A Guest Post by MetalNED
David Lopez took his Lyman Memorial girls’ basketball team to Mohegan Sun last season to watch the CIAC Class L final between E.O. Smith and Pomperaug. The trip was a last hurrah of sorts for Lyman, a final opportunity for them to be all together.
Lopez had another reason for taking his team to a state final. “It put a little salt in the wound,” Lopez said, referencing the fact that the Bulldogs fell short of their expectations. “We could’ve been here had we done things a little better, worked a little harder.” Lyman has gotten off to a good start this season as it was 4-1 headed into Wednesday night’s game at St. Bernard, one of its top rivals in Division IV of the Eastern Connecticut Conference.
The Bulldogs are coming off their best season in several years. They finished 16-8 overall last season and finished 8-0 in Division IV to win the program’s first title since 2016. The postseason didn’t go the way Lyman hoped, though. It was the top seed in the ECC Division II tournament but lost in the semifinals to No. 5 and eventual champion Stonington, 48-38. The Bulldogs were ranked sixth in the Class S tournament but were knocked out in the second round at home by No. 22 North Branford, 58-53.
Lopez set out to challenge his team more this season by toughening up their schedule. They’ll play Bolton, which was the top seed in last year’s Class S tournament (Feb. 12), Stonington (Jan. 16), Killingly, an ECC Division II team (Jan. 13) and Norwich Free Academy (Feb. 5), which has the sixth largest girls’ enrollment in the state amongst CIAC schools (1,113). It's quite noteworthy that Lyman opted to play NFA because state high school athletics are in an era in which smaller and/or less successful teams politic (and complain) to get out of playing the larger and/or more successful teams across multiple sports.
“It was actually (NFA head coach) Courtney (Gomez) that reached out and wanted to play us,” Lopez said. “Our JV played their freshman the last two seasons and we’ve done very well against their freshman teams. … I want to play every single Division III team at least one time every season, and then I want to have two more games, possibly three, between Division I and Division II.”
“I think at the end of the day if you want to be the best you’ve got to beat the best. When you play, I don’t want to say lesser opponents, but when you tend to play somebody that you can beat, then it starts to create bad habits. Then you can kind of get away with not boxing out, not closing out, not playing at 100 percent. You tend to that too much, and then when you play a team that’s firing on all cylinders, and they’re doing everything right, then it’s possibly a team that you could’ve beaten, and you end up losing to them. Chances are it will happen around tournament time. That’s kind of my thought process where I want to keep the girls firing on all cylinders.” Lyman graduated two key seniors from last year’s team — Kassidy LaTour and Taylor Pankowski — but have more than enough talent and experience to make a run in both the ECC Division II and Class S tournaments. Junior forward Phoebe Carpenter (15 ppg, 9 rpg, 5 spg) and junior guard Jenny Lopez (11.4 ppg, 5 rpg, 4.4 apg, 8 spg) were both all ECC Division IV first team picks last season.
Senior guards Kelsey Dunnack (7.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4.4 spg) and Aniela Piaseczny are both back for the Bulldogs. They’ve also gotten a boost from sophomore guard Emelia Heinzman (7 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and freshman guard Makayla Pisaeczny (6.6 ppg, 5 rpg). “I relied a lot on the (juniors) when they were freshman,” David Lopez said. “We ended up 10-10 in the regular season (in 2021-22), but they’ve grown, they’ve matured, and they’ve turned into leaders on the team. And as they progressed last season, it was much better than our previous season. That original freshman class are now juniors, so they’ve taken a big leadership role.”
CHSCA Ice Hockey Players of the Week
This week, we have two more extremely talented student athletes who have taken home the CHSCA Ice Hockey Players of the Week awards.
The Girl’s Ice Hockey Player of the Week is forward Kate Lane from Wilton Co-op. She records a hat trick in a Warriors 8-76 come from behind win vs Hamden. In addition to that hat trick vs Hamden, Lane notched another hat trick in a 5-2 win against Woodstock Academy.
