Mo’s Moments of the Week
Carrying the team on his back
One week after setting the Woodland all-time career rushing mark with a 252 yards and four touchdowns against Watertown Oct. 2, senior captain Sean McAllen was at it again last Friday. The Hawks flew by Holy Cross, 30-7, with McAllen carrying the team on his back. He ran for 225 yards on 33 carries and scored all four of the Hawks’ touchdowns.
The makings of a leader
Everyone anticipated growing pains when Naugy head coach Craig Bruno put a young sophomore in the pocket to lead the ‘Hounds. Mike Plasky showed signs of becoming the leader they had hoped for when he engineered a last-minute drive with no timeouts left against Derby. The sophomore signal caller went 5-for-7 passing on the final drive taking Naugy from the 11-yard line to the Derby 14-yard line. Passing for 266 yards and three touchdowns on 14-of-29 attempts, Plasky’s final pass with 4 seconds left went for a pick six to seal the win for Derby. However, the seed has been planted of a leader in the making.
Set, spike, game over
Naugatuck senior volleyball captain and outsider hitter Ally Mezzo has become a force in the front row. With the score tied at 22-22 in game three against Holy Cross, Mezzo fired three straight kills to the floor scoring the tie breaker, game point and the game winner for the Greyhounds third straight shutout victory last week.
They can’t win, if they don’t score
The surprising Woodland Hawks are suddenly in the thick of things with the NVL boys soccer race heating up. Woodland has won six of the last seven games allowing just four goals in that span. Junior keeper A.J. Oliveira recorded his second straight shutout last Friday outdueling St. Paul’s All-State goalie Zach Federowicz in a 1-0 Hawks’ victory. Oliveira made it three straight shutouts with a 1-0 win over Wolcott on Tuesday.
Hats off for the hat trick
The Naugatuck girls soccer season was quickly unraveling as the ‘Hounds not only lost three straight games by a combined 8-0 margin, they lost their leading scorer senior Sara Marques for the season. Junior forward Kyla Magalhaes ended the team’s three game scoring drought unleashing a hat trick on Torrington Oct. 7 and led Naugy to a 5-2 win to end the Greyhounds’ slide.
Naugy Notes
Girls Soccer
The Greyhounds ended a three game slide in which they were held scoreless by earning a 5-2 win over Torrington Oct. 7. Kyla Magalhaes scored a hat trick as her three goals propelled Naugatuck to victory. Bridget Rosikiewicz added two goals in the win over the Red Raiders. The Greyhounds were upended 1-0 by Joel Barlow of Redding on Monday as Sophie Boucher made 14 saves in the net, but Naugatuck couldn’t unleash its offense as they fell to 6-5 on the season. The Greyhounds will host Holy Cross (5-2-2) on Friday at 6 p.m.
Girls Swimming
The Greyhounds have not been in action since their last meet on Oct. 6 against two-time defending NVL champion Sacred Heart. Naugy fell short to the Hearts by a 90-80 margin. Cara Rotatori swam to victory for the Greyhounds winning the 100 backstroke in a time of 1:08.01. Alexandra Silva took first in the 100 breaststroke with an effort of 1:22.25. The 400 freestyle relay squad of Faith Tuscano, Rotatori, Amanda Rinaldi and Addison Best swam to first in 4:29.33. The Greyhounds will be back in the pool on Friday when they host Torrington at 4 p.m.
Word from the Woods
Girls Soccer
The Hawks remain unbeaten at 10-0-1 following a 3-0 victory over St. Paul last Friday and a 0-0 tie to Wolcott on Tuesday. Jenna Pannone made four saves in the net to record her fifth shutout of the season against St. Paul. Jess Rodrigues, Alexa Casimiro and Sam Plasky scored the goals with Casimiro adding an assist. Woodland was severely tested by a tough Wolcott (7-3-2) squad and had to settle for a 0-0 tie in overtime. Woodland finishes out the week on Friday when they host Torrington at 3:45 p.m.
Girls Swimming
The Hawks ran into NVL leading Seymour Oct. 7 and came up by short a 93-82 margin. Lisa Thrasher won the diving with a score of 167.35. Sarah Bryden swam to victory in the 100 freestyle at 1:01.52 and Morgan Reichard won the 100 breaststroke in 1:29.31. The 400 freestyle relay team of Tatianna Lynn, Brooke Pope, Veronica Dergachev and Bryden took first in 4:35.39. On Tuesday, the Hawks (5-3-1) got back in the win column with a 92-82 victory over St. Paul. Thrasher won the diving with a score of 202.50, Bryden won the 50 freestyle in 27.65, Kyla Drewry won the 100 butterfly in 1:15.69 and Dergachev won the 500 freestyle in 6:15.61. Woodland is scheduled to face Jonathan Law of Milford on Thursday. The Hawks will host Masuk of Monroe on Friday, before visiting Kennedy Oct. 19.
