The Woodland boys soccer team celebrates after winning their first Naugatuck Valley League championship Tuesday night at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury. The Hawks defeated Watertown 2-1 to claim the crown. KEN MORSE

Hawks coach Tony Moutinho put his best players, including leading goal-scorer Eric Dietz, on defense and hoped for the best.

“It was heartbreaking,” Tony Moutinho said. “I got everyone back. Dietz is one of our best defenders so I put him back there.”

“It was hectic as ever,” said Dietz, whose brother, Pat, defended the goal behind him. “We had to hold out for seven minutes. I went back on defense and I knew we were going to win.”

And it all worked. When the remaining seconds ticked off the clock, the Hawks were standing with their first-ever NVL championship after a 2-1 win over the defending champion before about 800 fans, by far the largest crowd to ever watch a Woodland soccer game.

“I don’t even have words to express it,” said Tony Moutinho, who has been with the program since the beginning. “It’s just unbelievable.”

Woodland’s Eric Dietz (19) controls the ball before going on the attack as Watertown’s Costa Gakidis defends Tuesday night at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury. The Hawks bested the Indians 2-1 to win their first NVL championship. RA ARCHIVE

“I told them not to panic,” Tony Moutinho said. “We had plenty of time. We were outplaying them I thought. We had a few chances and they didn’t go in. I told them to just play our game.”

“We had to come out more aggressive,” Matt Moutinho said. “We came out strong in the first 10 minutes and then we sort of backed off and they started dominating and scored a goal. We had to come out with that same intensity right away, and it worked.”

Woodland almost fell behind by another goal in the first minute of the second half. The Indians (12-4-3) managed to fire two shots at Pat Dietz from inside the box, but he sprawled out to his right twice to block them both.

“The team in front of me broke up for a little bit,” Pat Dietz said. “I was there to back them up. I didn’t know if I was going to save it, but whatever I was going to do was for the team.”

After Dietz’s two huge saves, Woodland took over the momentum for the rest of the match. The Hawks finally tied the game in the 51st minute when Mike Costa penetrated deep inside the box to the right of the goal before finally crossing to Eric Dietz, who chipped the ball into the right side of the net.

“He got it right through the defender’s legs,” Eric Dietz said of Costa’s pass. “I chipped it over the goalie and it went in.”

“I couldn’t believe Costa hit that,” Tony Moutinho said. “He has great touch but he usually plays in the back so he can’t show it. But he dribbled around and we got it in the goal.”

Woodland controlled most of the possessions for the next 20 minutes until finally the Hawks earned a corner kick to the left of the Indians’ net in the 73rd minute.

Vadala drove his corner to the near side of the six-yard box where Matt Moutinho punched in a header to the center of the net for a 2-1 lead.

“Against St. Paul [in the quarterfinal], we ran a similar thing,” Matt Moutinho said. “I sit in front of the goalie. We play it right to that front post and I headed it in. I figured we might as well try the same thing.”

And it worked. But those last seven-plus minutes weren’t easy for the Hawks. Watertown had several more chances that were all broken up by Pat Dietz, who combined with Marc Beaulieu to give Woodland a fantastic game in net.
With 6:15 to play, the Indians had a free kick from 25 yards away that was tipped by Pat Dietz away to the right side of the goal. Watertown’s attempt at a rebound shot went wide.

Four minutes later, the Indians managed a crossing pass into the box and Pat Dietz dove to his right to make another crucial save.

“It was so intense,” Pat Dietz said. “I was trying to keep focus but I was really nervous on the inside. But my brother came back on defense so I felt really good about it. He had my back and I had his back.”

Everyone had everyone’s back as the Hawks stormed the field to celebrate the team’s first-ever league soccer title and the school’s first NVL soccer championship since the girls captured the crown in 2004.

“It feels great,” Matt Moutinho said. “It’s something I always wanted since I started playing soccer. It feels great to actually have it now.”

But now, it’s back to business for Woodland, which will be the No. 1 team in the Class M playoffs and will host a second-round game on Saturday.

