Suffield clinches NCCC title on Senior Night

Oct. 23—Senior Night had an extra special meaning for the Suffield High girls soccer team's seven seniors.

Senior Irene Torrez-Flores scored twice Friday as the Wildcats clinched the NCCC championship outright by defeating Ellington 4-1 at Ted Beneski Field.

The title is the first in the league for Suffield (12-2-0, 11-0-0 NCCC) since 2018,

"The look on the faces of our seniors after the game ... That's why you coach," Suffield coach David Sullivan said. "I couldn't be happier for them that they got this championship. They worked hard for this and that hard work paid off. I was proud of the way they played tonight. They showed what Suffield soccer is all about."

Granby won the NCCC title in 2019 and captured the NCCC West crown in the pandemic-shortened season a year ago.

Freshman Olivia Matthews added a goal and two assists while senior Sarah Kent also scored for Suffield. Junior goalie Ella Kollmorgan made four saves.

The Wildcats have won five straight since a non-league loss to Portland Oct. 6.

"I do believe that we've gotten better as we've gone along," Sullivan said. "We lost two non-conference games and both were in a stretch where we had injuries and played six games in nine days. We got through that tough part and the kids didn't quit and didn't give up. I'm thrilled for them.

"Our goal was to win the NCCC first and now we'll see what we can do in the state tournament.

Erica Paparian scored for the Knights (7-1-6, 6-1-3) Goalie Kylie LaDestro made 14 saves.

The loss snapped a 26-game unbeaten streak for Ellington. The Knights, who went 13-0-0 a year ago during the pandemic-shortened season en route to the NCCC East title, last fell to Granby in the 2019 Class M tournament quarterfinals.

Ellington entertains Somers on Tuesday and closes out the regular season at Granby Nov. 2 before heading into the Class M tournament.

Suffield finishes the regular season with road games against East Granby Tuesday and Granby Friday. The contest against the Bears does not count towards the NCCC standings as the teams played earlier in the season.

"We don't want to overlook East Granby because we want to finish unbeaten in the league," Sullivan said. "Then we go to Granby and I can't think of a team that I would want to play before heading into the Class L tournament. They're an excellent team and are always tough. It will be another good game like the first one was.

"Then you go to the tournament and anything can happen. We hope to get a home game and go from there. I do feel that we're peaking at the right time."

BOLTON 2, COVENTRY 1 (OT). In Coventry, Bolton came into Friday desperate for wins as it looks to make a push for a Class S state tournament bid.

Carly Robbins gave the Bulldogs a big one and their best of the season.

The junior scored with 4:35 left in overtime as Bolton knocked off Coventry in an NCCC game.

The Bulldogs (4-8-1) need two wins in their final three games to advance to the postseason. They host Canton Tuesday, visit Windham Tech Friday, and finish with a home game against HMTCA Nov. 1.

Lindsey Harrington, assisted by Sophie Verosky, gave Coventry (6-5-1) a halftime lead. Isabel Kenney, with an assist by Sarah Orzolek, got Bolton even and set the stage for Robbins' heroics.

Madison Peacock made three saves for the Bulldogs, while the Patriots' Amy Prior recorded three saves. Verosky was a standout defensively and in the midfield.

Coventry will look to snap a three-game losing streak Monday at Portland.

WL 6, EAST WINDSOR/SMSA 0. In Windsor Locks, Alis Oberg scored twice and Sofia Christianson added a goal and two assists in the Raiders' NCCC win.

Windsor Locks (6-4-3) led 3-0 at the half. Julia Dufresne and Lia Quagliaroli each had a goal and an assist. Alana Picard's goal gave the Raiders the lead for good.

Tristin Oberg and Ally Gough combined for two saves in goal for Windsor Locks. The Panthers (4-10-0) received a combined 15 saves from Katie Blume and Krevalin Charis.

SOMERS 6, HMTCA 0. In Somers, Deidre Dalessio had two goals as the Spartans rolled to an NCCC win.

Shannon Munson, Kaya Donah, Avery D'Amour, and Devon Dalessio added a goal apiece for Somers (11-2-0), which led 4-0 at halftime. D'Amour had three assists. Bianca Green and Maya Serrano didn't have to make a save for the shutout. Priscilla Rosado made 16 saves for HMTCA (0-12-1).

GRANBY 1, STAFFORD 0. In Stafford, Granby took 25 shots on goal against Bulldogs' keeper Drea Oswell and only one got by. But Addy Earl's first-half shot that hit the net proved to be the difference in Granby's NCCC win.

Stafford (1-8-4) was eliminated from postseason consideration. The Bulldogs are 0-5-1 in their last six games with the last four losses — to Bolton, Suffield, Somers, and Granby — being by one goal.

Kayla Davis recorded the shutout with four saves for Granby (9-3-0), which has won five in a row, Oswell stopped 24 shots.

ENFIELD 4, MANCHESTER 3. In Enfield, Audrey Mazzarella scored twice as the Eagles earned the CCC East victory that clinched a berth in the Class LL state tournament.

Manchester (7-2-2) had allowed more than one goal in only one of its first 10 games.

Jacqui Perry and Aubree Usher also scored for Enfield (7-6-0), which scored back-to-back goals to break a 2-2 halftime tie. Liz Schoenebeger scored twice for the Red Hawks, giving the freshman 11 goals in her last five games. Grace Rowe, assisted by Schoeneberger, added the other goal.

Manchester goalie Nina Montague had six saves as did her Enfield counterpart, Mia Daly.

TOLLAND 1, SOUTH WINDSOR 0. In South Windsor, Audrey Cadman's goal was the difference as Tolland picked up the CCC East win.

Sophia Rotondaro earned the shutout for the Eagles (7-1-4) with eight saves. Maria Galley recorded six saves for the Bobcats (3-7-3).

On Tuesday, Tolland visits Newington while South Windsor is at Glastonbury.

RHAM 7, EAST HARTFORD 0. In Hebron, Molly Bellmore's hat trick paced RHAM to the CCC East victory.

Ava Machowski added two goals for the Raptors (3-7-2) while Ingrid Taute and Jenna Humphreys scored once each. Goalie Rachel Arsenault made one save. Zoe Mercado had 11 saves for East Hartford (3-6-1).

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