Cheshire girls' swim coach Dan Mascolo (Register file photo)

The 2013 girls' swimming season kicks off today and while the Cheshire girls’ swim team lost some key swimmers from last season, including Jenna Cannata, Sara Barlok, Kenzie Keddy, Molly Condron and Taylor Deubel, coach Dan Mascolo is confident the Rams have a good shot to defend their Southern Connecticut Conference title.
The Rams used their talent and depth to win the 2012 SCC swim meet with 1,314 points and continue to have the talent and depth in 2013 despite the losses from last season.
Among the top returners are Lindsay Smalec (butterfly, individual medley), Laura Mongillo (backstroke, IM), Denise Costello (freestyles, breaststroke), Delaney Molnar (butterfly, freestyles), Taylor Plumley (distance freestyles) and Erin Mostoller (diving).
“We have a very deep team once again and we should be pretty strong in the odd stroke events this season,” Mascolo said. “We are looking to build on last year’s success in the SCC and are looking forward to a very competitive (CIAC) Class L meet this season.”
Among the newcomers expected to make an impact this season are freshmen Lily Kurtz (IM, breaststroke), Kristen Reid (freestyles), Emily Murphy (backstroke, freestyles) and Danielle Dietrich (butterfly, breaststroke).

Cathy McGuirk conducting practice during 2011 season with her assistant and husband John

Two local field hockey legends, Branford coach Cathy McGuirk and Haddam-Killingworth coach Patsy Kamercia, are about to reach major milestones in their illustrious coaching careers.
McGuirk is 10 wins away from career-win 500 as she enters the season with a 490-101-62-9 career record.
“I have had so much fun and learned so much coaching field hockey,” McGuirk said. “The best part has been all the great kids I have coached and now so many of their daughters.
“Lucky me, not to mention coaching so many years with my best friend and now husband of 45 years (John McGuirk). That’s another milestone.”
Branford opens the season on Tuesday at Southern Connecticut Conference rival Hand at 7 p.m.

Patsy Kamercia

Kamercia, who led her team to the CIAC Class S title last season, is one win away from career-win 400. She enters the season with a 399-159-81 career record.
Last season Kamercia retired after 41 years as an HK physical education teacher and decided to return one more season to coach field hockey to get the milestone.
Kamercia was selected the Register All-Area Field Hockey coach of the year last season and was inducted to the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame last November.
Kamercia gets her first crack at No. 400 in the Cougars’ season-opener on Tuesday at home against Canton at 4:15 p.m.

Billy Vizzo, a New Haven Register All-State and All-Area hockey selection season as a Notre Dame-West Haven junior forward, will be leaving the area to play for the Bay State Breakers (Rockland, Mass.) of the United States Premier Hockey League. The USPHL, an Under-20 league, replaces the Eastern Junior Hockey League.
"I'm looking forward to it," Vizzo said. "I'll be leaving at the end of the month and finish my senior year in high school at one of the local high schools near Boston. The Connecticut Yankees will have a team in the league based out of Stamford so I'll get to play in Connecticut a few times during the season."

Haddam-Killingworth field hockey coach Patsy Kamercia

When Patsy Kamercia retired as physical education teacher after 41 years, there was speculation the founder of the storied field hockey program would retire as the Cougars' coach as well.
On Wednesday Kamercia put that speculation to rest.
"I'm coming back to coach field hockey at HK," Kamerica said. "I almost have to come back with one win shy of (career win) 400."
Last season, Kamercia finished her 36th season as head coach and led the Cougars (17-2-1) to their third CIAC Class S state championship with a 2-0 win over Stonington. The Cougars also won the Shoreline Conference regular-season title with an 8-1-1 record.
For her effort she was named Register All-Area Field Hockey Coach of the Year last season.
Kamercia has a 399-159-81 career record. She was also selected Area Coach of the Year in 2005, was inducted to the CHSCA Hall of Fame last November and in 2009 was a finalist for national coach of the year.
The 2012 championship was H-K’s second outright state title, and third including a shared title with Lewis Mills in 2005. H-K’s previous outright state title was in 1994. The Cougars finished the 2012 season on a 12-game winning streak.

