The 2019-20 Notre Dame sports season has begun with the cross-country, football, and soccer teams at all levels having started their seasons.
Cross-Country — In their season opening meet, Notre Dame placed five runners in the top 10, including runners who finished third, fourth, and fifth respectively, but the Green Knights fell 20-35 to Shelton, who ran second in the SCC in 2018 and finished sixth at the State Open Meet last season. Ohm Patel led the way for Notre Dame finishing the race in 18:08 seconds to place third overall and was the Green Knights top runner. Following Patel were Jacob Carson and Oliver Shannon. They were right behind Patel crossing the finish line within three seconds of Patel. Notre Dame’s next meet was this past Monday against East Haven, Fairfield Prep, and North Haven.
Football —The Notre Dame football team ran into a buzz saw to open their season facing off against the two-time defending state champion and state’s top-ranked team in Hand of Madison. Hand jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter enroute to their 49-14 win. Notre Dame’s two scores came via a fumble return by Tommy Candelora and a 65-yard run by Mark Altieri. Candelora’s fumble return was from 67 yards. Notre Dame’s defense did a stellar job in the second half, holding Hand to only one touchdown.
“They are as advertised,” Notre Dame Coach Joe DeCaprio said of Hand. “We thought we could do some things against them and we couldn’t. We have a very skilled team. It is hard to say at 49-14, but we are a really good football team. I don’t know that there is a team better than that in the state.” Notre Dame will have a chance to find that thought out as the Green Knights travel to play second-ranked St. Joe’s in a 1:30 pm kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 21.
Soccer — Trailing 2-0 at halftime of its season opening contest against cross-town rival West Haven Saturday night, the Notre Dame soccer team was hoping for a complete role reversal of its season opening effort last year when the rivals met on opening night. In the 2018 opener, Notre Dame jumped out to a 2-0 lead only to see West Haven roar back with three straight goals to emerge with a 3-2 win.
This time, it was Notre Dame scoring two goals to tie the game at 2-2 only to see the Blue Devil’s Aldo Barragan bury a direct kick from just outside the box from about 20 yards out with 8:18 left in the game to lead West Haven to a 3-2 win. Notre Dame’s goals came from Nicholas Vitti and Christian Lombardo within 90 seconds of each other midway through the second half. Notre Dame played North haven on Tuesday before hosting Branford on Friday, September 20. Both games are at 3:45 pm at Veterans Field.
Hall of Fame — The countdown has begun to Notre Dame’s first Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday, October 5. The inaugural group of inductees includes a Who’s Who of Notre Dame Athletics from a coaching and player standpoint. The coaches include: Joe Tonelli ‘62, Tom Marcucci ‘66, Jim Guercia, Gary Palladino, and Bill Parkinson. The athletes include: Ray Ciarleglio ‘59, Greg Lawler ‘65, Jim Davins ‘82, and Tarek Saleh ‘93. The 1954 and 1962 state champion football teams will also be honored. In addition, John Janenda, Richard Lawler, Sr., Nick Pietrosante ‘55, Ed Schreck ‘63, and Ray Tellier will be honored posthumously. Please visit http://www.notredamehs.com/HallofFame2019 for more information and to register for the event. The cost is $65 per person.
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