The first week of the regular season is over. Now we get to answer some questions beginning with Tuesday's action in the SCC:

Can anyone beat Fairfield Prep? Shelton gets a chance on Tuesday on the road at 3:45 p.m.

Will someone new make a move into the top tier of the SCC? It's been quite awhile since Lyman Hall has been among the upper echelon. The Trojans face Hamden on Tuesday.

West Haven and Sheehan would like to be division contenders. The two teams play one another in Wallingford Tuesday.

Could Hand really start out 0-3? The boys have faced Prep and Xavier so far. Now the Tigers get Branford on the road at 6:30 p.m.


Can the North Haven girls start out 0-3? Last year's tri-champs in the SCC Oronoque drew the toughest schedule and now hosts Hand on Tueday.

Are the Branford girls for real? The Hornets got an easier schedule than North Haven. One of its toughest tests, Amity, awaits in Woodbridge Tuesday.

Matchup of the day? Sacred Heart Academy at Cheshire, 6 p.m. Both of these girls' teams are likely ticketed to the SCC eight-team playoffs. One of them could be the top overall seed.

The Amity girls, above, are getting ready for another successful season.

By Henry Chisholm

Cross country is no longer something athletes use to get in shape for other sports, at least not to Amity boys coach Bob Orgovan.

“We don’t get (other athletes) that much anymore,” he said. “Years ago it used to be like that.”

Orgovan said in the past he’s had players basketball players, hockey players and even wrestlers. However, the majority of his runners are focused on running. He said it is common for an athlete to use cross country for track, but no other sport.

Check out more of this story and the top area cross country runners to watch this season.

WOODBRIDGE — The numbers defining the success of the Amity boys outdoor track and field team are startling.

Eight straight Southern Connecticut Conference Housatonic Division titles. One more division win will make it nine.

A dual-meet winning streak of 93 matches.

No dual-meet losses since April of 2004.
The program may be a few years away from being mentioned in the same breath with the Cheshire girls swim team (281-match winning streak), but Amity, voted the Register’s Team of the Week, seems properly motivated to keep it alive for quite awhile.


Read more on Amity's successful run.

Vote for three more candidates for the next Team of the Week.

Here are today's postponements on the area schedule:

BASEBALL
FCIAC
St. Joseph at Danbury, ppd. to Tuesday, 4:15 p.m.
CSC
Kaynor Tech at O’Brien Tech, ppd. to Thursday, 3:30 p.m.
Abbott Tech at Whitney Tech, ppd. to Tuesday, 4 p.m.
Goodwin Tech at Platt Tech, ppd. to Tuesday, 4 p.m.
NVL
Holy Cross at Seymour (French Park), ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
Ansonia at Crosby (Washington Park), ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
Shoreline
Westbrook at Haddam-Killingworth, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
East Hampton at North Branford, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
Old Saybrook at Hyde/Hillhouse, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
Morgan at Portland, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
SCC Hammonasset
Guilford at Hand, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
SCC Quinnipiac
Xavier at Hamden, ppd. to Thursday, 3:45 p.m.
West Haven at Fairfield Prep, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
SCC Housatonic
Cheshire at Lyman Hall, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
Shelton at Sheehan, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
SCC Oronoque
North Haven at Wilbur Cross, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
Career at East Haven, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
SCC interdivision
Law at Notre Dame-West Haven, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
Amity at Branford, ppd. to Tuesday, 4 p.m.
SWC
Stratford at Bethel, ppd. to Tuesday, 4:15 p.m.
Barlow at Bunnell, ppd. to Tuesday, 4:15 p.m.
SOFTBALL
FCIAC
Danbury at St. Joseph, ppd. to Tuesday, 4 p.m.
CSC
O’Brien Tech at Kaynor Tech, ppd. to Thursday, 3:30 p.m.
Whitney Tech at Abbott Tech, ppd. to May 1, 3:30 p.m.
NVL
Crosby at Ansonia, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:30 p.m.
Woodland at Naugatuck, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:30 p.m.
Seymour at Holy Cross, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
Kennedy at Derby, ppd. to Tuesday, 4 p.m.
Shoreline
Coginchaug at Old Lyme, ppd., TBA
East Hampton at North Branford, ppd., TBA
Morgan at Portland, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
SCC Quinnipiac
Hamden at Sacred Heart Academy, ppd. to Thursday, 3;45 p.m.
SCC Housatonic
Amity at Sheehan, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
SCC Oronoque
Wilbur Cross at North Haven, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
Branford at Career (East Shore Athletic Complex), ppd. to Tuesday. 4 p.m.
SCC Hammonasset
Hillhouse at Foran, ppd. to Tuesday, 4 p.m.
Guilford at Law, ppd. to Thursday, 4 p.m.
SCC interdivision
East Haven at Cheshire, ppd. to Tuesday, 4 p.m.
SWC
Kolbe Cathedral at Stratford (DeLuca Field), ppd. to May 3, 3:30 p.m.
Barlow at Bunnell, ppd. to Tuesday, 4:15 p.m.
GIRLS’ LACROSSE
SCC
Guilford at North Haven, ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
Shelton at Amity, ppd. to Tuesday, 4 p.m.
Preps
Hamden Hall at Hopkins, ppd., TBA
BOYS’ TENNIS
SWC
Stratford at Bunnell, ppd. to Friday, 3:45 p.m.
SCC
Branford at Career (Edgewood Park), ppd. to Tuesday, 3:45 p.m.
Sheehan at Hand, ppd. to Thursday, 3:45 p.m.
GIRLS’ TENNIS
NVL
Crosby at Ansonia (Nolan Field), ppd. to Tuesday, 3:30 p.m.
Seymour at Holy Cross, ppd. to Thursday, 3:30 p.m.
SWC
Lauralton Hall at Barlow, ppd., TBA
Bunnell at Stratford (Short Beach), ppd. to Friday, 3:45 p.m.

BOYS’ GOLF
SCC
Law at Lyman Hall (Wallingford CC), ppd., TBA
Non-league
Cheshire at Wolcott (Farmingbury CC), ppd., TBA
Shoreline
Coginchaug at Valley Regional (Fox Hopyard CC), ppd., TBA

Saturday's tripleheader scheduled for the Ballpark at Harbor yard in Bridgeport was postponed Friday due to possible inclement weather. Two have already been rescheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday: Shelton at Amity and Xavier at Foran. The Seymour-St. Joseph game is ppd. indefinitely.

For all your up-to-date high school baseball news, follow Henry Chisholm at http://nhrbaseball.blogspot.com/.

You can do the same on all your softball updates by following Mike Pucci at http://nhrsoftball.blogspot.com/.

The Amity boys' hockey team was scheduled to host No. 2 Hamden on Wednesday at the Bennett Rink in West Haven at 8:15 p.m. following the Trinity Catholic at West Haven game scheduled to start at 6.
But a lengthy traffic backup on I-95 north delayed Trinity Catholic's trip from Stamford, forcing a later start to the West Haven game. This would have moved the start of the Amity-Hamden game to after 9 p.m.
As a result, the Amity-Hamden game has been rescheduled for today (Thursday) at Bennett Rink at 5:15 p.m.

No. 2 seed Shelton beat No. 3 Amity 1-0 Thursday night to get a chance to defend its SCC championship on Saturday. Standing in the way is No. 4 seed Cheshire, which advanced past top-seeded Sacred Heart Academy in penalty kicks in the semifinals. game time is 5 p.m. at East Haven High. This is the third matchup between the two Housy rivals with Shelton going 1-0-1.
That will be preceded by the SCC boys final at 3 p.m., pitting No. 2 Fairfield Prep against No. 4 Notre Dame-West Haven, a 1-0 winner over top-seeded Cheshire. Prep beat Guilford 3-0 on Wednesday and went 1-0-1 against ND during the regular season.

By Mike Madera
Elm City Sports Writer

NORTH HAVEN — Wednesday night’s girls’ volleyball contest between North Haven and Amity featured two teams coming from completely different directions.