Just like every other senior at Cheshire High, Tim Covel is looking forward to the Rams' graduation ceremony and getting his diploma on Friday.
Graduation will signal the end of a successful academic career at the high school for Covel and will also signal the end of a successful athletic career, although that athletic experience was unlike most other Rams.
Covel, considered one of the hardest working athletes and an exceptional leader, enjoyed success while also dealing with Type 1 Diabetes. Covel was a receiver and defensive end on the football team, center/power forward and captain on the basketball team and defender on the boys lacrosse team.
"I was diagnosed with Type 1 (juvenile) Diabetes in sixth grade," Covel said. "I wear an insulin pump on my hip that administers insulin into a cite that I insert into my stomach and hip area. Depending on what my blood sugar is and what I eat determines how much insulin I get.
"I test my blood sugar using a different device roughly 15-20 times a day. My target blood sugar is 140 for when I play. It's had a huge effect on my sports career."
Covel said if his blood sugar is out of range his level of play drops drastically and his chance for injury goes up.
"I carb count everything. I eat to help avoid that as much as possible during games," Covel said. "It has only happened a handful of times in games. It is just something I have to keep control of. It will effect me in college as well, but my training staff will help me out when it gets hard."
Covel led the Rams boys lacrosse team to an 8-10 record and they advanced to the first round of the CIAC Class L tournament. His speed and communication skills were strengths in leading the Rams' transition game from the defensive zone to midfield to offensive attack.
"Tim is an excellent student athlete and his leadership abilities were a huge part of our success this season," Cheshire boys lacrosse coach Rich Pulisciano said. "Tim is a three-sport athlete. Kids look up to Tim. Being a captain is always tough, but Tim was fair not only with his senior peers but the underclassmen as well.
"He’s a great kid with a great attitude. When he stepped on the field it was all business. No matter if it was practice or a game, Tim was always ready to go. Tim’s work ethic rises to the top in everything he does. He will be missed not only by our coaching staff but the kids in this school."
Covel also provided some offense from his defender position in lacrosse with five goals and 10 assists.
Recently, Covel was presented with school's highest honor for a male athlete and named the 2013 Cheshire High Outstanding Male Athlete.
Covel was also named first All-Southern Connecticut Conference, named to the All-SCC Academic Team and an Academic All-American in football. He will play lacrosse and study economics at Connecticut College.

On Thursday the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which governs high school sports in the state, published its post-season podcast and yours truly was one of three guests with moderator and CIAC spokesman Joel Cookson. I spent about 20 minutes breaking down the CIAC boys and girls lacrosse tournaments (interview done just prior to the girls quarterfinal round games). Dave Ruden of the Stamford Advocate is another guest and tells the story of a generous baseball player and talks softball and baseball and Timothy Gaffney of Litchfieldcountysports.com breaks down the top teams in his region. Here is the link to the podcast:
ciacsports.com/site/?p=3182

The East Haven boys hockey team will hear its appeal with the CIAC today in an effort to move from Division I to Division II next season. Last month, when the CIAC had its post-season meeting to determine the 2013-14 divisions, East Haven petitioned to move down to Division II and the CIAC denied the move.
CIAC Ice Hockey Committee chairman Tom Neagle confirmed that East Haven's appeal will be heard today at 3 p.m. Neagle could not comment on the appeal only to say that East Haven deserves an opportunity to make its case and have it heard by the Ice Hockey Committee.
“After researching several different areas of concern, we have very interesting facts that certainly show a bias toward our team when it comes to the CIAC's decision to keep us in Division I,” East Haven coach Lou Pane said. “These areas are in population of boys in school compared to other schools, records against Division I opponents, teams with their own rink and percentage of winning state championships. “There are also youth hockey numbers, safety concerns, roster numbers, tryout numbers, teams that won Division II after us and have already gone down.”
Pane gave Amity as an example, a Division II team that went 5-1 against Division I opponents last season, winning a Division II title in 2010 and having 856 boys enrolled compared to East Haven, which has 450. Pane also cited the number of East Haven residents going to private schools.