“I said at the beginning of the season, we will go for the Brass Division title, then we go up to the tournament, then the states,” Tony Moutinho said. “Now we will go for the trifecta.”

Naugatuck's Taylor Campos and Woodland's Savannah Aviz battle for possession during Saturday's NVL semifinal. The Greyhounds beat the Hawks on penalty kicks to advance to another league championship game. SPECIAL TO CITIZEN'S NEWS

WATERTOWN — 100 minutes of soccer weren’t enough to separate the Naugatuck and Woodland girls in Saturday’s Naugatuck Valley League tournament semifinals. Penalty kicks were.

The Greyhounds’ Kelly Koslosky and Isabelle Moody converted on their kicks to help No. 2 Naugy defeat No. 3 Woodland, 0-0 (2-1 on penalty kicks), to advance to Tuesday’s NVL championship against Watertown.

Kelly Boucher made the only goal for Woodland (12-3-3), which went 1-for-5 on penalty kicks. Naugatuck (13-4) was 2-of-4.

Naugy’s Kaitlin Carter made eight saves in regulation while Woodland’s Alma Rizvani stopped 19 shots.

The Greyhounds will face top-seeded Watertown (15-2-1), which beat No. 4 Torrington, 4-1, in the other semifinal. The Indians beat Naugatuck in both regular-season meetings. The championship is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Municipal Stadium.

Woodland will face Watertown for the NVL title on Tuesday night after the Hawks' 1-0 win over Naugatuck in Saturday's semifinals. Woodland tied and beat the Indians in two regular-season meetings. RA ARCHIVE

WATERBURY — Eric Dietz scored two minutes into the match and the Woodland Hawks moved one step closer to earning a Naugatuck Valley League title with a 1-0 victory over Naugatuck on Saturday afternoon at Municipal Stadium.

Dietz collected a rebound and chipped a shot over the keeper for the match’s only goal.

“I just followed [Mike] Segala to the box, the ball came to me, the keeper came out and I chipped it in over his head,” Dietz said.

After the goal, Naugy kept constant pressure on Woodland and outshot the Hawks 10-3—it seemed like more.

“We got away with one today,” Woodland head coach Tony Moutinho said. “Give Naugy credit. They outplayed us the rest of the game.”

Naugy’s closest scoring chance came when Ygor Silva lofted a shot from 20 yards out that sailed off the crossbar with under a minute to go in the first half. Woodland’s defense held on.

Woodland defeated Naugy 6-2 earlier in the season. Saturday was much closer.

“We were looking forward to this game,” Naugy head coach Art Nunes said. “We weren’t the same team from the last game [against Woodland]. Give all the credit to Woodland. They have a great season going.”

The Hawks will face Watertown on Tuesday night at 5 p.m. for the NVL title at Municipal Stadium.

Swimming and Diving
The NVL diving finals, originally set for Thursday, have been moved to Saturday at 10 a.m. at Kennedy High. The NVL swimming time trials have been cancelled once and for all, so the NVL swimming finals will be timed finals on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Kennedy.

NVL Diving Finals: Saturday, Nov. 5, 10 a.m., Kennedy High
NVL Swimming Finals (Timed): Saturday, Nov. 5, 4 p.m., Kennedy High

The state meets are still on as scheduled, with Woodland competing in Class S and Naugatuck in Class L. The Class S diving finals will be Nov. 10 at Plainville High while the Class L diving finals are currently TBA. The State Open for diving will be Nov. 18 at Hamden High. The Class S swimming trials will be Nov. 12 at Plainville High while the Class L swimming trials will be Nov. 12 at Masuk High. The Class S swimming finals will be Nov. 15 while the Class L swimming finals will be Nov. 16, both at Wesleyan University.

