Somers, Ellington Boys Soccer Teams Continue to Roll in State Tournament Play

ELLINGTON-SOMERS, CT — Seeking its third consecutive state championship, the Somers High School boys soccer team found itself about as evenly matched as possible in its second-round matchup Thursday with NCCC rival Windsor Locks.

The two teams battled through 80 minutes of regulation play and a pair of 10-minute overtime periods without a single goal, leaving the outcome to be settled via penalty kicks.

After the five shooters for each team had taken their turns, they were knotted at 2-2, necessitating extra kicks.

Somers goalkeeper Broderick Rheault stopped the first Raider attempt of the extra session, leaving it to teammate Alex Murdza to bury the decisive shot into the net and propel the Spartans into the quarterfinals.

Somers, seeded eighth, advances to the quarterfinals, and will travel to top-seeded Old Saybrook Saturday at 2 p.m.

In Class M, Ellington also advanced to the quarterfinals, shutting out second-seeded Windham Tech by a 3-0 count. The Knights, seeded 18th, host No. 26 Plainville, also Saturday at 2 p.m.

Here are results of all boys soccer, girls volleyball and field hockey tournament games played Thursday involving teams from Hartford and Tolland counties. Click on a class header to see the complete bracket.

BOYS SOCCER (second round)

Class LL
No. 25 Simsbury 1, No. 9 Glastonbury 0 (next: Simsbury at No. 16 Fairfield Prep, Saturday 2 p.m.)
No. 4 Farmington 4, No. 13 Darien 0 (next: No. 21 Staples at Farmington, Saturday 2 p.m.)
No. 11 Danbury 2, No. 6 Hall 1

Class L
No. 1 E.O. Smith 4, No. 16 Notre Dame-West Haven 1 (next: No. 24 Masuk at E.O. Smith, Saturday 2 p.m.)
No. 10 Wethersfield 4, No. 7 Torrington 1 (next: Wethersfield at No. 2 Daniel Hand, Saturday 4 p.m.)
No. 11 RHAM 3, No. 6 Watertown 1 (next: No. 14 Guilford at RHAM, Saturday 2 p.m.)
No. 14 Guilford 1, No. 3 Berlin 0

Class M
No. 16 Tolland 3, No. 1 Nonnewaug 2 (next: No. 25 Ledyard at Tolland, Saturday 2 p.m.)
No. 4 Lewis Mills 6, No. 13 Wilcox Tech 1 (next: No. 5 Brookfield at Lewis Mills, Saturday 2 p.m.)
No. 18 Ellington 3, No. 2 Windham Tech 0 (next: No. 26 Plainville at Ellington, Saturday 2 p.m.)
No. 26 Plainville 3, No. 10 Woodland 0 (next: Plainville at No. 18 Ellington, Saturday 2 p.m.)
No. 3 Granby Memorial 3, No. 19 Stonington 1 (next: No. 27 Sheehan at Granby Memorial, Saturday 2 p.m.)
No. 27 Sheehan 3, No. 11 Suffield 2

Class S
No. 8 Somers 1, No. 9 Windsor Locks 0 (next: Somers at No. 1 Old Saybrook, Saturday 2 p.m.)
No. 3 Coventry 6, No. 14 East Windsor 0 (next: No. 11 Cromwell at Coventry, Saturday 4 p.m.)
No. 13 Wamogo 3, No. 29 St. Paul 1
No. 10 Valley Regional 7, No. 7 HMTCA 1

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL (second round)

Class LL
No. 9 Glastonbury 3, No. 8 Newtown 0 (next: Glastonbury at No. 1 Greenwich, Saturday 6 p.m.)
No. 7 Southington 3, No. 10 Shelton 1 (next: Southington at No. 2 Amity Regional, Saturday 6 p.m.)
No. 5 Brien McMahon 3, No. 12 E.O. Smith 0

Class L
No. 8 Bristol Eastern 3, No. 9 Naugatuck 0 (next: Bristol Eastern at No. 1 Farmington, Saturday 1 p.m.)
No. 2 RHAM 3, No. 18 Woodstock Academy 0 (next: No. 10 Bunnell at RHAM, Saturday 6 p.m.)
No. 6 Avon 3, No. 11 Jonathan Law 0 (next: Avon at No. 3 Joel Barlow, Saturday 6 p.m.)

FIELD HOCKEY (quarterfinals)

Class S
No. 4 Granby Memorial 5, No. 5 North Branford 1 (next: Granby Memorial vs. No. 1 Westbrook, TBA)

Photo credits: Tim Jensen