CIAC shocker

It has been reported that the Windsor Warriors have forfeited their win over Wethersfield last week in football due to using an academically ineligible player, who was unnamed due to privacy laws.
Suffice it to say this is big news for the Eagles, who vaulted into the fourth spot in Class MM with the win. Meanwhile Windsor fell out of first place in Class L and dropped all the way to seventh for the time being.
The quiet winner in this matter was Newington, which moved up to the fourth spot in the L standings with Windsor's drop.
Wethersfield has a legitimate chance to sneak into the playoffs, but will need to do a lot of work the rest of the year. Class MM is one of the weaker ones this year, and two or even three losses may not necessarily knock a team out. But Wethersfield has a very tough road ahead, starting with Bloomfield today.
In any case, things could be VERY interesting on Thanksgiving Day when the Eagles host Newington.

week 6 preview

There's a lot to get to this week. Some big games on the schedule. Should be fun...
if it ever happens.
With rain in the forecast there could be trouble in places with natural turf. Be prepared for some postponements, but don't be afraid to get out there and support the team whenever the games are played. You won't melt.
I'll be wading through the mud at Plainville on Friday night as the Devils face Rocky Hill, and I'll be at Northwest Catholic Saturday when Berlin hits the road. I won't predict either of those games, but they are two really good ones.
Rocky Hill is going to be out for blood after a really disappointing loss to Middletown that threatened its playoff chances. At MOST the Terriers can have one more loss and with Berlin coming up next week, that can't happen here. To secure a playoff spot they need to win out and get some minor help.
Meanwhile, the Blue Devils have looked good, and Dave Soltis is on the verge of the school rushing record. He's a hard worker, a winner on the field and a good kid off it. I'd be very happy to see him break the mark.
Meanwhile, we can all put the John Capodice saga behind us, but hopefully it won't hurt Berlin in its game. Capodice's suspension under the 50-point rule was overturned Friday by the CIAC, but the coach was not made aware of that until the end of the week. I'm sure he coached the team as if he would be there, and had his assistants ready for if he would not.
Northwest, despite two losses, is not to be take lightly by anybody. The Indians' size on the line is formidable. Should be a good game.
On to the predictions, sporting a 27-12 overall record, and 3-2 in state picks.
Friday:
East Hartford at Southington: I see no potential pitfalls on Southington's schedule until they face New Britain in week 9. But that's why they play the games.
East Hartford has lost to local teams, Wethersfield and New Britain, the past two weeks, and I would guess that will continue this week. I like Southington easily.
Glastonbury at New Britain: The Canes are hanging around the playoff chase, but need to win the rest of their games to have a chance. The Tomahawks are down from where they have been at times in the past, and they should not cause New Britain trouble.
If the Canes stay away from penalties, they should run all over the opponent in a win.
Newington at Bristol Eastern: This has so much on the line. Each team has several tough games remaining, but this is the toughest for both (although Maloney would like to challenge that).
People in Bristol aren't used to the Lancers, and not the Central Rams, being top dogs in town. Many still question just how good Eastern is. This will go a long way towards determining that.
It will be fun to see what Nate Pagan does against a good opponent. Against Bloomfield he ran nearly fifty times and led his team to victory.
I look for the same tonight.
Wethersfield at Bloomfield: I felt really bad for the Eagles in their loss to Windsor last week. They outplayed the unbeaten Warriors throughout the first half before Gavin Lamb went down with an injury. Bloomfield is an equally tough opponent, but expect Wethersfield to be in this game down the stretch if Lamb can stay on the field.
I still think Bloomfield will sneak away with it, though. Prove me wrong, Eagles.
RHAM at Farmington: There's been some rough sailing for the Indians after a promising start to the season. I think this will be a chance for them to get back on track.
The Sachems are much improved this year but have not been competitive with the upper half of the conference. Control the line against them and get pressure on their quarterback and they are in trouble.
If Farmington stops the deep ball, they'll win this one. I'm picking them to do just that.
Saturday:
SP/GT/LM at Middletown: Middletown still has a long way to go to earn a playoff spot (Northwest Catholic, Berlin and Xavier all on the schedule). This will be a warmup for the Blue Dragons.
St. Paul and East Catholic (Middletown's other two opponents) are the bottom of the conference. This one shouldn't be close.
State Game of the Week
Daniel Hand at Shelton, Friday, 7 p.m.: This is a matchup of two top-ten ranked teams. Nobody would be happier to see Shelton lose than New Britain, which needs at least one of the four unbeaten teams in LL to fall before the end of the season.
Hand is also unbeaten and second in MM behind Middletown. That's very tenuous with a game next week against Notre Dame-West Haven too. Neither team can afford a loss here, and that makes for a good game.
I don't know much about these teams and they are both well respected around the state, so in that case I usually favor the home team and the larger school. In this case that's Shelton on both counts.

Keep in mind, nothing leads to upsets more than bad weather and field conditions. It can completely negate an advantage in size and speed, not to mention make passing games fail. Defense will rule this weekend, and the playoff picture will start getting a lot clearer.

what was that stat again?

