The fall high school sports season opens a little earlier than usual in Connecticut this year, with boys and girls soccer, field hockey and other sports starting play today and running through mid-November.
Farmington and Tolland boys soccer and Mercy girls soccer won state championships and will be attempting to defend those titles. Other local teams, like Northwest Catholic girls soccer, advanced to the finals, fell short, and look to take that next step this season.
Here’s a quick look at some of the top local stories in the various fall sports:
Boys soccer
Farmington’s 18 seniors won a state championship as freshmen in 2021 and they bookended their high school careers with another title last fall, winning the Class LL championship 3-1 over Xavier. Many teams would be rebuilding after losing 18 seniors but not Farmington, which returns three senior starters (goalkeeper Dante Fierro, Keane Murphy and Colin Shtabel) as well as senior Ian Manton, who scored in the state final. The River Hawks also add senior center midfielder Kevin Coronado, who played as a sophomore but did not play last year. “These guys have really stepped up and are having a great preseason and they’re starting to gel, which is nice,” coach Nick Boorman said. Farmington will play a rematch of the Class LL championship game against Xavier on Saturday at the Connecticut High School Soccer Challenge at FSA in Farmington.
Tolland’s Jon Adadjo (7) is chased by Stonington’s Jonah Korinek (8) as he heads down field during the first half of the Boys Soccer Class M Semifinals at Veterans Stadium at Willow Brook Park in New Britain on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Aaron Flaum/ Hartford Courant)
Tolland is where Farmington was last year, except the Eagles are coming off a state title and return 16 seniors from its Class M championship team. The Eagles beat Weston 2-1 to win its first title since 2015. Tolland graduated Chris Adadjo, who assisted on the game-winning goal in the final last year, but his younger brother, Jon, who scored the game-winner, is back. So is goalkeeper Andrew Chater, who had 11 shutouts last year. “I think the guys know there’s lofty expectations for them,” Tolland coach Mike Caccomo said. “We don’t hide that. But we tell them because it’s on paper, it’s not real life, you have to make it happen.” Tolland will open with Hall, always a contender on Wednesday.
Hall, which won the Class LL title two years ago, lost one of its top players, Freddy Wright, who had 12 goals and 11 assists as a sophomore, to an ACL tear in the spring but returns senior midfielder Diego Lemes. “We have a very well-balanced team,” coach Zeke Seguro said. The Titans will face two state champions, Tolland and Farmington, as well as Glastonbury and Trumbull, in their first four games. … Glastonbury has a new coach in K.C. Warren, who has served as an assistant on and off for 17 years since 1993. Glastonbury lost to Xavier in the Class LL quarterfinals last year, 3-2. All-conference center back Grayson Haskins returns for the Guardians, as do juniors Brady Nilsen and Kyle Oliver and senior Derick Li.
Girls soccer
It would be difficult to forget the dramatic goal scored by Mercy’s Molly Benson in the final second of the Class LL state championship game against favored St. Joseph last year to give Mercy the title (it made the Top 10 plays on SportsCenter). Though her sister (who assisted on the goal) graduated, Benson, a junior, returns for the Tigers and is expected to be one of the team’s main scorers.
Mercy has four starters back, including senior goalkeeper Emily Hickey but returned only one defender from last year. “So far, so good,” coach Marcus Harley said. “We’ve been able to score some goals, compete with some teams – we look all right. From what I saw, we should hold our own.”
Northwest Catholic, which lost in the Class M championship game to Lewis Mills, returns eight seniors, including Maeve Staunton, who has committed to play at UConn, Allie Loveless, who will play at Lafayette, and Abby Casper in goal. Casper has committed to play basketball at Holy Cross. Staunton and Casper teamed up to help Northwest win its third straight state championship in basketball last year but a soccer title has eluded them (the seniors also played in the finals their freshmen year). The Lions have added some strong freshmen into their mix as well.
Northwest Catholic’s Maeve Staunton (15) and Nonnewaug’s Karli Brandt (2) fight for the ball during the first half of the Girls Soccer Class M Semifinals at Veterans Stadium at Willow Brook Park in New Britain on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Aaron Flaum/ Hartford Courant)
Field hockey
Glastonbury is always expected to be in the mix competitively, but it’s been tough the last few years going up against the FCAIC teams once the Guardians get deeper into the Class L tournament. The Guardians lost to Wilton in the quarterfinals last year and eventual champion Staples in the semifinals the year before. FCIAC teams have won the Class L championship every year since 2014 when Glastonbury tied Darien for the title.
