Xavier, Cromwell, Valley/Old Lyme move into semis

Yup, three out of four. The only area loss was H-K, who fell victim to a very tough Holy Cross team. Cromwell, trailing 8-0 early in their contest, battled back to earn a spot in the Class S semifinals. Xavier rolled over G'bury, and Valley/Old Lyme earned a gritty playoff win against Rocky Hill.

• Xavier 35, Glastonbury 6
• Cromwell 23, Capital Prep/Classical Magnet 14
• Holy Cross 42, Haddam-Killingworth 14
• Valley/Old Lyme 14, Rocky Hill 12

OH. And how sweet is this picture (below) from Catherine Avalone at the Xavier-Glastonbury game?

So how does it pan out? Locations and times have not been finalized (although one game will be played at Middletown's Skubel-Rosek, we just don't know which), but here are the semifinal matchups for Class LL & S (check out all of 'em here):

Class LL

Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Finals
1 Xavier 34-6 8 Glastonbury @Palmer Field, Middletown	11/29	1 Xavier (11-0) 5 Norwalk (9-1) @Site TBA	12/3 2:00/7:00	@Rentschler Field	12/9-10 Time TBA
4 Conard 5 Norwalk 21-15 @Conard	11/29
2 Staples 48-21 7 Ridgefield @Wilton	11/29	2 Staples (10-0) 6 Newtown (9-2) @Site TBA	12/3 2:00/7:00
3 Hall 6 Newtown 36-22 @Hall	11/29

Class S

Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Finals
1 Capital Prep/Classical Magnet 8 Cromwell 23-14 @Dillon Stadium, Hartford	11/29	8 Cromwell (9-2) 5 Northwest Catholic (9-2) @Site TBA	12/3 2:00/7:00	@Rentschler Field	12/9-10 Time TBA
4 North Branford 5 Northwest Catholic 22-19 @North Branford	11/29
2 Holy Cross 42-14 7 Haddam-Killingworth @Holy Cross	11/29	2 Holy Cross (10-1) 3 Valley Regional/Old Lyme (10-1) @Site TBA	12/3 2:00/7:00
3 Valley Regional/Old Lyme 14-12 6 Rocky Hill @Valley Regional	11/29

State tournament draws for area teams

H-K is the only team represented in four state tourneys (and football still has a fighting chance, too). Mercy will compete in volleyball and field hockey, and East Hampton will compete in boys soccer, girls soccer and volleyball.


Notable seedings: East Hampton boys soccer is the No. 1 seed in the Class S tournament, and East Hampton volleyball is the No. 6 seed; Valley Regional boys soccer is the No. 2 seed in Class S; Portland girls soccer is the No. 3 seed in Class S; H-K field hockey is the No. 8 seed in Class S. (Strikethrough means team was eliminated)


Boys soccer

• Class LL (Xavier)
• Class M (Haddam-Killingworth)
• Class S (East Hampton, Valley, Portland)

Girls soccer

• Class LL (Middletown)
• Class M (Coginchaug, Valley Regional, Haddam-Killingworth)
• Class S (Portland, East Hampton)

Girls volleyball

• Class LL (Mercy)
• Class S (East Hampton, Haddam-Killingworth, Hale-Ray, Valley Regional)

Field hockey

• Class L (Mercy)
• Class S (Haddam-Killingworth)

PHOTO GALLERY: Cross country's State Open

Some pics from Tuesday's State Open at Hammonasset Park in Madison, courtesy of our friends at the New Haven Register:

SHORELINE SOCCER CHAMPS: Valley boys & Coginchaug girls

A pair of Shoreline Conference champions were crowned on Monday evening at Cromwell High School. The Valley Regional boys team overcame a 2-0 halftime deficit to beat East Hampton, and the Coginchaug girls rolled to a 2-0 win against North Branford. Get the full story on Valley and Coginchaug.

VIDEOS: Shoreline Tournament action

Some Shoreline tourney vids for your viewing pleasure...

East Hampton vs. Morgan, Shoreline volleyball final (get the full story here):

Coginchaug vs. Old Saybrook, Shoreline soccer semifinal (story here, and they play in the final Monday right after the boys at Cromwell High):

VIDEO: Coginchaug advances to Shoreline final

Coginchaug girls will play in the final Monday (date was changed at the last second), right after the boys final (East Hampton vs. Valley Regional at 4:30 p.m.) at Cromwell High.

YALE HOCKEY: Some pics from Friday night

If you haven't caught a Yale or Quinnipiac hockey game of late, I highly recommend you do. We're talking about two top-tier programs, and Yale is oft-considered to be best in the country. (Oh, and if you get a chance to see the Quinnipiac-Yale game at Ingalls or the TD Bank Sports Center, do it. Guaranteed to be a doozy.)

Anyway, Yale took on Cornell at Ingalls on Friday night, and here are some pics from our friends down at the New Haven Register (Cornell won, 6-2):

ONE FOR THE BOOKS: The 1966 Middletown Tigers roster

You’ll probably recognize a few names on the 1966 Middletown football roster, as players went on to be Middletown coaches, athletic directors and councilmen. The undefeated team will be inducted into the Middletown Hall of Fame on Jan. 26. (Check out Jim's feature on the team here)

Coaching Staff

Waino Fillback

John DeNunzio

Robert Parmelee

Ron Brown

A look at the actual roster, with height and weight
(Yep, future AD Mike Pitruzzello's name is spelled wrong)

Players

Keith Byrd

Dan Maloney

Frank Marino

Felix D’Andria

Millard Manning

John Lutocka

Ed Stankewicz

Steve Korab

Fred Banach

Ed Dzialo

Sal Scianna

Mike Gannon (Captain)

Dave Parmelee

Dave Chiarappa

Bernie Ogarzalek

Pete McGee (Captain)

Tony Guerrieri

Dan D’Amato

Albert Manning

Mike Pitruzzello

Bruce Zila

Mike Scanlon

Charles Cecchini

Wayne Burr

Robert Stevens

Dave Pattee

Richard Salkauskas

John Korab

George Knowles

Frank Tarallo

Ted Pasculano

Seb Mazzotta

Jerry D’Amato

Larry Davis

Stan Edens

Nelson Prue

Nate Simmons

Jim Crowell

Brett Sylvester