Zanor column: A big CTC soccer match, some Bruins history, and other thoughts
Just thought I’d empty out my reporter’s notebook while waiting for the NFL’s Kansas City franchise to change its name from the Chiefs to the Kansas City Swifties …
*One of the biggest boys soccer games of the season takes place on Tuesday, Oct. 10, when Ellis Tech travels to Norwich for a Connecticut Technical Conference showdown against Norwich Tech. Both teams are having terrific seasons under head coaches Drew Mizak (Golden Eagles) and Jamie Lamitie (Warriors).
The teams will look to settle things after playing a 3-3 draw on Sept. 12 in Danielson.
Norwich Tech remained unbeaten with a recent 2-2 draw against Plainfield. The Warriors are 7-0-2. Ellis Tech has reeled off five straight wins after suffering its first loss of the season against Windham Tech. The Golden Eagles are 7-1-1.
More: It might be the Golden Days for Norwich Tech boys soccer
*UConn football fell to 0-5 after a heartbreaking 34-33 loss against Utah State at Rentschler Field last Saturday. The Huskies scored a touchdown with 40 seconds left but their extra-point kick was blocked. I would have loved to see UConn coach Jim Mora go for the two-point conversion and the win, just like LSU’s Brian Kelly did last year to beat Alabama.
“On that last play there, I contemplated going for two but I felt like our guys had fought so hard I wanted to give them a chance to win it in overtime,” Mora said. “It just goes to show you can never take any play in athletic competition for granted. If you do, bad things happen. And a bad thing happened right there.”
UConn travels to Houston on Saturday seeking its first win against Rice University. This is the Huskies' first-ever matchup against the Owls. Although instead of Texas, the Huskies should be traveling to Orono, Maine, this weekend to play the Black Bears.
*So New York sports fans … what’cha watching on Sunday? The New York Liberty at Las Vegas Aces in Game 1 of the WNBA finals at 3 p.m. on ABC or the NFL doubleheader featuring the New York Giants at Miami Dolphins followed by the New York Jets at Denver Broncos?
OK, I know I’m beating a dead horse here but with the MLB playoffs and college football on Saturday and a whole day of NFL viewing on Sunday (yup, I absolutely love those games from Europe starting at 9:30 a.m.), why can’t the WNBA move the Liberty-Aces to a prime-time slot on Friday night?
*The quest for the greatest trophy in sports - the Stanley Cup - begins this week. The Boston Bruins open their 2023-24 campaign against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday at TD Garden.
The B’s are celebrating their 100th season in the NHL. Yup, on December 1, 1924, the Bruins played the first ever NHL game in the United States, edging the Montreal Maroons (soon-to-be-Canadiens), 2-1, at the Boston Arena.
Who scored the first goal in Bruins history? If you said Fred “Smokey” Harris, you’re right! Here’s how Joe Pelletier, Hockey Historian Blogger, described the action.
The Maroons opened the scoring that night, with Dinny Dinsmore scoring on an unassisted effort at the 9 minute mark of the 1st period.
Cue Harris.
At 3:30 of the second period he took a pass from Carson "Shovel Shot" Cooper and beat Maroons goaltender Clint Benedict to open the scoring. Exactly 6 minutes later Cooper scored the only other goal of the night, securing the Bruins a 2-1 victory in their very first game.
*Kudos to Bacon Academy sophomore Riley Anderson who was named an All-American for the 2022-23 season by the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association. Anderson swam a time of 23.07 in the 50 -yard freestyle to win the CIAC State Open last season. That’s great stuff!
*STUCK IN THE ‘70s: On October 7, 1975, the Boston Red Sox ended the Oakland A’s dynasty with a 5-3 victory in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series before 49,358 fans at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
The Red Sox three-game sweep over the three-time defending World Series champion A’s was powered by the pitching of Luis Tiant, who tossed a three-hitter in Game 1, Rick Wise, the Game 3 winner, reliever Dick Drago, who had two saves, and the hitting of Carl Yastrzemski (.455, one home run), Carlton Fisk (.417) and Cecil Cooper (.400).
Yaz was sensational in the deciding game, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and making two defensive gems in left field as the Red Sox won the A.L. pennant for the first time since 1967.
Jimmy Zanor is a sportswriter for the Norwich Bulletin and can be reached at jzanor@norwichbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter@jzanorNB.
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Zanor column: A CTC soccer showdown, Bruins history, other thoughts
