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.

SCC DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIP

No. 1 Fairfield Prep (19-1) vs. No. 2 Notre Dame-West Haven (15-4-1)

WHEN: Wednesday, 8 p.m.

WHERE: Quinnipiac’s High Solutions Arena, Hamden

ON THE AIR: The game will be broadcast live at CPTV Sports and on WELI-960, 960WELI.com, iheart radio.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The two best teams in the state face off for the third time this season. Both teams are strong in every phase of the game.

The Jesuits have depth at goalie with Matt Beck, Chris Gutierrez and Jack Taubl with Beck likely to start tonight. The on-ice defense is led by Sean Henry, Kevin Brown and Andrew Hatton. There is a long list of quick, high-scoring forwards led by David White (19 goals, 24 assists), Connor Henry (15 goals, 18 assists), Nick Bargiello (eight goals, 19 assists), Matt Wikman (14 goals, 10 assists) and Dean Lockery of New Haven (11 goals, 11 assists). Notre Dame-West Haven is led between the pipes by Luc Amatruda of North Haven and Paul Sliwinski of Guilford with Amatruda the likely starter tonight. Darren Capobianco of Branford, Cameron Hotchkiss of West Haven and Lou Iannotti of Durham are among the deeply talented defensemen. The fast-paced balanced offense is led by Bill Vizzo of Shelton (24 goals, 26 assists), Greg Zullo of Branford (11 goals, 22 assists), Ryan Lynch of Milford (seven goals, 13 assists), Kyle Thibault of Guilford (nine goals, seven assists) and Kyle Lynch of Milford (eight goals, eight assists).

CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES: Notre Dame makes its fourth SCC Division I championship appearance and Fairfield Prep makes its third appearance. Notre Dame won a title in 1999 and Prep won in 1997. The SCC Division I tournament was held from 1997-99 and discontinued until this season.

YOU SHOULD KNOW: Fairfield Prep defeated Notre Dame 3-1 and 1-0 in the regular season.

— Dan Nowak

The CIAC released the pairings for the Class L, M and S boys' lacrosse tournaments and one noticeable item is Cheshire being in unfamiliar territoy - in a qualifying round in the Class L tournament.
No. 16 seed Cheshire, 8-10, hosts No. 17 Simsbury today (Friday) at 7 p.m. in the qualifying round game.
The Rams haven't had a complete team until recently with several players out due to injury and sickness. But the Rams have gotten healthy at the right time and should get to the first round where they would potentially face top seed Simsbury on Wednesday at Simsbury at 4:30 p.m.
The Rams have the talent front to back to pull off an upset or two. The wildcard could be goalie Will Devine who has talent.
Fairfield Prep and defending champion Ridgefield, both  among the top five in the Register's Top 10 poll all season, are the teams to beat in Class L. Ridgefield recently had a huge win against No. 1 ranked Darien (competing in Class M). Prep will be facing Hand today at 3 p.m. in the Southern Connecticut Conference final at Branford High.
In Class M, Darien is on a mission to win it all and will likely take no prisoners. The Blue Wave have nearly a dozen players headed to Division I-II colleges led by Case Matheis, ranked the No. 1 rectruit in the nation this season. Matheis has committed to play at Duke.
Locally, Guilford and Hand have the best shot to advance far in Class M but both are in very difficult brackets.
In Class S, Barlow, Weston and Granby are the teams to beat. Weston, ranked No., 10 in the Register's Top 10 poll the last two weeks, has the depth on both ends of the field to win it all.
Locally, Old Lyme and Notre Dame-Fairfield could pull off an upset or two in the first two rounds.

Ten student-athletes from five high schools have been named The SportsCenter of Connecticut/Southern Connecticut Conference Scholar Athletes of the Month for March.
Student athletes who are selected must be a varsity letterwinner and have a 3.0/B average while demonstrating leadership qualities such as: being a positive role model; helping teammates overcome adversity; showing a commitment to self-improvement; or putting the needs of the team before themselves.
The student-athletes are: Chris Stachurski of Fairfield Prep (track and field), Ben Morrison of Fairfield Prep (golf), Mark Beretta of West Haven (cross country and outdoor track and field), Alyssa Perez of West Haven (volleyball, swimming and tennis), Jacquelin Ferraiolo of Amity (softball), Alex Marieb of Amity (golf), Rick Spencer of Hand (basketball and baseball), Will Crisco of Hand (wrestling), Valerie Hiller of Law (cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field) and Matt Ferraiolo of Law (baseball).

Fairfield Prep has its prom on Friday night and as a result the times for the Southern Connecticut Conference boys' and girls' lacrosse championship games have been moved up an hour.
No. 1 Prep and No. 2 Cheshire will face off for the SCC boys' championship at 3 p.m. and No. 1 Hand faces No. 2 Cheshire in the SCC girls' championship at 5 p.m.
Originally the games were scheduled for 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. with the boys game starting at 6.
In the boys' semifinals, Cheshire defeated No. 3 Guilford 9-4 and Prep defeated No. 4 Hand 10-9 in OT.
In the girls' semifinal, Cheshire defeated No. 6 Amity 18-5 and Hand defeated No. 4 Guilford 15-14 in OT.

Greenwich has won its 18th straight divisional crown by winning the Class LL title on Tuesday. Fairfield Prep was second.

Greenwich is seeking its 18th straight title. Fairfield Prep and Xavier should each vie for a top 3 finish. Check back for updates about the Class LL meet throughout the night.

Junior Connor Rog led the Jesuits to their 15-48 win over Shelton with a 14:59.7 mark.
His time broke the 2.95-mile course record at Fairfield University.