Coginchaug’s 2011 Fall Sports Preview

Football

Head coach and offensive coordinator John Bozzi, along with defensive coordinator Vin Balsam and assistants Jason Lussier, Doug Frasier and Hans Pedersen are not only looking forward to home games at Coginchaug’s new facility, but to a competitive season, with a goal of improving on the 2010 season.

Players have kept in football shape by participating in conditioning workouts, weight lifting and agility and mobility exercises over the summer. Coach Bozzi has already found senior captains Nick Agramonte, Tyler Davis, Luke Bogdanski, and Andrew Paxton to be “four great captains,” saying they have taken ownership and have become leaders early on.

“So far I have been pleased with what I have seen from a lot of kids,” said Bozzi. “We had a good offseason and a good spring.”

Last year, the football team tied for second place in the Shoreline Pequot league, and was only ten playoff points away from making it to the state conference.  As far as this season goes, coach Bozzi is sticking to what the team has done best. 

“We want to keep moving in the direction that we have been moving in,” said Bozzi. “I want to keep doing the things we’ve been doing well and we will be successful.”

Since the new facilities have been built, it has changed the mentality of many of the players to not only do better but compete harder.

“The stadium is terrific and will make a big impact on the program. It will make a big difference in kids wanting to play. We had an increase in numbers in upperclassmen and freshmen.”

As for making the state conference this year, coach Bozzi says “we will shoot for that.” Both the players and coaches look forward to the first Coginchaug football game on the new field on September 17, 2011. 

Cheerleading

The 2011 cheerleading team, lead by senior captains Alyssa Tiedemann, Katelyn Hill and Stephanie White, are not only excited to begin practicing for the upcoming season, but also look forward to cheer at home football games. 

For the twenty cheerleaders who made the final cut back in June, their tryouts consisted of learning a dance routine and completing a series of jumps and cheers. The panelist of judges included head coach Sherry Hill, senior team members and three random judges who were unfamiliar with the girls trying out. 

Although there have been no formal practices over the summer, the captains and head coach Sherry Hill have gotten together with the girls to discuss dress attire and ordering uniforms. 

“This year we are getting new jackets, new bows, and matching travel bags and sweats,” said senior captain Stephanie White.
In addition to getting new apparel, the girls are also looking forward to the opportunity to cheer on the new home field. 

“We are all so excited,” said White. "We will have more room to do our cheers and hopefully more people will want to come to the games at the new field.”

Head coach Sherry Hill is also looking forward to enjoying the new energy surrounding the field at the home games. 

“My goal this season is to have everyone enjoy the game on a beautiful fall day at our beautiful new facility,” Hill said. “I really want to get the crowd involved and focus on creating spirit around the boys football team.”

The cheerleading team also participated in a learning clinic put on by the National Cheerleading Association on August 29 and 30. Two staff members traveled to Coginchaug to teach the girls cheers, stunts and dance routines in order to get the girls set for the upcoming football season. 

Boys' Soccer

After losing in the state quarterfinals last year to Valley Regional in penalty kicks, the boys' soccer team is ready to move on and finish this season strong. 

During the offseason, many of the boys participated in winter indoor soccer to stay in shape. More recently, the team has been able to meet twice a week for conditioning with assistant coach Matt Thompson and head coach Chris Cap. The boys, lead by captains junior Ben Taber, senior Erikson Wasyl and senior Mark Kelly, were also able to compete against teams from all over the state in the Summer High School League.

Due to the strict Shoreline coaching rules, coach Cap was unable to attend the summer league games but said, “they finished fairly well.”
With the loss of many talented seniors, the boys will now have to rely on a well-rounded team.

“Last year, Arels Patushi, probably one of the best players in the state of Connecticut, was always their go to guy,” said Cap. “Without him, the players will be able to make more decisions on their own.”

Coach Cap believes that after having participated in the Summer High School League and completing conditioning workouts that the boys will be ready for a high-level, high pace game intensity.

“It is always our goal to win shorelines and states,” Cap said. "This year is no different. We will be very competitive this year.”

Girls' Soccer

When it comes to the 2011 girls' soccer team, leadership, heart, and dedication will be the key successes to a great season. Alongside captains Andrea Braga and Mel Conway, 11 other seniors will be participating in the soccer program this year, making it the largest senior class head coach Megan Kavanaugh has ever coached.

“We have the depth and experience,” said the second-year coach. “We are ready to make a statement.”

During the offseason, many members of the team participated in the summer soccer league activities, which included practices lead by coaches John Andrulis and John Esposito, as well as games played against teams from across the state.

“They worked hard all summer as a team on soccer fundamentals, conditioning, and team spirit to prepare them for what I expect should be a very successful fall season,” said Andrulis.

