the spring season in which the weather allowed competition to go on uninterrupted. With that, we have a full edition of Eye on the CIAC taking a look at some of the action around the state.

Boys Lacrosse:

Bethel and Newington engaged in a spirited game on Monday afternoon, with Bethel emerging with an 8-7 win in double overtime. It was a fourth-straight win for Bethel after opening the season 0-2.
It was the third overtime game between the two teams in six years, and this time New Milford’s Christopher Reilly scored the winning goal in overtime to claim an 8-7 win over rival New Fairfield.
Fitch captured a key 13-10 win over NFA to halt a three-game losing streak to move within a game of .500. A 5-1 scoring edge for Fitch in the fourth period proved to be the difference.
Avon remained unbeaten on the season, but had to work for it, pulling out an 8-6 win over Southington on Wednesday.
Lewis Mills won a third-straight game with a 13-12 triumph over Notre Dame-Fairfield. It was the second-straight game with 13 goals for Lewis Mills.

Outdoor Track & Field:

Shania Homiski of NFA produced a strong qualifying performance this past weekend in the javelin with a throw of 106-3.0.
Guilfords Fiona Doolan ran a strong time in the 800 to post a qualifying mark, blitzing the field at 2:22 on Wednesday.
Sierra Cameron from Bacon Academy produced one of the top long jump efforts of the season on Thursday, jumping 16-10 in a meet at East Hampton.
Bloomfields Izaiah McEwan ran a blistering time in the 110-meter hurdles in a meet on Saturday. He covered the distance in a time of 14.69 which is the fastest qualifying time thus far.
Logan Fulton of Joel Barlow competed at the NY Relays on Friday and ran two strong efforts, including a qualifying mark of 9:31.36 in the 3,200 meters which is the second best qualifying time.
There were a total of 85 qualifying performances on Tuesday with several big meets taking place. One of them belonged to Michael Vitale of Amity who tossed the shot put 51-03.5 which is the best toss of the season.

Girls Tennis:

Lauralton Hall opened its week with a hard-fought 4-3 win over Joel Barlow to improve to 5-1. Its only loss was a season-opening 4-3 setback to perennially strong Weston.
Watertown played its third 4-3 decision of the season, claiming its first win in such scenarios by topping Wolcott 4-3. It came on the heels of a 4-3 loss for Watertown against Seymour, and the win on Tuesday evened the Indians record at 3-3.
A 4-3 win road win over Windsor Locks pushed East Granby above the .500 mark at 2-1 in the early season. The team split its first two matches, both by 7-0 scores.
For the fourth time this season Rocky Hill played a match that was decided by a single point, this time edging local rival Manchester by a 4-3 score. Thus far the Terriers are 3-1 in matches decided by a 4-3 score.

Boys Volleyball:

Southington was pushed in its opening game of the week, but remained unbeaten with a 3-1 triumph over Shelton in just the second set the team has dropped.
Amity is sitting in the top-10 in Class L and the team pulled out a 3-1 road win over Kolbe Cathedral on Tuesday to improve to 4-2 on the season. The team bounced back from a loss to Cheshire the previous Friday, and then earned a 3-2 win over Masuk on Wednesday.
Xavier improved to 5-1 on the season with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Joel Barlow on Friday night. It marked the first time this season the Falcons were extended to a fifth set.

Baseball:

Conard and Rocky Hill went 10 innings before Conard pulled out a 3-2 win to remain unbeaten.
A classic pitchers duel with Pomperaug blanking Immaculate 1-0. Carl Gatzendorfer provided the only run with an RBI single in the fifth and Cooper Maloney fanned 13 in the win.
It was a perfect day for baseball on Wednesday and Bethel managed a one-run win over Stratford with both teams scoring two runs in the final inning and Bethel prevailing 7-6. Carson Duffy had three hits to pace the winners.
St. Joseph halted Greenwich’s 26-game FCIAC winning streak behind a gem from hurler Stanley Wolpiuk. He scattered six hits and fanned seven as the team earned a 4-0 win.
Northwestern remained unbeaten in the early season with a 3-0 extra inning win over Thomaston in a battle of teams previously unbeaten in the Berkshire League. Jimi Phillips tossed seven one-hit innings with seven strikeouts to propel Thomaston.

Softball:

In a battle of ranked teams from different classes, Kolbe Cathedral showed off its strong pitching with a 7-0 blanking of Masuk, to hand the team its first loss.
Don’t often see a close game that is this high scoring, but Cheney Tech and University/Classical Magnet staged a wild game with Cheney Tech coming out on top 21-20.
New Canaan earned its third win of the season in a game decided by two runs or fewer with a 5-4 win over Danbury.
Derby pulled out a slim victory over Sacred Heart to claim its first victory of the season.

