LOOKING BACK | GEORGE ALBANO
10 YEARS AGO
The first Brien McMahonNorwalk High matchup of the fall sports season took place in girls volleyball with the Senators recording a tight 3-1 victory, 25-12, 25-23, 22-25, 26-24. After a seasonopening loss, the Senators bounced back behind the play of Joselynne Quinones (15 service points, eight assists, six digs), Dalycia Crawford (12 points, 10 kills, two blocks), Cristina Castagna (20 digs, 11 kills) and Bryana Coleman (four blocks). For the Bears, now 1-1, Shayna Marco had 11 assists while Alexis Noonan and Alex Weber recorded 10 kills apiece.
The NHS boys soccer team opened the season with back-toback home victories, defeating St. Joe’s 4-1 and Danbury 4-0. Mike Broncati scored twice in the opener while two days later Nick Zuniga tallied a pair of goals. Chris Puente netted a goal in each win ... The Norwalk High girls bounced back from an opening loss to beat Trinity Catholic 1-0 as Emma Roddy scored the game winner with 15 minutes left.
The McMahon field hockey team began the season with a pair of non-league shutout wins at home. The Senators blanked Sacred Heart Academy of Hamden 4-0 as Holli Stephens, Natalie Leslie, Gillian Minnerly and Emily Todd scored, while Stephens registered two more goals and Minnerly had one in a 3-0 victory over Canton. Lili DeRossi posted consecutive shutouts in goal.
It was a successful debut for new Norwalk High head football coach Sean Ireland as the Bears held off Danbury 20-14 in the Hat City. Kenny Francois and Tomar Joseph each scored on oneyard touchdown runs while Derick Edwards added an electrifying 85-yard kickoff return for another TD. The NHS defense sealed the win with a goal-line stand in the final two minutes, including a touchdown-saving tackle by linebacker Gil Araujo.
25 YEARS AGO
Local high school sports fans were treated to two intracity matchups between Norwalk High and Brien McMahon the first week of the fall season. The NHS boys soccer team blanked its crosstown rivals 2-0 behind a pair of second-half goals by Frank Gutierez and a solid defensive effort by the Bears, including goalie Chris Kalmanides with seven saves in the shutout.
Meanwhile, the McMahon girls volleyball team beat Norwalk 3-1 as the Lady Senators, winless the last two seasons, snapped a 37match losing streak. Paola Palacio, a transfer from Columbia, recorded 24 service points in the 15-3, 8-15, 15-6, 15-11 victory. Jennifer Kuran added 16 points, including 10 in the clinching gamefour, three of them aces.
The McMahon football team, two-time defending FCIAC champs, opened the 1996 season with an exciting, but bizarre 20-19 win over Stamford, which was called with 3:43 remaining after the lights at Boyle Stadium went out for the third time in the second half due to a faulty lighting system. In between the second and third interruptions, Charles ‘Scooter’ Covington ran four yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 8:51 left. The junior speedster, who gained 130 yards on 16 carries, also scored on an 88-yard kickoff return late in the first half.
Kevyn Gardella enjoyed a double celebration after she won both the Shorehaven women’s club championship in golf and the women’s singles title in tennis.
50 YEARS AGO
For the first time in the 11-year history of the Brien McMahonNorwalk High football rivalry the two schools met in the season opener as over 3,000 fans watched the visiting Senators beat the Bears 24-6. Norwalk led 6-0 after Paul Caldwell scored on fourth-and-goal from the one in the opening quarter, but McMahon’s Wayne Correnty broke three tackles on a 42-yard touchdown run to tie it while Tim Wagner kicked the go-ahead PAT and added a 15-yard field goal with seconds left in the half for a 10-6 lead. The Senators pulled away with a pair of third-quarter TDs as quarterback Doug Augeri passed 51 yards to George Tisano, Milt Brown ran 48 yards for another touchdown, and Wagner added two more extra points. Brown finished with 106 yards on 18 carries while the BMHS defense, led by Wagner and Bill McDonald, held Norwalk to minus-six yards rushing. The Senators’ fourth straight win over their city rivals gives them a 6-4-1 series lead.
Central Catholic opened its 1971 season with a 6-6 tie against Wilton as all the scoring occurred in the final minute. A 46-yard punt by Tim Eagen pinned Wilton on its own four, and following a short punt by the Warriors, Wayne LeBlanc ran 13 yards to give the Cavaliers a 6-0 lead with 44 seconds left. But Wilton went 59 yards in four plays and scored the tying touchdown on a 24-yard pass with six seconds remaining. LeBlanc finished with 75 yards rushing, while the CCHS defense, led by John Treschitta, John Laverty, Jerry Tavella, Kevin Donnelly and John DiScala, held Wilton to 23 yards on the ground.
Two other high school football players from Norwalk led St. Luke’s to a 20-0 win over Woodmere Academy of Long Island. Sophomore Mike Siganos ran for two touchdowns and had 92 yards on 10 carries, while fellow-Norwalker Steve Palinkos scored the other TD on an 87-yard pass play and also had an interception.