Lauren Cole scored eight goals and Cameron Ruberti four to lead Hand-Madison to an 18-6 victory over Guilford May 28 at West Haven High. CPTVSports.org streamed the game LIVE and will show the broadcast premiere Sunday May 31 at 10:30pm.
Hand (17-1) took a 12-2 halftime lead en route to its ninth SCC title and first since the Tigers won four in a row from 2007-10.
After Guilford’s Edy Moritz scored the first goal 1:40 into the game, Hand scored the next eight, starting with Cole’s first 56 seconds after Moritz’s goal.
Hand closed the half with a 4-0 run against Guilford, which lost to the Tigers 11-9 in the regular season.
Moritz had four goals for Guilford (13-5) and Brook Distante had 13 saves. Read the game story from GameTimeCT.com’s Ken Nowak here.
Xavier High took a five-goal lead at halftime and fended off a Fairfield Prep comeback in the second half for a 13-8 victory in the SCC boys lacrosse tournament championship game May 28 at West Haven High. CPTV Sports streamed the game LIVE and will show the broadcast premiere Sunday May 31 at 8:30 p.m..
Wesley Reid, Chris Connelly and Colin McCarthy scored four goals each for second-seeded Xavier (15-3). Falcons goalie Zach Odell had 17 saves, eight days after Prep beat Xavier, 19-14.
Odell was strong in the first half, holding the Jesuits to one goal.
Prep closed to within three in the second half, with Cam Harris getting both his goals early in the fourth quarter to cut it to 8-5 with 7:57 left.
But the Falcons would not allow Prep (11-6) to get any closer. Xavier had a 43-32 edge in shots.
Colin Smalkais and John Edmonds also had two goals for Prep, which got 18 saves from Jack O’Connor.
Read the game story by GameTimeCT.com’s Dan Nowak here.
This week’s nominees for CPTV Sports’ UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week! Voting ends Tuesday at noon , so choose your favorite now and tell your friends and fellow fans to vote, too! The winner will be profiled on the new edition of In Focus Wednesday June 3 at 7:00pm.
* Please note: Vote totals do not immediately update in our database. Check back every 5 to 10 minutes and refresh your screen to see the latest vote totals.
This week's voting for UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week has closed. We'll announce the winner later Tuesday.
•Devin Belinski - Amity-Woodbridge baseball
The left fielder was 3-for-4 with six RBI in Amity’s 14-6 victory over Fairfield Prep in the SCC baseball title game. The Spartans finished the regular season 13-7 and are the 14th seed in the Class LL tournament. Last year, Amity won the state title LIVE on CPTV Sports after going 12-8 in the regular season. We will again have all four CIAC baseball championships LIVE June 12-13 as part of our Spring Sprint coverage.
•Mike Cowell — Shelton baseball
The Fordham-bound senior righthander pitched his second no-hitter of the season, blanking North Haven 3-0 in the SCC tournament quarterfinals. Only two batters reached base, both on errors. Cowell was the first UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week this spring after pitching his first no-hitter against Branford. He also was featured last week in the Best In Connecticut Sports Spotlight on CPTV Sports’ In Focus (Wednesdays, 7 p.m.)
•Chris Gatt – McMahon-Norwalk boys lacrosse
The senior attackman and captain helped his team advance in the CIAC Class L tournament. Gatt had two goals, including the winner in overtime, as the Senators rallied from a four-goal deficit to beat Conard-West Hartford, 10-9. He also had two assists.
•Nick Kenny – Granby boys lacrosse
The junior attacker’s overtime goal propelled the Bears past Somers 7-6 in the NCCC boys lacrosse championship game (of note: the Granby girls also won the conference title).
•Colin McCarthy – Xavier-Middletown boys lacrosse
The sophomore played a huge role in Xavier’s first SCC tournament title since 2001. In last Tuesday’s 15-14 semifinal win over North Haven, he tied the score with 27 seconds left in regulation before scoring the winner in overtime. In Thursday’s title game streamed LIVE on CPTVSports.org, McCarthy scored four goals in the Falcons’ 13-8 win over Fairfield Prep
•JT Morin – Wilton baseball
The senior lefthander pitched two complete games without allowing an earned run as the Warriors won their first FCIAC tournament title in 20 years. Last Tuesday, he struck out 14 and allowed eight hits on 137 pitches in a 6-1 quarterfinal win over Noralk. Three days later, he struck out 12, scattered two hits, and pitched all eight innings in the Warriors’ 1-0 win over Staples-Westport in the final.
Erika Wachter hosts episode 4 of CPTV Sports In Focus that includes:
-Two of the state’s top basketball players, Tracy Rumley of Maloney-Meriden and KeAndre Fair of Weaver-Hartford, talk about the effects of playing year-round.
-UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week interview with Barlow-Redding pitcher Mark Raymond
-Off Base with Ridgefield boys volleyball, Coginchaug-Durham softball, and Hand-Madison boys lacrosse
-In The Huddle featuring East Catholic-Manchester baseball
-Best In Connecticut Sports Spotlight on Shelton pitcher Mike Cowell
Erika Wachter hosts episode 3 of CPTV Sports In Focus that includes:
-A football player’s perspective on Deflategate: Southington’s Jay Rose and Austin Morin talk about bending the rules in high school sports.
-UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week interview with Middletown softball’s Kelsey White
-Off Base with Suffield softball and Fitch-Groton softball
-In The Huddle featuring St. Joseph-Trumbull
-Best In Connecticut Sports spotlight on Woodstock Academy sprinter David Bohanan.
Vanessa Vurno scored five goals as East Lyme High pulled away in the second half to beat Waterford 15-9 in the ECC girls lacrosse tournament championship game May 29. CPTV Sports streamed the game LIVE; we’ll show the broadcast premiere June 1 at 8:30 p.m.
East Lyme (14-4) won its ninth consecutive league title. The Vikings led 7-5 at halftime.
Sophomore Stephanie deLaforcade had three goals and an assist and Riley Aspinwall scored twice for East Lyme. Alex Rose had eight saves.
Riley Dimmock had three goals and Ava Guthrie two for Waterford (14-4). Read the game story from the New London Day’s Ned Griffen here.
#WIREWorthy Friday: We have a full boys and girls lacrosse championship roundup from Thursday. Xavier and Daniel Hand picked up SCC titles LIVE on CPTVSports.org. Catch those games Sunday night at 8:30 on our website. We have LIVE girls lacrosse ECC Championship coverage on the web today at 5. Also, learn about some other big games going on tonight around the state.
The Wire, CPTV Sports’ radio initiative featuring reports by Francesco Graziano Jr. can be heard on our exclusive radio partners, sports stations ESPN 97.9 FM and Fox Sports Radio 1410 in Hartford.
Brendan Fox held Southington to one run and three hits in five innings and Jimmy Titus hit a home run and an RBI double and earned a save to lead state No. 1 East Catholic to a 5-3 victory over Southington in a CCC baseball game May 27 in Manchester. CPTV Sports was there and will show the broadcast premiere Saturday May 30 at 7:30 p.m.
After allowing a run in the second inning on two walks, a wild pitch and a John Mikosz RBI single, Fox settled down to improve to 7-0 for the Eagles (19-1), striking out six, including three in the fourth.
East took advantage of two Austin Bumbera walks to tie it at 1 in the second.
Titus homered in the third, when East capitalized on two Southington errors to score two more runs on RBI singles by Tyler Gammie and Isaiah Likely.
Titus took the mound with a 4-1 lead in the sixth. He gave up a homer to Adam Wilson, but responded with his RBI double in the bottom of the inning.
Southington threatened in the seventh thanks to two East Catholic errors. But Titus got out of the jam with a double play as Southington (15-5) scored its final run.
Check out East Catholic baseball video from our shows In Focus and GameTime.
Read the game story from The Hartford Courant’s Tom Yantz here.
#WIREWorthy Wednesday! Listen to find out what will go down on tonight’s In Focus! 9 schools across the state will be represented! You’ll catch a Best in Connecticut Sports Spotlight on Mike Cowell, who tossed a no-no yesterday.
You’ll also want to listen to find out how clutch Colin McCarthy was for Xavier boys lacrosse and to learn how you can watch the SCC/ECC lacrosse finals LIVE on our website!
The Wire, CPTV Sports’ radio initiative featuring reports by Francesco Graziano Jr. can be heard on our exclusive radio partners, sports stations ESPN 97.9 FM and Fox Sports Radio 1410 in Hartford.
Mark Raymond, a senior righthander on Joel Barlow-Redding’s baseball team, has been voted our sixth UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week for the spring 2015 season!
Mark pitched a no-hitter against Notre Dame-Fairfield May 18, striking out six with no walks in a 3-0 victory. Barlow has qualified for the Class L playoffs. Mark, who is 4-3 on the mound this season, has committed to Bard (N.Y.) College.
We’ll profile Mark on the new edition of In Focus Wednesday May 27 at 7 p.m.!
Shelton pitcher Mike Cowell, Amity softball player Katie Koshes, New Milford girls lacrosse player Marisa McLaughlin, North Branford softball player Lindsay Golia, Northwest Catholic girls lacrosse player Lauren Cenci and Middletown softball player Kelsey White were our previous spring 2015 honorees. Check CPTVSports.org this weekend for our next slate of UChoose Student-Athlete of the Week nominees.
Our UChoose Student-Athletes of the Week for winter 2014-15:
Greenwich boys basketball player Conor Harkins, Holy Cross-Waterbury girls basketball player RaShana Siders, Fairfield co-op boys hockey player Jake Fuss, Northwest Catholic boys hockey player Anthony Ceolin, Northwest boys basketball player Christian Thomas, Masuk-Monroe boys basketball player Bryan Acevedo, New Fairfield/Immaculate hockey player Peter Masi, Simsbury boys basketball player Rayon Christie, Greenwich boys hockey Matt Lodato, Wilbur Cross runner Danae Rivers and Notre Dame-Fairfield girls basketball player Kayla Croswell, Simsbury boys hockey player Ben Levin and Canton girls basketball player Emily Briggs. Our athlete of the winter was Branford boys hockey player Tyler Criscuolo.
