The soccer team got their first win of the season, cross country fared well in their two meets and the inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame is now less than two weeks away as the second full week of the fall sports season was a successful one in Green Knight Nation.
Cross Country — The 2019 Notre Dame cross country team woke up a motivated bunch on race day when they faced off against Fairfield Prep, North Haven, and East Haven in their home opening meet at the Hamden Town Park course on Sept. 16. That motivation led to a sweep of all three opponents. Jacob Carson set a personal record and was the first Green Knight runner to cross the finish line and was second overall.
He finished in 17:35. Notre Dame won the race with their depth. Coach Andreozzi squad placed four runners in the top five overall. In addition to Carson, Ohm Patel ran third, while Gabe Quinn and Oliver Shannon finished fourth and fifth respectively.
In the second meet of the week on Sept. 19, Notre Dame ran third out of 11 teams at the Going to the Sun Invitational held at Coginchaug HS. The Green Knights scored 74 points and were only bested by East Catholic (53 points) and East Hampton (64 points). Notre Dame placed three runners in the top dozen as Ohm Patel finished 7th, Jacob Carson ran 10th, and Oliver Shannon crossed the finish line 12th to lead the Green Knights to its 3rd place showing.
Football — As an encore to a season opening road-trip to top-ranked Hand of Madison, the Notre Dame football team headed in the opposite direction, albeit to take on another formidable foe in second-ranked St. Joseph on Saturday.
The second-ranked Cadets flexed their muscle in the second quarter scoring four times to pull away to an eventual 42-7 win over the Green Knights. St. Joseph’s scored on back-to-back plays to grab a 14-0 lead. After a 50-yard scoring strike from Jake Wallace to Will Diamentis, the Cadets went to their bag of tricks and Diamentis took a handoff and then flipped a pass to Austin Jose who raced 67 yards for a score.
Notre Dame climbed back in the game on its next possession as Jackson Zalinksy scrambled and found Tommy Candelora for an 82-yard scoring strike. However, St. Joe’s turned two turnovers into touchdows, both Wallace to Diamentis touchdown passes followed up by a pair of Jaden Shirden touchdown runs later in the second quarter to take a 42-7 lead into halftime. Notre Dame will play its first home game of the season hosting Platt of Meriden on Friday.
Soccer — The Notre Dame soccer team used a pair of first half goals to even its record in 2019 in their eventual 2-1 win over North Haven in the home opener at Veterans Field on Sept. 17.
The Green Knights struck first less than 15 minutes into the game when Kyle Cardenas scored off a corner kick. Notre Dame doubled its lead on a terrific rush. A long ball corralled nicely by Consorte led to the goal. Consorte took the ball just outside the box on the left and found Nicholas Vitti unmarked in front and Vitti deposited the pass into the back of the net. North Haven did pull within 2-1 on a perfectly placed shot by Kasey Mongillo with 26:40 left in the game.
But Notre Dame goalie Zach Benson and the rest of the Green Knight defense kept the Indians from scoring the equalizer. The Green Knights didn’t fare as well against Branford in their second game of the week. Branford scored five second half goals to break open a scoreless game in its 5-0 win on Sept. 20.
Hall of Fame — The countdown has begun to Notre Dame’s first Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 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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