Now that the league tournaments are finished, local teams begin their quests for state championships on Monday with first round contests.
The earliest start belongs to No. 29 Crosby boys soccer (8-7-1 regular season), which faces fourth-seeded Naugatuck (13-1-2) at noon in Class LL. Waterbury Career Academy (9-5-2) is the No. 18 seed in Class M and takes on No. 15 Wolcott Tech (10-6-0) at 1 p.m. in Torrington. At 2 p.m., third-seeded Holy Cross (12-2-2) hosts No. 30 East Granby (5-8-3) at Municipal Stadium in Class S. At 5 p.m., No. 14 St. Paul hosts No. 19 Bolton (8-7-1) in another Class S matchup.
Girls volleyball also gets going on Monday, with all but one match beginning at 6 p.m. Fifth-seeded Kennedy (17-3 regular season) faces No. 28 Danbury (8-11) in Class LL. In Class L, No. 10 Bristol Central (14-4) hosts No. 23 Suffield (9-9).
There are two matches in Class M. No. 14 Wolcott (11-8) hosts No. 19 Berlin (9-11) while No. 20 Kaynor Tech (9-11) heads to Winsted to play No. 13 Northwestern Regional (12-6).
In Class S, No. 12 St. Paul (13-7) hosts No. 21 Innovation (10-9) at 6:30 p.m.
That’s just the first day of tournament action. There are five more games on Tuesday, including four girls soccer matches. No. 24 St. Paul (6-9-1 regular season) travels to No. 9 Tourtellotte (11-4-1) for a 2 p.m. Class S contest. At 4 p.m., No. 12 Wolcott (11-4-1) hosts No. 21 Seymour (8-8-0) in Class M while No. 18 Bristol Eastern (8-5-3) heads to No. 15 Foran-Milford (9-5-2) in Class L. At 6 p.m., No. 17 Bristol Central (8-5-3) is at No. 16 Brookfield (8-4-4) in Class L.
In the only non-soccer action, No. 20 Holy Cross girls volleyball (11-9) travels to Manchester for a 4 p.m. Class S matchup against No. 13 Cheney Tech (12-8).
Bristol Eastern boys soccer (14-0-2 regular season) is the top seed in Class L and doesn’t play until the second round on Wednesday. The same goes for top-seeded Bristol Eastern girls volleyball (19-0) in Class L, though they don’t play until Thursday. Third-seeded Holy Cross girls soccer (13-1-2) has a first round bye in Class S and also opens up on Thursday.
State diving is Wednesday and Thursday this week.
