There are some times when the pairings for the CIAC state tournaments match teams that are all too familiar with one another.
In leagues where there are postseason tournaments, teams could see each other three, sometimes four, times. That’s what happened to both the Wolcott girls soccer and Crosby boys soccer teams. Wolcott faced Seymour for the third time this fall in the first round of the Class M state tournament. Crosby matched up against NVL power Naugatuck for the third time in the first round of the Class LL state tournament.
The Eagles beat the Wildcats for the third time, 4-1, on Tuesday evening in ridiculously cold conditions at Joe Monroe Field. For the second time, the Wolcott-Seymour matchup was decided by three goals. The Eagles had defeated the Wildcats, 4-1, back on Oct. 14 in Seymour. With the way the schedule worked out, the state tournament match was the first meeting between the teams in about a month. Wolcott hosted Seymour in the season’s first matchup on Sept. 27 and won, 3-2.
For the second time this season, familiar names stepped up to score for Wolcott. Sammi Riviezzo connected for two goals while Brooke Tracey and Ella Vaughn added one apiece. In the Sept. 27 match, Brooke Tracey had two goals while Riviezzo added one. On Oct. 14, Jenna Tracey had a hat trick while Ella Vaughn added the other goal.
On Monday, the Crosby boys lost to Naugatuck for the third time, 3-0, at Veterans Field in Naugatuck. Unlike the Wolcott and Seymour girls, the Bulldogs and Greyhounds had become very familiar with each other over the past month. All three of their matchups, interestingly enough, were played in Naugatuck.
The first one was a regular season matchup on Oct. 18 and resulted in a 1-0 Greyhound win over the Bulldogs. In the NVL tournament, Naugatuck was the top seed and Crosby was No. 8, which brought another matchup in the quarterfinal round. The Greyhounds took that match, 2-0, and wound up winning the tournament.
When the Class LL state tournament pairings came out, Naugatuck was the No. 4 seed and drew – you guessed it – No. 29 Crosby. The Greyhounds dispatched the Bulldogs, 3-0, to move on. It’s hard to play the same team three times, especially when that team is always at the top of the league standings like Naugatuck.
One player who stood out against the Greyhounds was Bulldog senior keeper Dylan Kinsella. Kinsella made 13 saves in the Oct. 18, then followed that up with 14 saves in the NVL tournament quarterfinal on Nov. 2. Kinsella totaled 11 saves in the Class LL first round match.