Volleyball
The NVL volleyball quarterfinals are now on Friday while the semifinals and final will both be on Saturday. On Friday, No. 1 Woodland faces No. 8 Torrington at 6 p.m. at Kennedy while No. 7 Naugatuck meets No. 2 Seymour at 6 p.m. at Seymour. The semifinals will be Saturday at Wilby High. The winner of the Woodland-Torrington match will face either Kennedy or Wolcott at noon, while the winner of the Naugatuck-Seymour match will take on either Holy Cross or Ansonia at 10 a.m. The final is now rescheduled for Monday at Wilby at 6 p.m.

Quarterfinal 1: No. 4 Kennedy vs. No. 5 Wolcott: Friday, Nov. 4, 4 p.m., Kennedy High
Quarterfinal 2: No. 1 Woodland vs. No. 8 Torrington: Friday, Nov. 4, 6 p.m., Kennedy High
Quarterfinal 3: No. 3 Holy Cross vs. No. 6 Ansonia: Friday, Nov. 4, 4 p.m., Seymour High
Quarterfinal 4: No. 2 Seymour vs. No. 7 Naugatuck: Friday, Nov. 4,  6 p.m., Seymour High
Semifinal 1: Seymour/Naugatuck vs. Holy Cross/Ansonia: Saturday, Nov. 5, 1 p.m., Wilby High
Semifinal 2: Woodland/Torrington vs. Kennedy/Wolcott: Saturday, Nov. 5, 3 p.m., Wilby High
Consolation: Loser Semifinal 1 vs. Loser Semifinal 2: Monday, Nov. 7, 4 p.m., Wilby High
Final: Winner Semifinal 1 vs. Winner Semifinal 2: Monday, Nov. 7, 6 p.m., Wilby High

The state tournaments have been delayed until next Thursday. Naugatuck will be approximately the No. 19 seed in Class L and will be on the road for its first-round game on Nov. 10 while Woodland will be the No. 1 seed in Class M and will likely earn a first-round bye, with its first match coming at home in the second round on Nov. 12.

Boys Soccer
The NVL boys soccer quarterfinals will now be on Friday with games at Municipal Stadium and Watertown High. No. 1 Woodland will face No. 8 St. Paul at 7 p.m. at Watertown while No. 4 Naugatuck will take on No. 5 Ansonia at 3 p.m. at Municipal Stadium. The semifinals will be played Saturday at Municipal Stadium. The winner of the Woodland-St. Paul game will take on the winner of the Naugatuck-Ansonia game at noon, which follows the earlier semifinal to be played at 10 a.m. The final has been rescheduled for Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Municipal Stadium.

Quarterfinal 1: No. 3 Watertown vs. No. 6 Wilby: Friday, Nov. 4, 1 p.m., Watertown High
Quarterfinal 2: No. 4 Naugatuck vs. No. 5 Ansonia: Friday, Nov. 4, 3 p.m., Municipal Stadium
Quarterfinal 3: No. 2 Holy Cross vs. No. 7 Crosby: Friday, Nov. 4, 5 p.m., Municipal Stadium
Quarterfinal 4: No. 1 Woodland vs. No. 8 St. Paul: Friday, Nov. 4, 7 p.m., Watertown High
Semifinal 1: Holy Cross/Crosby vs. Watertown/Wilby: Saturday, Nov. 5, 10 a.m., Municipal Stadium
Semifinal 2: Woodland/St. Paul vs. Naugatuck/Ansonia: Saturday, Nov. 5, 12 p.m., Municipal Stadium
Final: Winner Semifinal 1 vs. Winner Semifinal 2: Tuesday, Nov. 8, 5 p.m., Municipal Stadium

The state tournaments have been rescheduled to start Nov. 11. Naugatuck will be approximately the No. 13 seed in Class L and should host a first-round game on Nov. 11. Woodland will be the No. 1 seed in Class M and will likely earn a first-round bye, with its first game coming at home in the second round on Nov. 14.

Girls Soccer
The NVL girls soccer quarterfinals will also be on Friday with games at Municipal Stadium and Watertown High. No. 2 Naugatuck will face No. 7 Ansonia at 1 p.m. at Municipal Stadium while No. 3 Woodland will take on No. 6 Wolcott at 3 p.m. at Watertown. The semifinals will be played Saturday at Watertown. The winner of the Naugatuck-Ansonia game will face the winner of the Woodland-Wolcott game at 2 p.m. before the other semifinal at 4 p.m. The final has been rescheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Municipal Stadium.