Amity entered having lost seven of its last 11 matches after a quick start to the season while the Indians had won five in a row following a slow start.

The beauty of sports is records can be thrown out the window with the final outcomes decided on the playing surface.

Such was the case at North Haven High where Amity defeated the Indians 3-2 after squandering a 2-0 lead.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY

As first reported right here, the pairings are set for the SCC girls' soccer tournament. The schedule is below:

Quarterfinals - Saturday, October 29 @Higher Seeds
No. 8 North Haven at No. 1 Sacred Heart Academy - 11 a.m.
No. 5 Cheshire at No. 4 Guilford - 3 p.m.
No. 7 Mercy at No. 2 Shelton - 6:30 p.m.
No. 6 West Haven at No. 3 Amity - 2:30 p.m.
Semifinals - Monday, October 31 @Higher Seeds - times TBA
Championship Game - Wednesday, November 2 @East Haven HS - 7 p.m.

The boys' pairings will be finalized on Thursday.

Fairfield Prep is the only boys' soccer team in the Southern Connecticut Conference to have won a division title, clinching the SCC Quinnipiac.
Three are up for grabs Saturday. The Guilford-Hand winner claims the Hammonasset. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Surf Club in Madison.
Shelton could only manage a scoreless tie with Amity Thursday night, failing to clinch the Housatonic. That means Cheshire can earn a share of the title with a win over Shelton at home on Saturday. Shelton can still clinch with a win or tie. Game time is 11:30 a.m.
And if North Haven beats Branford tonight (6:30 in Branford) and East Haven Saturday (5:30 at North Haven), it clinches the SCC Oronoque. If it slips up, there could be a four-way tie for the division with North Haven, Branford, Wilbur Cross and Career/Hillhouse.

In girls' soccer, Sacred Heart Academy has clinched the Quinnipiac, North Haven has won the Oronoque and Guilford has won the Hammonasset.
That leaves the Housatonic and Saturday's big game between Cheshire and Shelton at Shelton at 6 p.m. Cheshire won at Amity Thursday to stay alive in its defense of the title. Saturday's winner is the division champion.

A huge game in girls' soccer this evening as Amity travels to Finn Stadium to take on Shelton at 7:30 p.m. The two teams tied earlier this season. The game could go a long way in determining the SCC Housatonic Division champion.

To read more about unbeaten Amity click here


Also tonight, defending Quinnipiac Division winner Hamden invades West Haven, also at 7:30 p.m. West Haven won at Hamden earlier this season.

Here is the 2011 schedule of football games on MyTV9. All games will be shown on a tape-delay basis on the Saturday following the game at 7 p.m.:
Sept. 16: Notre Dame-West Haven at Xavier, 7 p.m. (broadcast: Sept. 17)
Sept. 23: New Milford at Bunnell, 7 p.m. (broadcast: Sept. 24)
Sept. 30: Hand at Amity, 7 p.m. (broadcast: Oct. 1)
Oct. 7: Ledyard at New London, 6:30 p.m. (broadcast: Oct. 8)
Oct. 14: Torrington at Naugatuck, 7 p.m. (broadcast: Oct. 15)
Oct. 21: Cheshire at West Haven, 7 p.m. (broadcast: Oct. 22)
Oct. 28: Conard at Manchester, 6 p.m. (broadcast: Oct. 29)
Nov.4: Pomperaug at Masuk, 7 p.m. (broadcast: Nov. 5)
Nov. 10: Guilford at Foran, 7 p.m. (broadcast: Nov. 12)
Nov. 17: NFA at Wilbur Cross, 6 p.m. (broadcast: Nov. 19)
Nov. 23: Berlin at New Britain, 7 p.m. (broadcast: Nov. 26)

We have three new teams for you to vote for:

Amity softball

West Haven baseball

or Hand girls tennis.

Not sure where to go to vote? No worries... just put the link below in your web browser:

http://bit.ly/jruc1p