Glastonbury returns 14 players but lost Addie Infante, a player coach Maureen Perkins called the most skilled she’s coached in 25 years, to UConn. Senior Deirdre McKeirnan will lead the offense for Glastonbury and Annelise Manzotti will anchor the defense. “We have a lot of kids with experience who can stay in the roles they had or step up into new roles,” Perkins said.
Hand, which won the Class M title two years and went 22-0-1, was the top seed in Class S last year but lost to eventual champion Shepaug Valley in the semifinals. Hand returns two solid goalkeepers, a center back and a number of frontline players who can score. “We will work on getting consistent with our skills and on battling to compete with the best,” Hand coach Sue Leckey said in an email. Hand will face defending Class M champion Guilford early in the season.
Cross country
Glastonbury’s Brian Collins may have retired from coaching indoor and outdoor track but he’s back as the cross country coach for the team that won its sixth State Open title last year. Two-time State Open champion Brooke Strauss is off to UConn but Glastonbury has plenty of top runners ready to move up, including sophomore Lauren Parrett, who finished fifth in the State Open as a freshman last year. “She’s ready,” Collins said. “She’s one tough kid. In a scrimmage the other day, she ran close to a minute faster than she did last year at this time.”
Glastonbury has a deep team and will expected to contend for the Class LL and State Open title again this year. Without Strauss and Liv and Tess Sherry from Conard, who all graduated, it will be Old Lyme senior Chase Gilbert’s turn to shine in cross country. Gilbert finished third in the Open last year behind Strauss and Liv Sherry and finished third her freshman year.
Mercy has 10 seniors and they have improved every year; the Tigers were the Class M runners-up in 2022, they won Class M in 2023 and last year, they won Class MM and finished second to Glastonbury in the State Open. Led by senior Sarah Roberts and sophomore Cora Wasiolek, who finished 1-2 at the Class MM meet, Mercy is looking to improve on last season’s success. Coach Matt Conyers said that the group of seniors, which includes Calista Nephew and Beatrice Perrault, “has been part of this whole rebuild and resurgence. It’s really a credit to them.”
Xavier, which won the Class L boys title, lost top runners Owen Martin and Jack Ouellette to graduation but returns sophomore Nolan O’Connor, Xavier’s top underclassmen finisher at Class L and has a deep team. “We are looking very strong,” coach Chris Stonier said. “We lost some big guys but we’ve got some very strong leaders in (seniors) Andrew (Hawk) and Landon (Rubano) and some tremendously talented underclassmen.”
Mercy sophomore Sarah Roberts won the Class M title and her team won its first cross country state championship in 30 years (Lori Riley photo)
Girls volleyball
Farmington, which won the Class L title in 2023, was on the brink of losing in the championship game but rallied against Bristol Central to win 3-2 in the Class L final last year. The Hawks have four starters back from the championship team, returning Lauren Jones and Sydnie Smith and sophomore Callie Zadrozny, sister of All-State libero Jamie Zadozny (who graduated), is the team’s setter. Senior Kiara Wilson will be playing at outside hitter where another All-Stater, Lucy Scudder, played last year. Farmington graduated six seniors but returns seven seniors.
Southington, which went 24-2 and lost in the Class LL semifinals to eventual runner-up Glastonbury, brings back its senior setter Laura Esguerra and senior Paige Raines, who will play libero. Junior Lily Eidukaityte was third in kills on the team last year. … Glastonbury, which handed Southington both of its losses, once in the CCC final and once in the tournament semifinal, has two top players back in senior setter Mckenna Reynolds and senior outside hitter Reese Henderson.
Coventry, which was the Class S runner-up last year to Valley Regional, lost a lot of defensive players but brings back three-time All-Stater Abby Polo, a senior setter, as well as outside hitters Teia Wransford and Tessa Young, both juniors, and seniors Brooke White (libero) and Audrey Eakins (middle hitter). “At this part of the year, we’re working on cohesion so it gets messy at times,” coach Ryan Gibersosn said. “But we’ve done pretty well in scrimmages.” Coventry last won a title in 2023.