In January, due to a reduced number of boys’ hockey teams from 67 to 57 since 2006, the CIAC Ice Hockey Committee decided to make some adjustments to its hockey division format. The proposal included going to an elite 12-team Division I format with the remaining teams split between Division II and III and initiating a new best-of-three series for the D-I championship round.
On Thursday, the Ice Hockey Committee submitted a revised proposal to the CIAC Board of Control who approved it. When it was all said and done, the only major change to the divisions was guaranteeing a minimum 16 teams for each postseason tournament.
Through this season, only teams with a winning percentage of 40 percent or better could qualify for the tournament, which is why only nine teams qualified for the current Division III tournament. Starting next season, for tournament qualification all teams with a winning percentage of 40 percent or better will qualify for the tournaments. But in a division where fewer than 16 teams meet the 40 percent qualifying standard, a full bracket of 16 teams will be achieved by qualifying teams with the next highest winning percentages.
When the proposal to go to a 12-team D-I format with a best-of-three series final was first proposed, there was mixed reaction among coaches. A meeting with the coaches and the Ice Hockey Committee on Feb. 3 to discuss the proposal and get input from coaches made an impact with the Ice Hockey Committee’s proposal.
“It is true that the original proposal we shared with our coaches on Super Bowl Sunday morning (Feb. 3) offered a 12-team Division I and larger Divisions II and III,” said Tom Neagle, chairman of the CIAC Ice Hockey Committee. “This proposal reflected a willingness on the CIAC's part to allow sports committees to have "unbalanced" divisions, something we had been directed not to do in the past.
“The original proposal served a very important role. It generated thought and discussion among the (Ice Hockey) Committee members, our coaches and our officials. Our Committee listened carefully to what our coaches said and they said keep the 16-team Division I bracket intact and keep three divisions. As an educator, I was pleased to see all of us in the "hockey fraternity" express our opinions in an articulate and respectful fashion.”
Neagle said the Ice Hockey Committee heard from first-year coaches and those who have been on the bench for decades.
“If anything, the discussion that took place that Sunday morning at the CIAC was one of the proudest moments during my tenure,” Neagle said. “The math is pretty simple. With 57 teams, we are unlikely to qualify 48 teams (three divisions of 16) for our tournament unless we dip below the 40 percent standard. The Board of Control's approval of our proposal (on a two-year trial basis) represents a significant shift in thinking that will be carefully observed by other sports committees.”
For Milford boys’ hockey coach Sal Follo, who also serves as the coaches’ CIAC liaison as a member of the Ice Hockey Committee, the important thing was to maintain a three-division format. There was also concern that a best-of-three series in D-I would make players want to transfer to D-I teams to get the exposure those extra games would provide.
“There will be no best 2-out-of- 3 championship series and we will keep the three divisions,” Follo said. “I believe that at the CIAC hockey committee meeting with the coaches the committee listened to the coaches who were loud and clear when they said they more or less wanted to keep everything the same with no changes. So the committee put a proposal together with the input of the coaches and passed it on to the board of control for approval. The coaches voices were heard, which is a good thing and I am happy for that.”
It should also be noted that the division distribution for the next two seasons will be formulated by considering the regular season results and tournament success over the previous two seasons.

