Stonington boys win soccer championship
But three other local schools come up short in bids for CIAC titles
There were tears of joy shed by the Stonington boys’ soccer team Saturday morning.
The Bears won their first state championship since 1993 with a 1-0 victory over Ellington in the CIAC Class M tournament final at Dillon Stadium in Hartford.
But there were tears of sadness for three other local schools who came up short in their bids to secure state titles on CIAC Championship Saturday.
Old Lyme, attempting to win its fifth straight Class S girls’ soccer championship, was denied by Holy Cross of Waterbury, 1-0, at Willow Brook Park in New Britain, while East Lyme was beaten 2-1 by Guilford in the Class L girls’ soccer final, and Waterford came up short in a 3-1 loss to defending champion Seymour in the Class M volleyball title match.
Stonington earned the right to celebrate courtesy of a goal by sophomore Wynn Hammond, who rose to head home a corner kick by senior Tyler Fidrych with just with over 15 minutes remaining in the match.
Fidrych, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, immediately ran to the bench to celebrate with Stonington’s reserves. He perfectly summed up the Bears’ memorable day after the match by saying, “It’s not just about the guys on the field. There’s guys that have been here year all year. It’s been the longest ride . ... I just wanted to celebrate with everybody.”
Of all the tough defeats that make up UConn’s 18-game losing streak against American Athletic Conference play, few have been as difficult to swallow as Saturday’s.
Facing East Carolina at Rentschler Field, the Huskies had the ball in the red zone down needing a single touchdown in the final minute. But quarterback Jack Zergiotis tossed an interception on fourth down with only one second to play, sending UConn (2-9, 0-7) to a heartbreaking 31-24 loss.
The Huskies had a chance to win because of freshman quarterback Jack Zergiotis, who completed 21 of 37 passes for 418 yards and two touchdowns. With the Huskies down by one score in the fourth quarter, Zergiotis found receiver Cam Ross for a 94-yard catchand-run, the second longest touchdown pass in program history.
“We still battled, UConn coach Randy
Edsall said. “We found a way to come back and give ourselves an opportunity there at the end.”
Ross finished with eight catches for 169 yards and two long scores, while fellow freshman receiver Matt Drayton added three catches for 99 yards.
Running back Kevin Mensah carried 20 times for 75 yards, leaving him seven short of 1,000 on the season.
The Huskies’ defense had on-and-off success against an explosive East Carolina offense, which gained 374 yards passing but only 135 yards rushing and scored barely half as many points as it did in a narrow loss to No. 21 SMU last weekend.
East Carolina quarterback Holton Ahlers finished 34-of-50 for 374 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Receiver Tyler Snead led the Pirates with 14 catches for 110 yards. Freshman linebacker Jackson Mitchell led UConn with 15 tackles, while safety Diamond Harrell collected his second interception of the season and Paul notched the first pick of his career.
UConn took a lead early via a 40-yard touchdown pass from Zergiotis to receiver Cam Ross on the team’s first offensive play from scrimmage. But the Huskies’ offense stalled from there, as East Carolina notched 17 straight points.
UConn scored quickly in the second half, as Zergiotis found Matt Drayton for a 47-yard gain and Jay Rose for a 20-yard touchdown. East Carolina responded with a touchdown, but the Huskies scored 10 straight points to tie the score in the fourth, before Ahlers marched the Pirates 68 yards, culminating in a go-ahead touchdown rush.