PICS: Xavier hockey vs. Cheshire

Xavier topped Cheshire 4-2 Wednesday at Wesleyan's Freeman Athletic Center, and Press Correspondent Todd Kalif was on hand to capture some of the action:

WEDNESDAY RESULTS: Mercy, Middletown, Cromwell, Hale-Ray, H-K all winners on opening night

Whew, lovely opening night. Great showing from Mercy in a rematch of last year's Class LL title game, equally great play out of the gates from Middletown and Cromwell. H-K and Hale-Ray were winners as well, and Portland couldn't finish a comeback against Old Saybrook.

Results:

• Mercy def. Career Magnet, 62-51
• Old Saybrook def. Portland, 41-36
• Middletown def. Fermi, 51-38
• Cromwell def. East Hampton, 44-19
• Hale-Ray def. Westbrook, 33-13
• H-K def. Old Lyme, 58-34

Joe's Three Cheers of the Day:

• Cromwell's Janelle Harrison - 19 points, eight rebounds, two steals
• Mercy's Jordyn Nappi - 19 points (11 in first quarter)
• H-K's Kiley Anderson (13 points, 11 rebounds) and Tori Peterson (14 rebounds)

Notable:

• Middletown girls racked up 51 points in their opener against Fermi, and Rajeen Mayo had 12 points and seven assists. Big start for the Dragons. We'll see if they can keep it going Friday against Platt.

Upcoming:

• Thursday's only area contest is Coginchaug at Valley Regional, 7 p.m. If all goes to plan, Coginchaug should win comfortably. 

XAVIER FOOTBALL: Mastro, Marinan & more

A pair of features from Jim Bransfield leading up to Xavier's title game against Staples:

• His coach calls him the heart and soul of the Xavier offense, an offense that has blitzed 12 opponents so far this season. But at heart, star running back Mike Mastroianni is a lunch pail kind of guy ....
  
• Sean Marinan Jr. on having his father as coach: “I see all the behind-the-scenes stuff that most people don’t know about. He’s a great coach and a great teacher. I try to make him proud."