FALL HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS STORYLINES
Last year, the Connecticut fall high school sports landscape was very different from any other year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The season took place but was shortened and regionalized as coronavirus cases started to rise again in the fall heading into the winter. Football was considered a highrisk sport and not contested. Swim teams held virtual meets, and volleyball players wore masks when they played.
This year, things are different. Football is back and all fall high school sports are slated to play full schedules as well as state tournaments, as was done this past spring.
Volleyball players will continue to wear masks due to the indoor nature of the sport, and swimmers must wear masks on the pool deck.
Also, boys golf is a new addition to the fall sports lineup, moving from the spring.
As the fall season opens on Thursday, here are some key storylines around area high school sports teams.
Football
Projecting a top team, or teams, is hardly more effective than playing darts blindfolded after a missed 2020 season. The teams that excelled in 2019 have since graduated two whole classes of athletes, some have changed coaches and other teams on their schedule may have improved.
There are, of course, the area blue bloods that always rise to the top. Southington, a Class LL semifinalist in 2019, is never short on talent. Daniel Hand, winners of two straight Class L titles in 2017-18, have had three coaches since its state title game loss to St. Joseph in 2019. Alum Erik Becker is now in charge of the prestigious program, and senior Patch Flanagan will be behind center. Bloomfield won it all in Class S in 2018 and finished runner-up in 2019, and despite having the lowest boys enrollment in the state, always has a crop of athletes.
Bristol Central with senior quarterback Victor Rosa, Stafford/somers/east Windsor led by senior wide receiver Logan Briggs, Xavier with senior quarterback Drew Kron and Maloney headed up by senior quarterback Angel Arce are among programs with the right mix of returning talent and recent success. Only time will tell who stands out.
According to 247Sports, Rosa is the state’s top recruit. He committed to Uconn in July, and after rushing for 1,146 yards and 19 touchdowns as a sophomore, he’s primed for an even bigger season as a senior.
“I’ve got speed,” Rosa told The Courant in July. “A lot of people have speed as well, but I play fast, I’m not just that fast guy that can’t play fast. I’m definitely smart, and I’m a leader on the field. I’ve been playing football my whole life — I know exactly what’s going on at all times. I’m a dog.”
The biggest question concerning football is the experience factor. A senior this season was a sophomore in 2019 and likely saw few varsity snaps. Juniors were freshman, and this year’s crop of sophomores and freshman have zero legitimate high school football experience.
“It’s the speed and tempo,” Simsbury coach Dave Masters said. “None of them had the benefit of being juniors and watching seniors operate and see what it takes to do it. The challenge now is, in the limited about of time you have, to set the same kind of tempo. You can’t replace the game experience, so it’s really hard to simulate and practice so they get that.”
Boys soccer
Glastonbury has a new coach, Chris Vozzolo, after former coach Mark Landers moved over to the girls team. Vozzolo was an assistant for over a decade. Glastonbury returns 11 seniors and will open its season Saturday against Fairfield Prep.
Hand, which won back-to-back titles in Class L in 2018 and 2019, finished undefeated in a shortened season last fall but lost top player Scott Testori to graduation (and Uconn) and its coach Greg Cumpstone to Wesleyan. Neil Phillips has taken over the Tigers.
Old Saybrook is the defending Class S champion. Hall, which beat Greenwich 3-1 to win the Class LL championship in 2019, is led by junior Lucas Almeida. Farmington will play Hall Monday in a big early-season matchup.
Girls soccer
Glastonbury, which won the Class LL state championship in 2019, has a new coach in Landers and a number of solid returning players, including midfielder Sophia Haussman who didn’t play last year but was part of the state championship team in 2019. The team is expected to be one of the best in the state again and was ranked eighth nationally in the United Soccer coaches rankings on Tuesday. Glastonbury opens with Farmington
Thursday.
Southington, which played Glastonbury in the state finals two years ago, went undefeated last fall and has 12 seniors back. Southington and Glastonbury will face each other twice during the regular season.
Field hockey
Two of the top area teams, Hall and Glastonbury, open up the season by playing each other on Thursday. Glastonbury’s top players are senior forward Molly Harding and midfielder Katelyn Welsh. Hall, led by sophomore Ellie Goldstein and senior Bridget Mcgann, went 15-1 in the regular season in 2019 and lost to Greenwich in the first round of the Class L tournament, 1-0.
Granby was the 2019 Class S champion, and Hand was the Class M runner-up in 2019 to Guilford.
Cheshire has a new coach, one of its former players, Kya O’donnell. Eileen Wildermann left coaching to spend more time with her family after a dozen years and close to 200 wins. Midfielder Lauren Houle is one of the top returning players for the Rams.
Girls volleyball
Avon won its first state title in 2019 in Class L and went 23-2. Coach Curt Burns returns two juniors from that team in outside hitter Katelyn Wankier and setter Jocelyn Powers.
Southington has a fun first few matches — the Blue Knights play 2019 Class M champion Avon on Thursday, 2019 Class LL champion on Friday and Class L powerhouse RHAM next Monday.
Conard, led by setter Nyssa Park, as well as Glastonbury, Farmington and RHAM are also teams to watch.
Girls swimming
Glastonbury has a loaded team, with 29 swimmers and 11 divers. Juniors Avery and Riley Kudlac and Brooke Sowka are all top swimmers, with Avery breaking multiple school freestyle records last year during the team’s virtual meets.
Cheshire has a 75-meet win streak and a new coach in Matt Traub. The Rams were the 2019 State Open and Class LL champions and won the SCC championship for the ninth straight year last year. Juniors Julianna Tyler and Avery Potryala, sophomores Morgan Mcdonough, Grace Hanke and Sella Cahill are a few of Cheshire’s top swimmers.
Other area teams to watch are Hall and Hand, which was the Class M runner-up in 2019.
Boys cross country
This is the final year to watch Conard’s Gavin Sherry, his twin brother Callum, Aidan Puffer of Manchester, Jack Martin of Avon, Xavier’s Eamon Burke and the rest of the great crop of seniors go at it up and down the hills of Wickham Park in the class meets and the State Open. Last year, there were no state cross country meets due to COVID19. In the spring, Gavin Sherry cemented his status as one of the state’s top runners in history by breaking State Open records in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters on the track.
Other top area runners to watch are Hall’s Walker Beverly, Newington’s Michael Bohlke and Manchester’s Sean Barkasy. Tolland was the State Open champion in 2019, and Xavier was the Class L champion.
Girls cross country
Hall is the defending State Open and Class LL champion from 2019 and returns top runners Nora Holmes and Kate Sanderson, both seniors, as well as sophomores Rylan Priest and Julia Zydanowicz. Glastonbury is a perennial contender and brings back senior Kylie Hilliard.
Other top area runners are Suffield senior Emily Brydges, Southington senior Jackie Izzo, Old Saybrook senior Caitlin Wylie and Bacon Academy senior Jordan Malloy.
Boys golf
Previously a spring sport, golf will now be played in the fall. Hand (Division II) and Portland (Division IV) are reigning state champions. The Tigers will be led by junior Matthew Gagliardi, who finished tied for eighth at last year’s state championship. Portland sophomore Luke Stennet won the Division IV individual title last year and will return again to lead the Panthers.
Glastonbury senior Conor Goode (tied for second at the Division I state title last year) and Cromwell junior Jack Wise (tied for first in Division III) are other golfers to watch.