This weeks Boys’ Ice Hockey Player of the Week is North Haven forward Bryce Mastriano. Mastriano tallied 8 points (7 goals and 1 assist) over a three game stretch where North Haven went 3-0. Contributing to those 8 points was Mastriano notching two hat tricks in that three game span.
Current NFP Fundraisers
Conard Wrestling Online Donations Fundraising Campaign
This wrestling season, the Conard High School wrestling team is fundraising through an online donations campaign. To donate to the Red Wolves and ensure that they have a great season, all you have to do is click on THIS LINK. From there, you’ll be able to choose which student athlete you’d like to support with your donation and then you can pick the amount. This is an awesome way to support the Conard wrestling team as they also gear up for an exciting season.
East Lyme Boys’ Soccer Online Donation Fundraising Campaign
Last years Class L Boys' Soccer State Champions was the East Lyme Vikings. Hailing from the ECC, they earned the three seed in the Class L tournament and beat Windsor, Simsbury, Bethel, Cheshire and finally Notre Dame-West Haven at Trinity Health Stadium in the finals. Through the tournament, they outscored opponents 12-5.
With their season concluding and the celebration from winning a state championship over, the Vikings are looking towards next season with an intention to repeat on this past seasons success. In order for them to be a successful team, they need to fundraise. Right now, you can donate to the Class L State Champion East Lyme Vikings by clicking on THIS LINK. From there, you’ll be able to choose which student athlete you’d like to support with your donation and then you can pick the amount. This is an awesome way to support the Vikings in their quest to repeat in 2024.
Ledyard Girls’ Basketball Cookie Fundraiser
This basketball season, the Ledyard Girls’ basketball team is selling cookies as a fundraiser. Whether you like chocolate chunk or oatmeal raisin, the Colonels team has an option for you. From eight different variations at $20 a box, you can help the Ledyard Girls’ basketball team have a great season. All you have to do is click on THIS LINK and you’ll be able to purchase all the cookies you want.
To find out how you can set up a High Impact Fundraiser for your team or organization, contact Mike Massarelli at mmassarelli@nfpbrands.com / (860) 978-0870 (Mobile).
Upcoming NFP Events
Mohegan Sun World Baseball Coaches' Convention (January 11th-13th) & World Softball Coaches' Convention (January 12th & 13th)
The NFP Sports Team will be representing at our booth in the Exhibitor Zone at the Mohegan Sun World Baseball Coaches' Convention World Softball Coaches' Convention. We will have some great giveaways and raffle prizes for anyone who signs in. We hope to see our baseball and softball coaches there!
CHSCA Football All-State Banquet (January 17th at the Aqua Turf)
The NFP Sports will be on hand to assist with Event Champ check-ins and taking photos of All-State Athletes and Honorees. Tickets are available for $55.00 until January 11th at Midnight & $70.00 after that but only until January 15th at 12PM Noon: https://bit.ly/CHSCA-FB-All-State-Banquet.
This banquet is always a great time to celebrate the great student athletes that performed at such a high level on the gridiron this past season. Don’t miss out.
CHSCA/CGSCA Girls' Soccer All-State Banquet (January 21st at 12:30pm at the Aqua Turf)
The NFP Sports will be on hand to assist with Event Champ check-ins and taking photos of All-State Athletes and Honorees. Tickets should be available in next weeks edition of the High Impact Times.
This banquet is always a great time to celebrate the great student athletes that performed at such a high level on the field this past season. Don’t miss out.
CHSCA/CSCA Boys' Soccer All-State Banquet (January 21st at 5:30pm the Aqua Turf)
The NFP Sports will be on hand to assist with Event Champ check-ins and taking photos of All-State Athletes and Honorees. Tickets should be available in next weeks edition of the High Impact Times.
This banquet is always a great time to celebrate the great student athletes that performed at such a high level on the field this past season. Don’t miss out.
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