The Holy Cross boys’ soccer team was one of five local squads to play in an NVL semifinal contest on Tuesday night.
The Crusaders are the last local team standing entering championship Thursday. Holy Cross, the second seed and defending champion, faces top-seeded and undefeated Oxford tonight at 7:30 at Municipal Stadium’s Ray Snyder Sr. Field in the final.
Holy Cross came from behind to beat sixth-seeded Torrington, 2-1, in a semifinal on Tuesday night at Snyder Field.
Here’s what happened in those other NVL semifinal matchups:
BOYS SOCCER
Holy Cross 2, Torrington 1: Nate Gabriel scored the tying goal and assisted on Nico Sodan’s go-ahead goal in the second half comeback at Snyder Field.
GIRLS SOCCER
Woodland 1, Wolcott 0, OT: The fourth-seeded Eagles fought valiantly on their home turf at Joe Monroe Field, but a goal with 3:15 to play in overtime sent the top-seeded Hawks to the final.
Keeper Kim Langlais and the Wolcott defense frustrated Woodland during the first half, but the Hawks found their aggression in the second half and overtime. The Eagles had a chance to win as regulation wound down, but a deep shot off a restart in the final seconds sailed over the crossbar.
Langlais made two saves for Wolcott.
Watertown 1, Holy Cross 0: The third-seeded Crusaders just couldn’t get the ball past Warrior keeper Isabella Beauty (16 saves) and missed out on a return to the final.
Reese Becker made two saves for Holy Cross. Watertown, the No. 2 seed, faces Woodland for the title today at 5 p.m. at Snyder Field.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Seymour 3, St. Paul 0: The fourth-seeded Falcons lost a close second set in a sweep by the top-seeded Wildcats. The set scores were 25-13, 25-23 and 25-17.
St. Paul and Seymour tied on 11 separate occasions in that close second set before the top seed claimed victory.
Woodland 3, Holy Cross 0: The third-seeded Crusaders fell by set scores of 25-14, 25-13 and 25-17 to the second-seeded Hawks at Naugatuck High School.
Eliana Capobianco and Sarah Medeiros each had four kills, Tyra McKoy tallied two solo blocks, and Isabella Oliver accumulated 13 assists. Woodland plays Seymour for the title for the second straight season, tonight at 7 o’clock at Naugatuck.
OTHER TOURNAMENT ACTION
GIRLS SOCCER
Wethersfield 1, Bristol Central 0 (3-1 PK): The Rams fought hard against the Eagles but came up just short in a CCC semifinal on Wednesday at Southington High School.
The CCC tournament is made up of the four division champions, and Central won the CCC South after going 6-1.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
RHAM 3, Bristol Central 0: The eighth-seeded Rams were swept by the top-seeded Raptors in their CCC quarterfinal in Hebron. The set scores were 25-15, 25-14 and 25-16.
Wolcott Tech 3, Kaynor Tech 0: The sixth-seeded Panthers were swept by the third-seeded Wildcats in their CTC tournament quarterfinal in Torrington on Tuesday.
Lilliana Moreno had six service points and Saba Rodriguez added five digs for Kaynor.
BOYS SOCCER
Bullard-Havens 5, Kaynor Tech 2: The Panthers were upended by the Tigers in their CTC tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday.
Marcello Gugliotti and Jusset De La Cruz scored for Kaynor.
PHOTO CAPTION: Nate Gabriel (11) and the Holy Cross boys soccer team play for the NVL championship tonight at 7:30 at Municipal Stadium’s Ray Snyder Sr. Field. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69, file)