Quarterfinal 1: No. 2 Naugatuck vs. No. 7 Ansonia: Friday, Nov. 4, 1 p.m., Municipal Stadium
Quarterfinal 2: No. 3 Woodland vs. No. 6 Wolcott: Friday, Nov. 4, 3 p.m., Watertown High
Quarterfinal 3: No. 1 Watertown vs. No. 8 Seymour: Friday, Nov. 4, 5 p.m., Watertown High
Quarterfinal 4: No. 4 Torrington vs. No. 5 Holy Cross: Friday, Nov. 4, 7 p.m., Municipal Stadium
Semifinal 1: Naugatuck/Ansonia vs. Woodland/Wolcott: Saturday, Nov. 5, 2 p.m., Watertown High
Semifinal 2: Watertown/Seymour vs. Torrington/Holy Cross: Saturday, Nov. 5, 4 p.m., Watertown High
Final: Winner Semifinal 1 vs. Winner Semifinal 2: Tuesday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m., Municipal Stadium

The state tournaments have been delayed until Nov. 10. Naugatuck will be approximately the No. 10 seed in Class LL and will host a first-round game on Nov. 10. Woodland will be approximately the No. 10 seed in Class M and will also host a first-round game on Nov. 10.

Cross Country
The State Open is still scheduled for Nov. 8 at Hammonasset State Park in Madison. The Naugatuck boys qualified for this event as a team and will compete after the three remaining class races have finished. Those times will be compared to the State Open race times to determine the State Open results. The New England championships will be on Nov. 12 in Rhode Island.

Football
Due to both the power outages and to accommodate the NVL soccer tournaments, both the Woodland-Holy Cross and Naugatuck-Watertown football games have been rescheduled. Woodland will now meet Holy Cross on Monday at 7 p.m. at Municipal Stadium while Naugatuck will travel to Watertown on Monday at 6 p.m.

Citizen’s News will post more updates to these schedules as they are made. State tournament pairings will be released Wednesday, Nov. 9, and will be posted here immediately following their release.

Katherine Bottinick (18) is congratulated by teammate Kelly Koslosky (17) after scoring the Greyhounds’ first goal in a 3-0 win over Holy Cross on Monday. RA ARCHIVE

Both are Naugatuck Valley League Copper Division champions.

The boys clinched rather unceremoniously last week with wins over Sacred Heart, Torrington, and Derby while the girls won a definitive clincher on Monday with a 3-0 win over Holy Cross.

Division championships—in what were supposed to be somewhat subpar seasons after heavy graduation losses—aren’t bad at all.

The Naugy girls blanked the Crusaders to win another Copper title. It was the Greyhounds’ ninth shutout of the season, and they’ve only allowed goals to Watertown and Woodland, the top two seeds in the league tournament.

Katie Bottinick and Taylor Campos scored off corners before Alexya Alves netted a goal on a Carla Gomes pass to account for the Naugatuck scoring.

The ‘Hounds don’t mind being a bit overlooked behind the Indians and Hawks entering the NVL tournament, where Naugy will be the No. 3 seed.

“We are under the radar, which is a pretty good thing,” Isabella Verrilli told the Republican-American. “They are not expecting us to come out strong, but they have another thing coming.”

“I like to be underestimated,” Bottinick also told the Rep-Am. “We know we’re in the mix. We’re looking to be in the final.”

After the Greyhounds’ 1-0 victory over Sacred Heart on Tuesday, they sit at 11-4 with their final regular-season game on Thursday night at Watertown.

The boys started 1-2—unheard of in the borough—but have rebounded strongly to sit at 10-4-1. Their final regular-season match was scheduled for Wednesday against Torrington.

The ‘Hounds cruised to wins over Sacred Heart (4-1), Torrington (4-2), and Derby (7-0) last week to clinch the Copper title.

