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1 week ago | 
ctinsider.com | Roger Cleaveland
FAIRFIELD - New Fairfield boys lacrosse coach Marty Morgan said he was feeling considerable panic going into Saturday's Class S state championship game against Somers, because he wasn't sure if his team had the energy and the firepower to match the deep, talented Spartans. Then the game started and senior attackman Josh Krueger alleviated a lot of the worries with how focused and energized he played.
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2 weeks ago | 
ctinsider.com | Roger Cleaveland
BEACON FALLS - In the 16 years prior to the Woodland softball team making the first of what is now five consecutive semifinal appearances in state tournament play, the Hawks had reached the semis only once. They were a good team, but not a great one. Losing to Branford in that first of the five straight semifinals in 2021 changed things. "That was the fuel that started the fire," Coach Loren Luddy said. "We had worked so hard to get there, and it hurt to lose.
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2 weeks ago | 
ctinsider.com | Roger Cleaveland
CROMWELL - A few years ago during the Travelers Championship on a Saturday, tournament director Nathan Grube received a call that there was a large, loud group of fans at the 18th hole that he should probably check out. "So, I went down there and discovered it was a group from Philadelphia that had decided the Travelers Championship was where they were going to have their bachelor's party," Grube said. "They were loud, but they were a great group that was absolutely hilarious and so much fun.
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2 weeks ago | 
ctinsider.com | Roger Cleaveland
CROMWELL - In 2006, a year before Travelers took over as the title sponsor of the state's professional golf tournament - which began in 1952 as the Insurance City Open - Travelers Vice President Andy Bessette and his tournament director Nathan Grube undertook an in-depth assessment of the event. They asked themselves and the fans a lot of hard questions: What was the value of the ticket in the market? Were people with tickets even utilizing them? What do you want out of the event?
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2 weeks ago | 
ctinsider.com | Roger Cleaveland
WATERBURY - The Guilford High baseball team played like a team laser-focused on bringing home the first state championship in program history as the Grizzlies took complete control early in their semifinal win over Berlin and never relented. The No. 8-seeded Grizzlies scored 12 runs in the first three innings en route to a 15-1 victory over the No. 5 Redcoats to earn their second trip to the Class L final in the last three years.
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2 weeks ago | 
minutemannewscenter.com | Roger Cleaveland
WEST HAVEN — After losing a heartbreaking extra-inning game in last year’s CIAC Class LL championship game, a very focused Cheshire High softball team wasn’t going to be denied another shot at a title this year. The No. 1-seeded Rams have played like the best team in their class for most of the season, and Tuesday they earned a trip back to the Class LL final with a 6-0 victory over No. 4 Southington at West Haven High School’s Frank Biondi Field.
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2 weeks ago | 
ctinsider.com | Roger Cleaveland
WEST HAVEN - After losing a heart-breaking extra inning game in last year's CIAC Class LL championship game, a very focused Cheshire softball team wasn't going to be denied another shot at a title this year. The No. 1 seeded Rams played like the best team in their class most of the season and Tuesday earned a trip back to the Class LL final with a 6-0 victory over No. 4 Southington at West Haven High School's Frank Biondi Field.
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2 weeks ago | 
ctinsider.com | Roger Cleaveland
EAST HARTFORD - The international friendly soccer match between the U.S. national team and Turkey was meaningful enough to draw 34,023 fans to Rentchler Field on Saturday afternoon. Youth and high school teams came from around Connecticut. U.S. soccer fans turned out in droves for a rare opportunity to see the national team in state, and the game drew thousands of Turkey fans from nearby states for a chance to show their national pride.
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2 weeks ago | 
ctinsider.com | Roger Cleaveland
EAST HARTFORD - U.S. men's national soccer team coach Mauricio Pochettino said he was very pleased with the effort of the young team he fielded Saturday even though the Americans lost, 2-1, to Turkey in a friendly match played in front of a crowd of 34,023 at Rentschler Field. "Overall the performance was good," Pochettino said. "Turkey is a very good team with experienced players that has been one of the better teams overseas. We started the game very well and played 20 minutes at a high level.
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3 weeks ago | 
ctinsider.com | Roger Cleaveland
Ryan Gomes experienced a homecoming of sorts this week as he has returned to his alma mater Providence College to become an assistant coach with the men's basketball program. But Gomes said his heart is never far from his true home of Waterbury. His roots in the city allowed him to have a spectacular playing career at Providence, where he became the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,138 points before his nine-year NBA career during which he averaged 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds.