Girls Lacrosse:

Cheshire picked up a win over another top-10 team, outlasting Brookfield 13-11 with Kathleen Kalbian scoring seven goals and passing out a pair of assists.
In a battle of two teams both in the top-2 in their class rankings, class S Bethel knocked class M Farmington from the ranks of the unbeaten with an 11-9 win.
St. Joseph’s Nicole Healey had three goals and two assists and goalkeeper Maci Koruchy made 17 saves as the Cadets got past Lauralton Hall 13-12.
A game-winning goal from Mady LeBeau with just a shade over four minutes remaining gave Waterford a come-from-behind win over Ledyard by a 13-12 score.

Boys Tennis:

A battle between two rival tech programs with Abbott Tech capturing a 4-3 win over Platt Tech opened the week.
Old Saybrook and Old Lyme went the distance in a tight boys tennis contest on Tuesday, with Old Saybrook coming out on top 4-3. Old Saybrook remained unbeaten with the win, which was its second 4-3 win of the year.
Classical Magnet nabbed its fifth win of the year against just one loss with a tight 5-4 victory over Bullard Havens Tech.
East Haven topped local rival Notre Dame-West Haven by a 4-3 score on Thursday afternoon. It was the second win of the season for the Yellowjackets, and halted a three-game losing skid.

RANKINGS WATCH
Each Monday we take a look at any major movement in the top-10 of the CIAC Tournament Rankings for those sports where it is provided (rankings and records are based on results reported through the CIAC on-line reporting system).

Ridgfield and Oxford are the top teams in class L and M rankings respectively and are two of the four remaining unbeaten teams. Two wins for Lewis Mills helped them make a three-spot jump in class M, up to the fourth position. Rockville fell out of the top half with a three-spot drop in class M as well. Cheshire had a three-spot move in class L, moving into the top half. Ridgefield and Glastonbury swapped the top two positions. The Fairfield Warde/Ludlow co-op remained in the top-10 but fell from fourth to 10th.
In softball there are four new teams atop the rankings from a week ago with Fairfield Ludlowe, Masuk, Stonington, and Terryville holding the honors in their classes. Old Saybrook was a big mover in class S, vaulting from eighth to third on the strength of three wins. East Haven’s eight wins are the most in class M and have them in fourth place, with three unbeatens ahead of them. Plainville was outside the top-10 and moved all the way up into the fifth position. Maloney and North Haven both made big moves in L, with Maloney now at two and North Haven at three moving up from sixth and ninth respectively. In L, Fairfield Ludlowe moved into the top spot from the sixth place. Daniel Hand also made a big move, sliding up from seventh to third. Hall was outside the top-10 and now debuted at five.
Hall and Brookfield remained unbeaten and atop their respective rankings, while Avon moved into the top spot in class M. There are still five unbeaten teams in class M and three each in L and S. Tolland moved from fifth to second in S as the biggest move. There was very little movement in class M other than the switch at the top and New Canaan moving from outside the top-10 all the way up to second position. Fairfield Prep was the big riser in L as they hold the fifth spot after ranking outside the top-10 last week. Staples also slid up from ninth to sixth.
New Canaan moved from fifth to first in class M in girls lacrosse while Glastonbury is tops in L and Haddam-Killingworth are at the top of class S. There are still six unbeaten teams in the rankings with three of them in the top three spots in L. Darien slid up to fourth from seventh in L to make the biggest move up. Pomperaug also made a strong move up in class M, jumping from seventh to third. There was not much movement in class S, with the biggest leap coming from Housatonic Regional which was outside the top-10 and now sits in seventh.
Finally in baseball Bristol Central, Wolcott and Somers are newly atop the L, M and S rankings respectively, while Cheney Tech maintained its positions atop L. Bristol Central moved up just one spot to claim the top ranking in LL while Amity vaulted from 10th to fourth in that class. Fitch had three wins last week to climb from seventh to third in the L rankings while there are several new faces in the bottom half of the top-10 in L. Wolcott was in fourth last week and now is tops in M ahead of two other unbeaten teams. Northwest Catholic was not in the top-10 last week but holds the fifth position this week. Similarly St. Bernard is fifth in the S rankings after sitting outside the top-10 last week. Cromwell also had a good week moving from seventh to third.

CIAC On TV
Lots of high school action on CPTV Sports this week, as well as some On-Demand options on the CIAC Network. On CPTVSports the schedule includes several new softball, boys lacrosse and boys volleyball contests this week including a contest between Torrington and Naugatuck in softball, Xavier and Daniel Hand in boys lacrosse, and Hall taking on Glastonbury in boys volleyball. Check out CPTVsports.org for the full schedule, and schedule for games available with the CIAC Network is available on CIAC.tv.