By Joe Palladino
Naugatuck Valley League soccer has reached its final week and there is just enough drama left to infuse the final games with interest.
To start, the Oxford boys need one more victory to clinch the Copper Division title, and that could come against either Sacred Heart, today, or Derby, and it will be a titlefest for the Wolverines: Oxford would be the only NVL school to have the boys and girls soccer teams win a division title.
Kennedy needs one more win to claim the Brass title, and must sweep its final three games to jump out of ninth place and into the top eight, which qualifies for the NVL tourney. One of Kennedy’s opponents, however, is Naugatuck, and the Greyhounds are currently the tourney’s top seed.
Any one of three teams — Naugatuck, Watertown, or Woodland — can still win the brutally strong Iron Division. Naugy is the current leader, and two wins this week would clinch. However, the ‘Hounds play three games in three days, and the season finale is against Watertown at home Wednesday night. That game could decide a division title and a No. 1 tourney seed.
The Sacred Heart boys made some tourney magic this season. With an overall record of 5-7-2, the Hearts have qualified for the CIAC tourney for the first time since 2009. The Hearts are not only back in the postseason, but also, two wins this week, and with help, could keep them in the chase for a Brass title, and, the Hearts play Kennedy on Thursday in a game that could decide a division title.
Holy Cross needs two wins to make the state tourney as well, with games remaining against Kennedy, Derby, and Ansonia. A sweep would give Cross some Brass hope as well. St. Paul needs a win or a tie to make states, and the Falcons meet Torrington and Wolcott. That will not be easy.
For the girls, the top eight is all but set for the NVL tourney, but there can still be a seed shift or two. Oxford has won the Copper, but things are far from settled in Brass and Iron.
Wolcott, Holy Cross, and St. Paul can all still win the Brass, and an Eagles-Falcons showdown to close the season looms large. Woodland and Watertown will likely tie for the Iron title, and then it’s all about the tiebreaker between the teams that split games in the regular season.
Seymour has secured a place in the NVL tourney, but to play in CIAC games the Wildcats need one more victory, against Watertown or Ansonia. The Sacred Heart girls have a shot at the CIAC tourney, but the needed two wins will not come easy. The Hearts must beat both Oxford and Holy Cross this week. Torrington has not yet been eliminated from state tourney play. The Raiders must win both games this week, against St. Paul and Woodland, again, a tall task.