What a rough night on Tuesday with my predictions in the first round for the CIAC Division II boys’ hockey tournament.
Three of my final four predictions –Amity, Hand and Milford - were eliminated.
Ouch!
Fortunately the team I picked to win the championship, Branford, is still alive and kicking. The Hornets ended up with a 4-0 win over Fermi/Enfield/East Granby/Stafford.
The biggest surprise was top seed Amity losing 2-1 to No. 17 Newtown. This win by Newtown certainly gives all lower seeds hope in all three divisions, showing us all that anything can happen, especially when you face a hot goalie.
It was a tough finish to the season overall for the Spartans who ended up 2-5 in their last seven games including the regular season. Scoring was an issue for the Spartans with three of the losses by one goal.
No. 10 Hand, with goalie Chase Briggs carrying the team on his back with over 40 saves in the game, looked like it was going to hold on to a slight 1-0 lead against a strong No. 7 Northwest Catholic in the first round . But a third period goal and another in OT gave Northwest Catholic a 2-1 win.
I’m not so surprised about No. 6 Guilford defeating No. 11 Milford 5-3. That was one game I figured could go either way. But I did predict that whoever won that game would at least advance to the D-II semifinals.
Lastly, apologies to North Branford who I failed to mention in my hockey predictions. Any time you have an outstanding, speedy scorer like Dylan Podbielski on your team you are always going to be competitive. The Thunderbirds actually have a lot more than that going for them with talent front to back.
I predicted the SCC would dominate Division II and I’m sticking to that prediction. My adjusted Final Four now has Branford, North Branford and Guilford with No. 2 East Catholic in the Final Four. I still think Branford has the motivation and talent to win the title.
Here is a link to my original tournament predictions - http://bit.ly/1012TiM.

Here are links to my other pre-tournament hockey stories/predictions/Top 10 Poll:
http://bit.ly/XKsWe3
http://bit.ly/XKm8Nv
http://bit.ly/14oyfjZ
http://bit.ly/14oNGsx

St. Joseph and Ridgefield take center stage in boys' hockey on Saturday in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference tournament championship at Terry Connors Rink in Stamford at 6 p.m. as MSG Varsity will show the game live online and later next week on tape delay.

The game will be streamlined live on MSGVarsity.com and will be broadcast on MSG Varsity, Channel 14 on Optimum, on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The Cadets, seeded No. 2 in the tournament and ranked No. 5 in the New Haven Register Top 10 Hockey Poll this week, defeated No. 3 seed New Canaan 3-2 in overtime on Wednesday in the semifinals. New Canaan is No. 8 in the Register Top 10 Poll. The Tigers defeated No. 1 seed Darien 2-1 in overtime in the other semifinal. Darien is No. 3 in the Register poll.
Here's a link to this week's Register Top 10 Boys' Hockey Poll - http://bit.ly/13tXUvZ.

The Cadets are led by forwards Christian "CK" Keator, Ryan Corcoran and Colin Powell, defensemen Andrew Gore and Dean Smith and goalie Mark Van Etten who had 34 saves in the semis against the Rams.

The Tigers are led by Vin Rella, Chris Morrow and Cam McGuire, senior Ian Ball leads the defensemen and goalie Dusty Rausa had 24 saves in the semifinal win over the Blue Wave.

The Southern Connecticut Conference girls' hockey tournament begins Monday with semifinals at the home of the higher seeds.
No. 4 seed Amity/North Haven/Cheshire is at No. 1 West Harttford (Hall/Conard) at 7 p.m. and No. 3 Hamden is at No. 2 Simsbury at 5 p.m.
The chamnpionshjip game is Tuesday at Quinnipiac's High Point Solutions Arena in Hamden at 5 p.m.
Unfortunately SCC standings and updated team records have been unavailable this season.
The tournament shapes up as an exciting, wide open affair with defending champion West Hartford a slight favorite.
Amity/North Haven/Cheshire and Hamden have as good a chance as any of the teams to win the title with their exceptional goaltending and high-scoring forwards.

Freaky is the word Cheshire Parks and Recreation director Bob Ceccolini uses to describe experiencing two blizzards within two years resulting in two collapses of the synthetic bubble over the Cheshire Community Pool.

