H.S. roundup: Falcons outduel Bethel in Class M girls' lacrosse opener
Groton — Maggie O'Leary scored six goals and had two assists and Zoe Pearse scored five times as No. 15 Fitch High school beat No. 18 Bethel 18-15 in a CIAC Class M girls' lacrosse qualifying-round game on Saturday.
The Falcons (10-7) play at No. 2 and defending M champion Branford in a first-round game at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Jessica Russo had three goals, Valentina Silva had three assists, Molly Bresnahan made six saves and Nora Ryan and Danielle McIlquham had two goals each for Fitch.
In other games:
• Danielle Kreisler scored 11 goals as No. 20 Shelton beat No. 13 Norwich Free Academy 23-12 in an Class L qualifying-round game. Katie Kelly scored eight goals for NFA and finished her career with 266 points, second most in program history. Kayley Ericson had a goal and an assist for NFA.
Boys' lacrosse
• James McCoy scored four goals and Robbie Swenson and Liam Kennedy had three each as No. 13 East Lyme beat No. 20 Foran 16-6 in a Class M qualifying-round game. The Vikings (11-7) play at No. 4 Berlin in a first-round game at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Ben Jakubczak scored twice, Connor Schofner had a goal and two assists and Swenson had two assists for East Lyme. Mac Fusaro, Eric Brodeur and Quinton Sefton combined to make 16 saves for East Lyme.
• Montville lost to No. 17 Tolland in a Class S qualifier. Sean Ventresca had two goals and an assist, Joey Andrews scored twice, Derek Debbis had a goal and two assists and Stevie Turchetta made eight saves for No. 16 Montville (7-10).
Girls' tennis
• Stonington swept past No. 18 Coginchaug 7-0 in the first round of the Class S tournament. Gabby Dellacono, Charlotte Johnstone, Makenzie Sadler and Hannah Middleton each won their matches in straight sets for No. 2 Stonington (16-1), which hosts No. 10 Old Lyme in a quarterfinal at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
The doubles teams of Margot Goodman-Ainsley Johnstone, Phoebe Townsend-Brie Fratoni-Jaskiewicz and Holly Foster-Cassie Onorato also won for the Bears.
Boys' tennis
• One day after winning the Eastern Connecticut Conference singles title, East Lyme's Finn Power won a pair of matches in the Class M state tournament at Amity. Power, the 14th seed, defeated Daniel Berisha of Wolcott 6-0, 6-0 and Lucas Van Dementer of Ellington 6-2, 6-4. Power will meet No. 3 Matthew Sydney of Weston in the third round Tuesday at Yale.
Ledyard's Nate McCracken, the No. 13 seed, also won a pair of matches, beating Alexander Gervin of Ellington 6-0, 6-3 and David Fleck of Woodstock Academy 6-2, 6-2. McCracken will play No. 4 Arjun Chandra-Mohanty of Avon in the third round.
Ledyard's Brandon Donovan, New London's Zachary Skrabacz and East Lyme's Davon Chen won one match each.
In the Class S state tournament at Conard, Stonington's William Michelson, the ECC runner-up Friday to Power, and teammate Sean Bessette, the 15th seed, reached the third round in singles. Michelson, the 13th seed, advanced with victories over Collin Buchan of East Hampton 6-1, 6-2 and Jeffrey Gamer of Cromwell 6-1, 6-0. He'll face No. 4 Jeffrey Riggio of Valley Regional in the third round. Bessette defeated Nate Sousa of Cromwell 6-2, 6-2 and Maxwell Lovig of Nonnewaug 6-3, 6-2 and will next face Charles Shanks of Litchfield.
In the Class S doubles, three Old Lyme teams reached the third round. Top-seeded Morgan Greenho and George Danes received a bye in the first round before topping Alex Machowski and Caleb Preato of Northwestern 6-0, 6-1. Quinn Hartmann and Judson O'Brien, the No. 6 seed, followed a first-round bye with a win over Jeremy Minalga and Owen Plourde of Granby 6-1, 6-3. Also, Brady Sheffield and Conner Wyman defeated Gabriel Sousa and Jeffrey Varesio of Woodland and Seh Seh and Bin Norrdin of Classical Magnet each by 6-0, 6-0 margins.
Stonington's team of Filip Aubrecht and Kyle Remmert, ranked 10th, earned a first-round bye before defeating Aakash Dave and Jeffrey Marquard of Cromwell 6-0, 6-1. Stonington's Benjamin Anderson and Sam Snediker won their first-round match.
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