LOOKING BACK | BY GEORGE ALBANO
10 YEARS AGO
Five members of the state champion Norwalk High boys soccer team were named to the 2012 AllFCIAC First Team. Santiago Muriel, Kevin Joslyn, Andrew Melitsanopoulos, Nacho Navarro and goalie Svet Kozak represented the FCIAC cochamps while no other conference team had more than three first-team picks. In addition, the Bears’ Paul Soja and Alejandro Rivera were named to the AllCentral Division team. They were joined by a trio of Brien McMahon players as Nico Petridis, Zack Bayles and Christian Guzman were recognized.
Meanwhile, the city of Norwalk was also wellrepresented on the AllFCIAC football team with a total of nine selections. Six of them were from McMahon as Kyle Jordan, Trevon Forney, Andre Rodriguez and Nick Briganti were named All-Central Division on offense, while Matt Hargrove and James
Pace were recognized on defense. Three Norwalk High players were also named All-Central with Tomar Joseph on offense and Tristan Opdahl and Marc Lerebours on defense.
Former Brien McMahon basketball player Anthony Epps was named the New England Collegiate Conference Player of the Week after leading Mitchell College of New London to back-to-back home victories. The 6-4 junior forward, making his second start of the season, scored a career-high 30 points on 11-for-15 shooting in an 86-70 win over Western Connecticut State. Epps also went 6-for-6 from the free throw line, grabbed five rebounds and blocked one shot ... Mitchell then won its NECC opener 89-84 in overtime against Daniel Webster College of New Hampshire as Epps again led the Mariners with 27 points. He hit 8-of-12 shots from the floor, including five 3-pointers, and once again went 6-for-6 from the line while recording eight rebounds and one steal. The two wins upped Mitchell’s record to 5-3.
25 YEARS AGO
The Norwalk Recreation Adult Touch Football League season came to an exciting conclusion as the Hurricanes outlasted the Panthers 14-12 in overtime to capture the A League championship at Malmquist Field. The contest was a rematch of last year’s final as the Hurricanes gained a measure of revenge by knocking off the defending champs. Quarterback Tom Taliercio fired a 25-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Rocco to give the Hurricanes a 6-0 halftime lead, but the Panthers tied it midway through the second half when QB Barry Smith hit Gene DeAngelis with a 5-yard TD completion.
Still tied at the end of regulation the teams went to the “Kansas” overtime format alternating offensive series from the 10 yard line. The Hurricanes had first shot and Taliercio hit Marc Chimento for the go-ahead touchdown while the same duo hooked up for the twopoint conversion and a 14-6 lead. The Panthers got the ball next and Smith passed to John Newson for a touchdown, but the Hurricanes’ defense stopped the conversion attempt to seal the crown. Chris Hyzy had two interceptions for the champs, giving him 16 for the season, while Chris Waddell and Chris Fulton each had interceptions for the Panthers.
50 YEARS AGO
The 1972-73 high school winter sports season got underway this week and no local team had a more exciting debut than the Norwalk High boys swim team, which nipped Fairfield Prep 48-47. The meet came down to the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay and NHS anchorman John Scott was behind when he dove into the pool, caught up to the Prep swimmer at the 50-yard mark, then pulled ahead and hit the wall by one body length to give the Bears the thrilling victory. But Norwalk put itself in position to pull out the win in the second to last event, the 100 freestyle, when freshman Rob Polley improved his personal best time by four seconds to finish runner-up, which prevented Prep from clinching the win.
The city’s three high school boys basketball teams were also scheduled to open their season, but only two of them were able to do so before Saturday night’s snowstorm. Brien McMahon faced powerhouse Wilbur Cross in New Haven on Friday afternoon and gave the defending Class LL state champs a battle before falling 69-61. The Governors went 24-0 last season, including a 94-57 win over the McMahon in the state tournament. But the Senators trailed 58-56 with two minutes left before Cross closed the game with an 11-5 run. Junior Jerome Maultsby had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Norwalkers while senior center Jim Prokupek added 15 points and 16 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Central Catholic moved its opener from Saturday night to Saturday afternoon and lost to Joel Barlow 78-68, spoiling the debut of new head coach Ray Barry. Hector Huertas scored 19 points and Mike Connolly had 18 to lead the Cavaliers ... Norwalk High’s season opener at Hartford Weaver Saturday night was postponed because of freezing rain and snow and rescheduled for next week.
Former Norwalk High basketball standout Bobby Miller, now a junior at Niagara University, scored a career-high 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting to lead the Purple Eagles to a 99-66 win over St. Francis College ... Miller then scored 18 points in his next game as Niagara beat Bowling Green 100-77.