On Saturday at 3 a.m., due to the weight of the snow from the recent raging blizzard, the bubble collapsed according to Ceccolini.

“I’m not 100 percent sure, but right now I think you’re looking at the pool being closed until May when we normally would take the bubble off for our spring swim season,” Ceccolini said. “Our bubble isn’t like the bubbles that you see above soccer fields. When those bubbles collapse they just fall to the ground.

“Our bubble has a support system above the pool. When the bubble collapses, it falls onto those supports and tends to rip. We have a rip and we need to have the manufacturer (Arizon Air Domes of St. Louis, Mo.) look at it and that will happen later this week. We also have to go through our insurance company and FEMA to access the damage.”

Cheshire High boys’s swim coach Fran Connolly said nothing is confirmed, but with the Cheshire Community Pool bubble collapsed, the Rams’ one remaining home meet with Branford on Feb. 20 will likely be held at Branford.

“(Cheshire athletic director) Steve Trifone is working hard to reschedule our one remaining home meet and he’s working hard to arrange for practices with the bubble down,” Connolly said. “Most likely our meet with Branford will now be at Branford. We’re hopeful that we can use Cheshire Academy’s pool for practices. They’ve been very good to us in the past. But all that is still up in the air at this point.

“It’s been a little frustrating for all of us. We haven’t been in the water since last Thursday.”

Ceccolini said during the blizzard two years ago he and others were clearing the base of the bubble when the storm hit. But the top of the bubble is 50 feet high and can’t be reached, allowing the snow to collect.

“Two years ago we couldn’t get to the top and just hoped the heat inside would cause the snow at the peak to melt and slide off,” Ceccolini said. “It didn’t happen and the snow just kept piling up on top of the bubble. I was actually standing next to it and watched it collapse.

“No one could ever anticipate this happening once. But to have it happen twice in two years, it’s freaky.”

For now, all events and programs at the Cheshire Community Pool are cancelled indefinitely.

“The bubble will likely have to go back to the factory to be fixed or possibly be replaced,” Ceccolini said. “This certainly means an end to the indoor season at the pool.”

After postponing several times, South-West Conference spokesperson Pamela Goodpaster has announced that the SWC wrestling is officially canceled.

The Martino family of Orange needs help and the Amity boys’ hockey team is pitching in with a fundraiser.
The Spartans will be hosting a fundraiser at its SCC interdivision game with Cheshire on Thursday at the Bennett Rink at 6:30 p.m. to benefit the family of former Spartans player Eddie Martino of Orange whose family lost their home and belongings in a fire on Jan. 20.
Martino was a forward with the Spartans boys’ hockey team and graduated in 1984.
“Eddie Martino was a talented, hard-working forward for Amity when he played,” Amity coach Gary Lindgren said. “He had a lot of speed and was a very intense, physical player.”
According to Lindgren a fire started in the middle of the night and the cause is still to be determined.
Raffle tickets with proceeds going to the family will be sold during the game.
Donations can also be sent to The Amity Hockey Parent’s Association, 25 Newton Rd., Woodbridge, CT., 06525 and put it to the attention of Gary Lindgren.

The CIAC Ice Hockey Committee's plan to restructure the boys' hockey divisions in an effort to save the sport's third division has become a hot topic among the state's coaches, players and parents.
Yours truly has been invited by George "Coach" DeMaio to appear on his Saturday morning radio sports talk show at 7:35 a.m. on 960 WELI to discuss the new plan that calls for an elite 12-team Division I format. The show is also streamlined at 960WELI.com.
You can read my update story with reaction from coaches plus my own personal analysis of the issue at the links below:

http://bit.ly/X3pJXg

http://bit.ly/14RNhlw

Harbor Yard Sports and Entertainment made it official today (Friday) and announced the top-ranked Fairfield Prep boys’ hockey team will play No. 7 Hamden at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport on Feb. 2 at 1 p.m.

