Lacrosse
NC 6 Red Rises to the Top at Cheshire Jamboree (submitted by Darleen Ferraro)
After running in the Color Run on Saturday morning April 29th, NC 6 Red spent the rest of the day proving once again they are in it to win it. The team played in a four game Jamboree hosted by Cheshire. The first game was the only upset of the day. After driving an hour, the NC 6 Red just seemed a bit tired from the ride and their exciting morning. Cheshire prevailed in this game with a score of 7-4. Coach Maureen “Mo” Deegan told the girls to “shake it off” and to “forget about what just happened.”
Her advice must have resonated with the girls, for NC 6 Red came out and dominated for the rest of the day. The second game was against Guilford. The girls put their motors in overdrive and came up with a well-deserved win: 8-3. The third game of the day was against Simsbury. NC Red 6 did have red faces by this point; however, this did not hinder their game. They ran off the field with another win: 6-2. By this time of the day, the girls needed shade, and Coach Mo could see that they were red-faced, hot and tired. She wasn’t going to let that get in the way of another victory, so she pulled the girls aside and rallied for strength and endurance before heading onto the field for their last game against Madison. The girls seemed to rejuvenate with this talk and bolted out on the field. NC Red 6 did not disappoint and took away their final win against Madison: 6-3. Goal Scoring for the day went to: Caroline Underwood (5), Tessa Cosco (3), Ella Imbruce (3), Stella Nolan (3), Katherine O’Connell (2) Abby Richardson (2), Katharine Byrne(1), Grace Crookenden (1), Shawna Ferraro (1), Caroline Langford (1), Molly Reed (1), and Izzy Schuh (1). Assists were made by: Reagan Bailey (1), Katherine Caione (2), Tessa Cosco (1), Caroline Langford (2), Stella Nolan (2), Izzy Schuh (1), Caroline Underwood (1). The day would not have been complete without Kate Barnard, Nola Kammerer, and Kate Warner who also helped the team to victory with their defensive playing and steal aways. Katherine Wronski was solid between the pipes and stopped over 12 shots for the day. Not only was this a great day of lacrosse for NC 6 Red, it was a great day of team bonding and friendship building: a great combination.
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Soccer
New Canaan Girls 2006 Red Defeat Fairfield 2-1 (submitted by Frank Pertusiello)
The New Canaan girls 2006 Red travelled to Fairfield this past Sunday to take on FUSA Red 1. Neither the Arctic-like cold nor the chewed-up pitch was enough to stop their dominating performance. Although the final tally makes it look like a close match, New Canaan was in command a majority of the time with many scoring opportunities and a particularly strong performance by the defense.
Fairfield tried for an early strike opening up with several advances down the field, but New Canaan defenders Chloe Oyekanmi and Ava Pertusiello were brutally efficient in quickly shutting down every challenge. The physical play earned Fairfield a couple of free kicks just outside the box, however first half goalie Katherine Norton made two excellent saves to keep New Canaan from falling behind. Midway through the first half New Canaan’s offense took control. Midfielders Fiona Mueller, Kallie Patterson and Katie Quill began intercepting the ball and setting up scoring chances. Multiple passing sequences found the feet of forwards Devon Russell and Ceci Patterson who charged head on into Fairfield’s defense and fired shots on net.
Using the deep and versatile pool of talent at his disposal, Coach Luke Green brought in Lila Gizzie and Nikki Ferraro at midfield and Tema Wagner and Hadley Walker at forward. New Canaan’s advances to the net continued without missing a beat as the pressure on Fairfield’s defense mounted. The stalemate was finally broken when Pertusiello, now playing midfield, weaved into the top of the box switching to her left foot and delivered a strike to the low right corner of the net putting New Canaan up 1-0 as the first half came to a close.
The start of the second half featured Quill in net, Norton and Oyekanmi on defense, Gizzie, Pertusiello and Wagner in the middle, and Mueller and Walker up front. New Canaan’s offense started out strong with Walker pressing the attack and Mueller driving down the sideline delivering consecutive shots on net. However, Fairfield was determined to make a comeback. Their offense came to life as they began penetrating deep into New Canaan’s half. Oyekanmi and Norton shut down several drives, but Fairfield’s forwards managed to get a couple of shots on net. One shot was deftly saved by Quill, but the other got through a scrum in front of the net to even the score at 1-1.
Determined to come away with the win, New Canaan went back on the attack. For the next 20 minutes rotating midfielders Ferraro, Pertusiello, Patterson (Ceci), Gizzie and Mueller were unrelenting as they wore down their opponents. Forwards Russell and Patterson (Kallie) were peppering the net with shots. Finally Ferraro sent a bouncing cross to Russell who expertly tapped a one-timer past the goalie to put New Canaan on top 2-1. The remaining minutes felt like days to the shivering parents on the sideline, but final whistle eventually sounded and the New Canaan girls 2006 Red won their second game of the season.
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Baseball
The BVSA NC Cardinals lost in a hard fought battle 3-2 to the Norwalk Autumn Lake team in the Majors division. The Cardinal offense saw great at bats from Johnny Maechling, Robbie Hellman and a 3 for 3 game from Jack Lenihan. The Cardinal defense saw web gems from Alex Benevento, Nick Burns and a pick off play assisted by Peter Cioffi at 3rd base.
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The Ramp3 Reds defeated the BVSA Cardinals 9-4 in a major’s division contest. The Reds offense was powered by Jack Sommers and Ryan Moore (3 for 3 on the day). The Cardinal defense was stout with great defensive plays from Eoin Mueller, Cullen McCarthy and Alex Benevento (had a great assist from right field to get runner at the plate.) The Red pitching staff dominated the Cardinals with great pitching from Cooper Dinan, Philip Etergino and Jack Sheffield. The Cardinal offense saw great at bats from Colin Tiscornia, Johnny Maechling and Jack Lenihan (3 for 3 on the day.)