I just wanted to give a "shout out" of congratulations to the Cheshire girls swimming team. The team, featured on ESPN's First Take program this afternoon, broke a national record for consecutive wins with their 235th consecutive dual meet victory.
Think about that. 235 teams in a row showed up at the pool to face the Rams and left defeated. The streak goes back to the 1980s.
Every town has sports it is better at, and every sport has its powerhouses, programs whose success breeds more success in the future. And swimming is a sport that often comes down to mere numbers. The larger the team, the more entrants in a race often and that leads to simple mathematical results.
But even with that in mind, 235 wins is remarkable, and almost unfathomable in any sport. Apologies to the Elkhart Central High (Indiana) squads from 1980-1994. Your mere 234 straight wins weren't enough.
I talked to a couple other coaches today about the feat, and they had nothing but good things to say about Cheshire coach Ed Aston and the team:

"I abolutely love it. Ed Aston has been around for years and years. He's brought swimming fame to Connecticut constantly. He's the level of program that we all want to be. And he's gotten what everybody wants.
He probably had his rough years like anybody else ... And he doesn't look to pad his schedule. He swims tough, tough competition all the time and that's what he goes after."
- Randy Doucette, Plainville head coach.

"You know, that streak started when I was in high school and swimming [against] Cheshire. I went to North Haven, so I know Ed Aston. I know the tradition that Cheshire has. I think it's wonderful for the sport to be recognized and for a team to be recognized for doing something so, just, phenomenal.
They are without a doubt the most dominant high school sports team in Connecticut, boys or girls, in any sport. And they proved it [yesterday]. I think it's a wonderful accomplishment and I hope they keep it going for a long time."
-Scott Ferrigno, Farmington head coach.

funny story

In case you ever wondered just how much local sports take over the lives of your humble Herald staffers, here's a story from this past week.
Our editorial assistant in the sports department, Angelina Pietruszka, is partially responsible for laying out the section each night, forming national sports pages and assisting on local ones. She also performs double duty as the person most likely to answer the telephone when coaches call to report scores from high school games.
This past week, Angelina was overheard talking in her sleep. The confused person who heard her told her that she appeared to be spitting out a random array of letters. Confused, she asked what letters they were, and the person simply said "there were a lot of 'Ys' and 'Zs'". Suddenly it became quite clear that Angelina, after having agonized over the local calls at work, was spelling the name of New Britain boys soccer's goalkeeper.
For those keeping track at home, it's Arek W-A-L-C-Z-Y-S-Z-Y-N.

local notes

A couple things happened this Friday that you may not have noticed.
First of all, Wethersfield boys soccer coach Rob Jachym earned his 100th win. The 100 win mark is something we seem to see with at least a couple coaches each year. Our local teams have a lot of success and the coaches deserve credit for those achievements. 100 certainly isn't an overwhelming milestone, but it is still well worth mentioning, and a testament to the success Jachym and the Eagles have had over the past eight years. They also came back nicely to beat E.O. Smith 1-0 after losing their first game of the season earlier in the week. That's not always as easy as it seems, particularly in soccer.
Secondly, the Wethersfield volleyball team got its first win of the season. That had added significance because it was the last local team in any sport (soccer, volleyball, field hockey, football) to get on the board this year. We're proud of these teams, and glad to see them all get wins. Now the Eagles can have some fun the rest of the way not having to worry about potentially going 0-fer.

week 5 in review

It was heartbreak Saturday for a couple of local teams and I had the misfortune of being present for both. I covered the Wethersfield-Bloomfield game and saw the Eagles outplay their heavily favored opponent throughout the first half. But a key injury and a couple bad plays turned the tide quickly and decisively.
I was still very impressed with Wethersfield's talent and I feel confident saying their 3-2 record is not a fluke. They play a very tough schedule down the stretch and any wins would be impressive from here on out, but these teams better not take them lightly.
From there I rushed to Middletown hoping to see Rocky Hill further cement its playoff chances with a win, but saw the final quarter of a Middletown shutout, making Rocky Hill's road very daunting the rest of the way. A win over Berlin (certainly not an easy task) is the best way for RH to still make the dance, but barring that they would need a lot of help, which ironically could come from Cromwell should the Panthers knock off H-K, Hyde and North Branford in their own conference play.
I was shocked to see Middletown take Rocky Hill out of its usual offense, and left scratching my head when Dan Carducci carried the ball just once in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. Down by just seven with half a quarter to play, the Terriers seemed panicked, attempting deep shots from just shy of midfield. That is not their strength, but give Middletown credit for taking away that strength by controlling the line.
Meanwhile, everybody else keeps moving along as planned. Newington and Southington remain unbeaten. New Britain seems re-energized and focused, setting up what could be another great November showdown in Southington. Berlin looks unbeatable in the Nutmeg, but must also beware of Middletown, which is apparently better than previously advertised.
I went 6-2 on my picks, dropping the Hill game and the non-local Weaver-Conard matchup, won by the Beavers.
Congratulations to Nate Pagan who topped 5,000 yards in his career for Newington and keeps moving up the all-time state list. He'll be sixth, perhaps by the first play of the next game.

My stats: Overall 27-12, state picks 3-2.