GIRLS SOCCER STATE TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

5 PLAYERS TO WATCH

Audrey Marin, Amity: Forward has scored more than 20 goals and is coming off legging the Spartans to their first trip to the SCC tournament championship game since 2006. The Dartmouth-bound Marin gets one last chance to make a deep run in Class LL. The Spartans are the top seed, but there are plenty of great teams in their half of the bracket.

Alexa Pino, St. Joseph: We know about Mary Lundregan, who makes things go in the midfield for the Cadets. She normally finds Pino up top. A freshman, Pino has stepped into the void left by All-American Maddie Fried and has scored over 20 goals for the Cadets, the top seed in Class L.

Erynn Floyd, Wilton: A top-notch goalkeeper will be heading to Louisville to play next fall. She has posted 14 shutouts, including a pair en route to the FCIAC tournament final. Now Floyd gets a chance to get past the quarterfinals, which Wilton reached her first two seasons in net. Wilton tries to do it this season as the No. 10 seed.

Melina Ford, Mercy: Top goalkeeper in the SCC has 13 shutouts and made a key save on the last penalty kick she faced in the SCC tournament final against Amity on Thursday night. The Tigers won that title and are hoping to add the school’s first state championship in Class M. Mercy is seeded fourth.

Sydney Segalla, Housatonic: Has scored at will against Berkshire League competition all season long. Now the Boston Collegebound forward will see what she does against other small schools when No. 8 seeded Housatonic opens play in Class S on Monday.

5 STORYLINES

Destination: Dillon Stadium: After a 2020 season with no CIAC state tournaments — just multiple league tournaments with teams you played during the regular season — a sense of normalcy has returned to the pitch. We have completed full league tournaments and now, full state tournaments will commence. All roads lead to Dillon Stadium in Hartford. In 2019, the CIAC split its boys and girls soccer title games between there and Willow Brook Park in New Britain. The CIAC announced in October that Dillon would host all eight finals Nov. 20 and 21. Home to Hartford Athletic, Dillon Stadium seats plenty of people and is easily accessible off I-91 short of downtown Hartford. And you can see all eight games in one place.

Defending champions seeded high: All the 2019 state champions are in the same classes and three of those teams had fine seasons. Glastonbury is the No. 3 seed in Class LL despite dropping two straight CCC games last week to Hall and Southington, respectively.

Granby, which had its 37game winning streak snapped this season, is the No. 9 seed in Class M and Holy Cross is seeded second in Class S. Only Guilford struggled, the No. 17 seed with a potential secondround game against top seed St. Joseph on Wednesday.

Shark bait: Trivia question: Name the only team to go unbeaten in the Southern Connecticut Conference during the regular season. If you didn’t follow it closely, it may take a few guesses to get it correct. Sacred Heart Academy went 13-0-3. The Sharks suffered their first loss in the SCC tournament semifinals. First-year head coach Everson Maciel, a former standout at Quinnipiac University, has helped turn the program around quickly. The Sharks are the No. 3 seed and received a firstround bye and home games through the quarterfinals if they advance.

Shoreline strong: With the return of nonconference games to the regular season this year, Shoreline Conference teams played similarsized schools and got some positive results. To wit: Cromwell shut out both Sheehan and Coventry by 2-0 counts. Morgan, which won the league tournament title Friday, beat the best two teams in the ECC: East Lyme and Waterford. Portland, the league tournament runnerup, knocked off Suffield. Old Lyme also beat East Lyme in addition to Ledyard, but lost to Granby 1-0. A number of Shoreline teams could make postseason runs.

Last tournament run: Immaculate has owned the Class S division, winning eight state championships. Coach Nelson Mingachos has eight of those titles and 10 overall. Mingachos is stepping down after 17 seasons at the helm. He is hoping for one more deep run over the next two weeks. Immaculate is the No. 9 seed.

CLASS LL

2019 champion: Glastonbury

Favorites: No. 1 Amity, No. 3 Glastonbury, No. 6 Fairfield Ludlowe, No. 8 Southington, No. 9 Staples

Dark horses: No. 10 Wilton, No. 11 New Canaan, No. 13 Ridgefield

CLASS L

2019 champion: Guilford Favorites: No. 1 St. Joseph, No. 2 East Lyme

Dark horses: No. 10 Simsbury, No. 13 Bethel

CLASS M

2019 champion: Granby Favorites: No. 1 Nonnewaug, No. 2 Woodland, No. 3 Sacred Heart Academy, No. 4 Mercy, No. 5 Weston

Dark horses: No. 8 Morgan, No. 9 Granby, No. 10 Notre Dame-Fairfield, No. 13 Plainfield

CLASS S

2019 champion: Holy Cross

Favorites: No. 2 Holy Cross, No. 3 St, Bernard, No. 6 Somers

Dark horses: No. 9 Immaculate, No. 13 Portland