The Plainville Citizen Thursday, November 19, 2009
CitizenSports
19
Gutsy gridders close in on finish line By Mark Pukalo Special to The Citizen
Photo by Matt Leidemer
The Plainville High School girls soccer class of 2010 is pictured with coach Leszek Wrona prior to their Senior Night game at Alumni Field.
Senior soccer players left their mark on program By Nick Carroll The Plainville Citizen Plainville High School girls soccer coach Leszek Wrona won’t long remember the sad faces of his seniors as the seconds ticked away on their final scholastic game last week. Instead, the veteran head man will chose to recall the hardworking soccer class of 2010 as it normally was — upbeat and positive. “That’s what I like to remember — happy girls,” he said. “They were always happy.” Wrona indicated that this year’s senior class, comprised of Chelseah Carroll, Tiana Saraceno, Lauren Mikulak, Melissa Horan, Melissa Avery, Alyssa Martino, Brittany Gallant and Heather Zup, left its mark on the program. “They’re a great group of girls,” Wrona said. “They always put the team before their own personal goals.” And the younger players took note of the seniors’ selflessness and ‘team first’ mindset. “The example was coming from them,” Wrona said. “They will be very difficult to replace.” Spurred on by its senior contingent, this fall Plainville made its sixth straight appearance in the postseason. The Lady Blue Devils’ 2009 campaign came to an end
Nov. 11 with a 3-0 loss to Lauralton Hall in the second round of the CIAC Class M state tournament. Wrona made no excuses for the lopsided defeat. “We tried extremely hard, but lost the game to a better team,” he said. Lauralton Hall’s defense managed to do something few teams could — contain Martino. The speedy forward, who will continue her career at Providence College, is the first PHS female soccer player to score more than 50 goals. Martino manufactured 33 goals this season alone. Lauralton Hall went on to lose to St. Joseph 2-0 in the quarterfinals. After dropping its first three games of the year, Plainville righted the ship and ran up a solid record of 11-6-1. “Definitely, I’m very happy with the performance this year. We started out slowly, but after that, adjusted and finished very strong,” said Wrona, who wished to thank the PHS athletics department and fan-base for their support. Clearly, the Lady Blue Devils lose a great deal of talent to graduation, but they won’t be starting from scratch next year. The locals return a solid core of varsitytested talent to the field in 2010, including Lexxi Carroll, Jill Newton, Lauren Mankowski and Kayla Fortin.
The script was no different for the Plainville football team on Senior Night Friday at Alumni Field. The Blue Devils produced another gutsy effort, but a deeper, bigger, faster team could not be denied. Middletown jumped on Plainville early and eased away for a 38-6 victory in the rain. Plainville (0-9) has had trouble with numbers all season and suited up just 19 against Middletown. The Devils were also missing some key players with injuries. “That gives [opponents] a big advantage,” Plainville coach Rocky Gagliardi said. “There’s only so much you can do. But the kids fight. We made a couple really good drives. We never give up. That’s been our motto all year.” Gagliardi said the Devils can’t worry about the lack of numbers. They just need to strap it up and go, and they were excited to play against Middletown — also coming into the game winless.
Plainville’s problems in the kicking game hurt them all night. A snap got away from the punter and Middletown ran the fumble into the end zone for an early lead. The Dragons never looked back. “We had too many turnovers,” Gagliardi said. Middletown, led by quarterback James Woods, used a balanced attack to pull away for a 26-0 lead before Plainville could get on the scoreboard. Rob Voisine connected with Nick Moshier for a 9-yard touchdown on the final play of the first half. Plainville used that momentum to play a solid second half, but the Devils could not produce any more points. “We made some adjustments at halftime on defense,” Gagliardi said. “We did a good job holding them down pretty well in the second half.” Gagliardi praised his seniors for their leadership. During this difficult season, he said the team has never stopped working hard by their example. “The seniors have given it all they’ve got,” Gagliardi said.
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Photo by Matt Leidemer
Senior Quintin Wells, No. 7, and the Plainville High School football team wrap up their 2009 campaign Thanksgiving morning.