Seven different players scored for Naugy in the win against Derby while Adam Branco scored two goals against both Torrington and Sacred Heart.

The Greyhounds will also be a top-four seed in the NVL tournament, which starts Saturday.

NAUGATUCK — The Naugatuck High School football and soccer teams are usually among the best teams in the Naugatuck Valley League. The fields they play on, though, are a completely different story.

The Greyhounds’ soccer pitch and football field are marred with ruts, dirt spots, and major drainage issues. Boys soccer coach Art Nunes, who is in his 17^th year with the team, has been critical of the field for which his players have to settle.

“It gets deplorable real quick,” Nunes said. “It looks good. But a lot of it is a lot of weeds, and as soon as we catch a cold spell those weeds shrivel up, and the next thing you know, we’re running around on mud.”

Standing water and saturation are the most threatening problems to the fields at the school, which was built in 1959 and has undergone just one major renovation since, in 1974.

In fact, both the football and soccer teams have been forced to move home games to venues outside the borough due to poor field conditions. A home football game against Derby that was scheduled for Sept. 23 had to be moved to Waterbury’s Municipal Stadium due to heavy rain.

“A lot of teams played that night,” said Pompei, who estimated the move cost about $2,000 in fees and concessions. “We moved it to the next day because if we played that evening, our field would have been done for the year. We would have caused such damage. It just can’t take that.”

The proposed renovation to Naugatuck High School would look like this, from an aerial view. The upper field would feature an artificial turf and track, and would host the football and soccer teams, while the lower field would house natural-grass fields for baseball and softball. COURTESY KAESTLE BOOS ASSOCIATES, INC.

But the surface to which that game was moved—artificial turf—is part of an $80 million renovation package that will go to referendum on Nov. 8. The package will cover a near-complete overhaul of the entire school, including the athletic complex, and will be eligible for nearly 75 percent reimbursement from the state. That means Naugatuck would be responsible for about $20 million.

The main field would be covered by artificial turf and be home to a football and soccer field, as well as an eight-lane track, while the lower field would be turned into a natural-grass baseball and softball complex. The plan has Nunes excited.

“The turf would make an unbelievable difference, only for the fact that you can practice on it, play on it, no matter what the conditions,” Nunes said.

Pompei thinks the renovation would give Naugatuck a crown jewel.

“This would be the type of thing that we could put up here and our kids could be proud of, and our kids can love,” Pompei said. “It can be something that draws a 30-year-old starting-out family [to say], ‘Hey, let’s come to Naugatuck and let our kids go to these beautiful, new schools and play ball here on beautiful, safe fields.’”

Shawn Kuczenski of the Parks Department uses a field grooming machine to level ruts in Veterans Field at Naugatuck High School after another parks employee mowed the lawn in the mud. Parents and school coaches are upset over the conditions of both the football and soccer fields. - RA ARCHIVE

Parents and residents who turned out to see the boys’ soccer team play Wednesday night against Seymour were angered to see both fields carved with grooves from the wheels of a riding mower used by a borough employee when the fields were still soft with mud from rainstorms earlier in the week.

“I was infuriated,” said Art Nunes, head of the boys’ soccer program at Naugatuck High School. “Once they realized the mower was sinking into the mud, they should have stopped.”

The Greyhounds handily defeated Seymour 7-2, but play for both teams was sloppy and especially difficult on the side of the field closest to the school, Nunes said.

“Having played on the longer grass would not have hurt the game, or the field, as much,” Nunes said.

A borough parks employee continued mowing the Naugatuck High School football and soccer fields although the wheels of his heavy mower were sinking into mud Wednesday, cutting grooves in the field. The football field was leveled Thursday and the soccer field should be fixed today, Public Works Superintendent Robert Roland said. - RA ARCHIVE

“I was pretty disappointed,” Roland said. “In hindsight, we shouldn’t have cut it, with all the rain and history of drainage on those fields.”

Roland said he had ordered Hennessey to mow the fields so they could be striped and painted for upcoming games, but in the future, mowers should consult him and the high school’s athletic director if the field is muddy. “I’ll take full responsibility for it,” Roland said. “His intentions were good.”

