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Programs win NEPSAC Championships during final week of fall sports; boys soccer finishes runner-up

It was a weekend of celebration for the 91���� community, with varsity field hockey and football teams capturing NEPSAC championships—and our boys soccer team finishing as runner-up.

On Sunday, November 17, field hockey won a Class B championship in dramatic fashion, beating No. 1 Middlesex School 4-3 in double overtime. The second-seeded Wildcats were lifted to victory by Nora Curtis ’25, who smashed home a pass from Brooke Schlutter ’27 and Zola Piekarski ‘26 with just over five minutes left the second overtime. The win is the program’s first NEPSAC title since 2015, and their final record of 15-4 marks the most wins for a season in program history.

Football won the Danny Smith Bowl with a commanding 42-26 win over Cheshire Academy on Saturday at Sawyer Field. The win secured an 8-1 record for the team on the year, and the bowl win was the first for the Wildcats since 1993. Quarterback Davi McDonald ‘25 went 19-for-19 passing for 173 yards and a touchdown in the win, while Brooks Connors ‘26 took 17 carries for 170 yards and two touchdowns, and had four receptions for 44 yards and another touchdown.

For the boys soccer team, a spot in the Class B championship game was secured with a thrilling win on penalty kicks in the semifinals. In the championship, the team lost an their Class B championship game ended with an 8-1 decision to top-ranked Suffield Academy. The sixth-seeded Wildcats earned their spot in the final with a thrilling win on penalty kicks in the semifinals.

Additionally, the school is still celebrating our boys water polo and volleyball programs, who also earned NEPSAC postseason bids, and our cross-country runners who ran at the NEPSAC championships. The volleyball team made its first NEPSAC tournament appearance in 16 years with this year’s qualification.

“This fall has been a testament to the incredible work ethic and grit of our student-athletes,” said Director of Athletics Jade Morris. “Watching them rise to every challenge and compete fiercely—regardless of the team in their path—has been truly inspiring. From a bird’s-eye view, it’s clear that their success is about more than just wins and championships. It’s about the commitment, resilience, and passion that every team has shown throughout the season. With five teams qualifying for postseason play and two bringing home NEPSAC championships, our student-athletes have demonstrated what it truly means to represent 91���� with purpose, passion, and integrity.”

Field Hockey

The best season in field hockey program history ended with silverware. After three wins in five days, Head Coach Alex Tancrell-Fontaine was elated to recap her team’s journey.

“The feeling is really special,” she said. “This team is amazing. They were determined since the beginning of the season to make this year magical, and they did just that. We had lost some key players last year, so we had a pretty new team, and everyone just stepped up right away and dove in with both feet. We had a mix of very experienced players with players who had never picked up a stick before so to get to the postseason was amazing and to win the whole thing is incredible.”

The Wildcats put together a spectacular campaign from the first game through the last, and this was embodied by the final goal of the season. Facing off against the No. 1 seed, the Wildcats scored the decisive goal in double-overtime on a passing sequence that saw every player on the field for 91���� touch the ball. The play ended when Schlutter, who blew past a pair of defenders to get into the attacking zone, fed Curtis for the finish.

“The fact that every player on the field touched the ball before it went in the net shows the kind of team they are,” Tancrell-Fontaine said. “Totally unselfish and committed to working as a connected unit. I honestly was nervous throughout the whole game but knew overtime would favor us in the 7v7 format. River Grady [our goalie] had been outstanding all game and I knew she would be ready.”

Four different players scored in the final, with Schlutter, Maggie Fay ’25, and Elia Skeiber ’28 all tallying. Piekarski had a hat trick of assists in the final, as well. Schlutter scored two goals and had an assist in the team’s 4-0 win over Dexter Southfield in the semifinals. Against Suffield in the quarterfinals, Piekarski scored two goals and had two assists, while Violet Carroll ’25 had a goal and two helpers.

Football

The Danny Smith Bowl was a rematch of a game from the regular season, and the Wildcats were able to keep a similar result in what Head Coach Tom Beaton called “one of our best games of the year.” McDonald and Connors did much of the heavy lifting for 91����, but the offensive effort was a group effort. Jameson Dion ’25 ran the ball 10 times for 46 yards and two touchdowns to assist in Connors’s amazing afternoon. McDonald also had five carries for 15 yards and a touchdown.

“I’m super proud of the guys,” said Beaton. “We’ve come a long way since we started Class A. This has been an awesome group of guys who dealt with adversity all year, and we were certainly lucky, as coaches, to have the kids we did.”

On defense, Brian Lloyd and Nick Guay ‘26 each had eight tackles to help bottle up Cheshire, while Rylan Shibley ’25 had 1.5 sacks and Jacob Waah ’25 had a half-sack. Lloyd also stayed active in pass defense, breaking up two throws.

“The biggest thing I’ll remember is not the wins and stuff, but the players we have, how high character they are, and what a great team it was to coach. This is as close of a team as I’ve ever been on, and that’s what made it special.”

Boys Soccer

For the sixth-seeded boys soccer team, an upset was needed to get any playoff run started, and the team got it in the quarterfinals with a 4-1 win over No. 3 Kimball Union Academy. Ayden Kokoszka ’25 had a hat trick and an assist in the win, while Enzo Benetti ‘27 scored the other goal for 91����.

In the semifinals, Kokoszka scored one goal in regulation for 91���� against No. 7 Mount Saint Charles, then was one of five penalty kick takers to make their shots in PKs. Danny Argueta ’25, Danek McKelligan Lopez Barrios ‘25, Tristan Kokoszka ’26, and Nico Garcia ‘26 also scored their penalties. Maks Zebic ’25 stopped one of Mount Saint Charles’ penalties to help lift 91���� to the win.

In the final against Suffield, Tristan Kokoszka scored on a penalty kick for 91����’s lone goal, while Zebic had six saves and Sebastian Fonseca ‘26 made three saves.