Though the soccer team graduated seven seniors last season, including starting goalkeeper Hannah Elliot, the freshmen class is nothing less then athletic.

“Our future looks good,” said Kavanaugh. "We have a strong freshmen and sophomore class coming in. They are athletic and will help build the program.”

As to who will take the starting goalie position, senior Kara Levine and sophomore Kara Maher have been splitting time in offseason games and practices.

With the goal of improving on last year, senior Melissa Conway hopes that “this year will finally be the year that we can win Coginchaug a Girls Soccer title with a Shoreline or State championship!”

Since the girls will be playing the seasons first home game on the new field soon, coach Kavanaugh believes it will give the girls something to look forward to.

“It will give the girls motivation to get ready for the season quickly.” 

Boys' Cross Country

After losing powerhouse runner Alex Morin, the boys cross country team will lack experience, but will focus as a team to improve on the individuals strengths. 

With the expertise given to them by coach Marty Roberts, the boys will focus on tuning up and fixing their running form. Because there were 11 seniors on the team last year, coach Roberts says that this year will be a “building year.”

This year’s team will be lead by senior captain Jimmy Malcolm, and the expected lead runners include Jeremy Brown, Wolfgang Wallach, and Tommy Schock. 

“We have a very young team,” said Roberts, "but the seniors job is leadership.”  

Because Coginchaug will be hosting two meets as well as the Shoreline conference meet this season, the boys have been preparing early by having captains practices at Allen Brook Park every week day during the summer. 

“I hope to have a winning season,” said Roberts. “We will shoot for being conference champions next year.”

The young athletes have a lot of potential, which is why coach Roberts will be rebuilding the foundation for the incoming athletes to succeed in the seasons to come. 

Girls' Cross Country

After finishing in the middle of the Shoreline conference pack last year, head coach Lavinnia Vigue and captains Melanie Badin and Rachel Viccaro look forward to a season of improvement.

During the offseason, the captains have lead summer conditioning and weekly workouts. Coach Vigue is also very impressed with the leadership.

"[The] captains have done an amazing job getting them together and preparing them for the workouts.” Their annual trip to Wellfleet, Cape Cod was another bonding activity the girls participated in, but was cut short due to the arrival of Irene.

“Progress is the offseason has been awesome,” said Badin. “Everyone has gotten close and we have tried many different techniques for cross training and conditioning.”

With motivated upperclassmen and girls looking to be more competitive, coach Vigue has seen a change in mentality over the team's early practices.

“Last year junior Emily Halligan was a stand out, but we didn’t have a strong overall varsity team to support her up in both the shoreline and state conference meets,” he said. “We have the talent this year that I like to see and the fire in the kids eyes to do the best they can.”

The new sporst complex and fields has the girls' cross country team planning out a new meet course. 

“We needed to relook into how we do it,” said Vigue. “There are so many teams and the field usage is pretty tight.”

The girls' team, like the boys' team, would like to improve, in part, because Coginchaug will host the shoreline conference meet this year.

“We are hoping to do better place-wise in our conference this year,” said Badin. “This season we will be competitive and be able to showcase our talent at our home course during the conference meet.”

As far as goals for the state meet go, the team is looking forward to being competitive and finishing in the top three or four. 

Volleyball

Having met her team for the first time at the end of June, head coach Kara Neidhardt looks forward to a competitive and team building season as her first year as a varsity head coach.

Because she played for the volleyball team all four years at Coginchaug, coach Neidhardt cares a lot about the program, coaches, and players. She is “looking forward to helping them play better and helping them get along.”

The first year coach says past experiences as a Blue Devil helped her connect with the team early on.

“I remember what it was like to be a student athlete and I can relate to a lot of the things the girls are going through. I care a lot about the girls already even though I don’t know them that well.” 

As far as coaching goes, assistant coach Ann Moscovics, who coached Neidhardt after her sophomore year, has been playing a helpful role in the transition of welcoming a new head coach. 

“She is great,” said Neidhardt. “I look forward to working with her.”

Offseason, the volleyball team has participated in their third year of preseason practice through the Gold Metal Volleyball camp. The girls have also been working on thier conditioning and volleyball skills.

Coach Neidhardt says many of the girls participate in other sports, which helps to keep them in condition.

"There are several softball and basketball players. The skills in those sports relate to volleyball and gives them the advantage of still excersizing."

Due to the competitive volleyball program Coginchaug there will be tryouts in the fall but as to how many girls will be on varisty and JV is up to the coaches. As for thiers goals for this season, coach Neidhardt says she is "shooting for the moon."

"I am heading for a state title. I am going to have that attitude no matter what anyone says. This program is headed to great places so it will be interesting to see what happens because it is my first season coaching."

For a schedule of fall games, click here.