Both fields have a long history of poor drainage, but this is the first time in recent memory they have been damaged while mowing, officials said.

Another parks employee, Shawn Kuczenski, used a field grooming machine to level out the football field Thursday, and Roland said the same would be done Friday for the soccer field. Roland said Kuczenski’s work on the football field set him behind schedule, and he might have to work overtime to paint it, but the home football game Friday against Sacred Heart will proceed as scheduled.

Nunes said the school was making arrangements for the girls’ soccer team to practice at another facility Thursday night, while the boys would do fitness exercises on the track.

A proposal to renovate the high school would place football and soccer on one field of synthetic turf, eliminating concerns over flooding, mowing and striping, Roland said.

“I’m not using this to say, ‘See, we need turf,’” Roland said. “But the parks department and teams would benefit.”

Naugatuck High School girls soccer coach Sean Dunn has the Greyhounds firing on all cylinders in his first year at the helm. KEN MORSE

This is hardly the first go-around as a coach for Dunn, who played four years of soccer and basketball at Pomperaug High along with two years of track. Dunn coached girls basketball and softball at City Hill Middle School and is also the Greyhounds’ freshman girls basketball coach.

Dunn felt plenty prepared for this job after last year’s experience with the squad.

“Actually having coached the junior varsity team last year was a great help in stepping into this new position,” Dunn said. “I knew what we had coming back and the girls knew me so there really wasn’t that usual transition that takes place when a new head coach takes over a program. It also helps to be a teacher in the school and getting to know the girls on that level.”

Dunn certainly knew what he was getting into taking over a program rich in history and having played in the last three NVL championships, winning the title in 2009. Assistant coaches Christine Nunes and Dave Ciskowski have also helped to keep the team on the right track along with volunteer assistant coach Estafania Escobar.

“Just the knowledge of the game that Christine brings from her experience as a college player is phenomenal,” Dunn said about his JV coach. “Dave was a former goalkeeper in his playing days. Having that aspect of the game covered by our freshman coach helps us to be a much better all-around team.”

The coaches’ experience has propelled Naugatuck to a fast, 6-1 start on the season. The Greyhounds have outscored the opposition by a staggering, 24-3 margin while recording six shutouts in seven games.

Perhaps the most impressive part about Naugy’s potent offense is that the coaches didn’t know who would be the team’s go-to scorer.

“I think the biggest challenge we faced as a team coming into the season was trying to find out who was going to be the leading scoring threat,” Dunn said. “The older girls on the team are the core of our defense. But we did lose a lot of our scoring from last year and we needed to replace that with young and inexperienced players.”

Alexya Alves has been the top scorer with 11 goals. Senior Katie Bottinick (four goals), Angelina Piccirillo (two goals, four assists), and Katherine Gullotta (two goals, two assists) have proven to be viable options as well.
With goalkeepers Kaitlin Carter and Cailah Baranowski minding the net and defenders Isabelle Verrilli, Kaitlyn Deptula and Taylor Campos forming the wall out in front, opponents will have a hard time keeping up with the ‘Hounds.

Dunn has already recognized early in his first season that Naugy usually gets the best out of opponents.

“There’s a little bit of pressure on us because every night we are coming out here with a target on our back,” Dunn said. “But with our history that’s to be expected and the girls have a great attitude about that. We are one big family and there are times when we have our issues like any family but they are all very supportive of one another.”

Dunn also said due to the team’s early-season success, the team’s goals have been elevated.

“Our expectations have changed,” Dunn said. “At the start of the year, making the NVL tournament and the states was the goal. As we progressed and saw what we had, there is a real desire to play for another NVL title.”

But on-field success will take a back seat to Dunn’s other hope.

“Outside of playing for an NVL championship and a state title, I would like to be a mentor to these girls,” Dunn said. “I would view that, above all else, as a successful season.”

Coach’s Corner is a semi-regular feature that will turn the spotlight on a local coach.