The venue has hosted several boys' basketball and boys' hockey games in recent years. Hamden coach Bill Verneris always looks forward to giving his team the opportunity to play at a high-profile site like Webster Bank Arena.
"Playing at a rink like Webster Bank Arena is great for high school hockey," Verneris said. "It's exciting for the fans and it's exciting for the players."
In a prepared statement, Howard Saffan, president of Harbor Yard Sports and Entertainment, which manages Webster Bank Arena, said, "Fans have been enjoying our high school sporting events this season. This game will surely be one of the most exciting."
The Jesuits are 11-0 and the Green Dragons are 5-5-1.
Tickets for the event are $12 for adults and $10 for seniors and children age 12 and under. Tickets are available at the Webster Bank Arena Click It Or Ticket Box Office on gameday.



HOCKEY STANDINGS
SCC DIVISION I
School Conf. Overall
Hamden 2-0-1 5-5-1
Xavier 1-0-1 7-4-1
West Haven 2-1 4-7
East Haven 2-1 5-2-1
Fairfield Prep 0-0 11-0
Notre Dame-WH 0-0 8-2
North Haven 0-2 3-6-2
Cheshire 0-3 1-10

The Branford boys' hockey team makes a return appearance to Webster Bank Arena and for the second year will participate in the New Year's Eve High School Faceoff Hockey event on Dec. 31.
Harbor Yard Sports and Entertainment officials announced on Thursday that the second annual high school boys' hockey doubleheader will be held at Webster Bank Arena starting at noon with Division I teams St. Joseph and Notre Dame of Fairfield. This year’s tournament marks the debut of Division I teams.

The 2 p.m. game is a rematch of last season’s CIAC Division II championship game. Reigning state champion Trumbull will play Branford. Trumbull beat Branford 5-3 in the championship game.

 “We have a great matchup. Both teams play a similar style. It will be a hard-fought game,” Trumbull coach Greg Maxey said in a prepared statement.

Tickets are $12 for both games and can be purchased at the arena’s Click It or Ticket Box Office. Pre-sale tickets will be available at each respective school for $10.

The Connecticut Field Hockey Coaches Association is hosting two all-star games this Thursday at Cheshire High's turf field.

There will be a Junior Select game at 5:30 p.m with top junior field hockey players from across the state competing. At 7 p.m. there will be the annual, Senior All-Star game, which consists of all senior field hockey players who earned Connecticut High School Coaches Association First Team all-state honors for the 2012 season. 

Hamden field hockey coach Tina Bouchard and Haddam-Killingworth coach Patsy Kamercia will be two of the coaches for the Senior game.

Cheshire football head coach Don Drust, who took the position on a one-year interim basis prior to the start of the 2012 season, has expressed interest in staying on as coach on a full-time basis.

Cheshire athletic director Steve Trifone said the job will be posted at the end of the football season and Drust is welcome to go through the application process.

“If they offered me the job, I would certainly sit down with school officials and discuss taking the position,” Drust said. “With our football season done now, I’ll take some time to think about going through the application process. I would love to come back here on a full time basis. Cheshire football has been a big part of my life.”

Drust took over for former coach Mark Ecke who decided to step down in May after being suspended due to an alleged incident at a junior varsity lacrosse game in Glastonbury.

Drust took a young Rams team and led them to a 6-4 record, including wins over Shelton and Notre Dame-West Haven.

“Don was hired on an interim basis,” Trifone said. “The full time position will be posted as planned at the end of the season. But Don can certainly apply for the position if he so choses.”

Saturday is going to be a big day for Cheshire High sports with the Rams hosting a tripleheader of events.
No. 2 Cheshire hosts No. 7 Hand at 3:30 p.m. in the Southern Connecticut Conference girls' soccer tournament quarterfinals.
No. 1 Cheshire hosts No. 8 Sacred Heart Academy at 3 p.m. in the SCC field hockey tournament quarterfianls.
Cheshire hosts East Haven in a varsity football game at the Rams' turf field at 6:30 p.m.