In addition to all-star accolades and record-breaking performances, Suffield Academy is proud to congratulate its many-student athletes on another successful fall season. Six varsity teams earned invitations to NEPSAC Class A and Class B New England Tournaments, including football, girls' and boys' soccer, girls' and boys' cross country, and water polo. Not to be outdone or outshined volleyball and field hockey turned in some fine performances of their own to conclude their 2019 seasons.

Football: 9-0-0
The Suffield Academy football team traveled to Avon Old Farms to compete in the Kevin Driscoll Bowl Class A New England Championship on November 16. Both teams squared off entering the Bowl game with undefeated regular season records (8-0-0).

Led by Miami-bound quarterback Tyler Van Dyke ’20, Penn State commit Jaden Dottin ’20, Syracuse commit Justin Barron ’20, and former Greenwich star Mozi Bici ’20 at linebacker, the Tigers earned the 29-21 win and title of New England Class A Champions. Van Dyke accounted for all four of the Tigers’ touchdowns with scoring passes thrown to four different receivers, including Will Rolapp ’20, Khari Johnson ’20, Dottin, and Barron.

With 2 minutes and 31 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and leading by a single score Suffield’s relentless pass rush—backed by four-year starter and senior linebacker Peterson Monexant, defensive tackle Kareem Moumina ’20 and defensive ends Kami Nader ’20 and Kechaun Bennett ’21—was tasked to stop Avon’s final offensive push. Three plays into Avon’s drive, Monexant broke through the offensive line and chased down the opposing junior quarterback (Tyler Phommachanh), who fumbled the football while sprinting out of the pocket. Suffield senior nose tackle Aidan Michaud dove on the football and recovered it to end the drive and protect Suffield’s undefeated season and secure the championship title.

It was a great way to end an outstanding run for Suffield’s remarkable senior class—a group that also included key contributors Tim Bell, Jack Kent, Sam McCarty, and Will Mayer.

Girls’ Varsity Soccer: 13-3-1
After defeating Berkshire 4-1 in the NEPSAC Class B Tournament quarterfinal at home on November 13, Suffield traveled to Weston, Massachusetts, to face off against The Rivers School in the semifinal on November 16. It was a hard and equally fought battle by both schools with neither team letting up a goal in regulation play. The Tigers and Red Wings entered two 10-minute sudden-death overtimes before finally settling into a penalty-kick shootout to determine the winner.

Suffield would make their first shot but miss three ensuing kicks from the mark and the Red Wings would celebrate their semifinal win, earning them a spot in the finals against Pingree School on November 17. Rivers would defeat Pingree in the final match to be named New England Class B Tournament Champions.

Three Suffield players were invited to play in the Fourth Annual NEPSAC Girls’ Soccer Junior All-Star Game hosted by Deerfield Academy on November 17: Grace Caso, Emma Casey, and Delaney Miles. The event included 66 NEPSAC student-athletes representing 56 teams across Classes A, B, C, and D.

Boys’ Varsity Soccer: 13-5-0
Facing the quarterfinal round of the boys’ Class B bracket as the #3 seed on November 13, the Tigers hosted Brooks School for a challenging match-up at home on Holmes Field. Brooks would be the more fortunate team of the day and Suffield fell by a final score 3-1. Brooks moved on into the semi-finals played on November 16 but their tournament hopes would be crushed by Noble & Greenough in an overtime penalty-kick shootout.

Nate Rouette and Joe Rusnuck played in this year’s Junior NEPSSA All-Star game while Jacob Lazarus and Tyler Sylvester played in the Senior All-Star game. Junior Andrew Serafino joined Rouette and received WNEPSSA All-Star status with Lazarus and Rusnock earning Honorable Mention. Sefarino and Lazarus made the All-NEPAC team with All-NEPSAC Honorable Mention to Rouette and Rusnock. Finally, Rick Warren earned his 100th career win as Suffield’s head coach.

Water Polo: 13-7-0
Entering postseason play ranked as the #4 seed, the Tigers traveled to Brunswick School to compete in the New England tournament on November 9 and 10. Suffield secured an 8-7 win in their first match-up against #5 seed Andover but lost to #1 Brunswick (22-30) in the semifinal. Suffield then suffered an overtime loss to Loomis (9-10) during the 3rd-place consolation game and returned home this year finishing 4th in New England.  

Freshman Ben Bryan led Suffield’s starters who all provided strong defensive prowess throughout the two-day tournament. New Suffield Academy junior Charles-André Robert was named All-Tournament and All-NEPSAC and ended the season shattering the school’s 10-year-old single-season scoring record with 150 goals. The previous record was 126.

Girls’ Cross Country: 4-0-0
The girls’ cross country New England Championship was hosted by Noble & Greenough School on November 9 and nearly every Tiger ran to a season-best performance. Earning individual All-New England honors, Suffield Academy junior Jenna Daly '21 finished 9th and sophomore Brynn Bergin '22 placed 16th. 

Emma Krasemann ’21 pushed hard over the distance to finish well and Lexi Roberts ’20 posted her season and lifetime personal record (PR) to finish her Suffield career in extraordinary fashion. Kira McCreesh ’23 finished with a solid time, Sarah Kurbanov ’21 ran a season PR, and Caroline Walsh ’20 also ran her best race of the season. As a team, the Tigers returned home with a 6th-place finish overall.

Boys’ Cross Country: 2-3-0
The Tigers made the trip to Noble & Greenough for the New England Division II Championships held on November 9. Six of seven Tigers in the varsity race set a PR. Jack Lynam ’22 fought hard in a fast field to secure 6th place overall, earning him All-New England honors. The rest of the team ran well and all recorded season bests.

Nick Briones ’20 crossed the finish line in 18:34, putting him just outside the top 50 (54th). Jim Hou ’21 (18:45) and Zeno Dancanet ’22 (18:49) fought off competitors at the end to secure 54th and 61st place. Garrett Mastella ’21 closed Suffield's scoring in 70th place with a time of 18:59. Daniel Ennis ’21 (89th) recorded a PR and Nick Maggi ’21 (95th) worked hard to the very end. The Tigers placed 9th out of 16 teams competing in the tournament.

Volleyball: 9-8-0
With notable victories over Cheshire Academy, Miss Halls, and Westover and led by senior captains Kay Polley and Julie Raporte, the Tigers fell just short of entering postseason play. Four additional seniors made their last court appearances and combined for strong play to win the team’s last three consecutive regular season games: Annie Daramola, Marina Ghazarian, Caroline Kelly, and Sasha Skinner.

Two Suffield players were invited to this year’s NEPSGVA All-Star Tournaments hosted by St’ Paul’s School and Hamden Hall Country Day on November 3: Jennah DeGout ’21 and Lauren Egan ’23. With a combined 111 participants spanning players from Classes A, B, C, and D, the event showcased some of the top volleyball players in New England. DeGout was named All-NEPSAC First Team and concluded the season with 239 kills. Egan totaled 268 assists and 67 aces. Both players return next year.

Field Hockey: 8-9-1
Field hockey had an impressive finish to their season by beating host Kingswood Oxford 2-1 on November 8. In a total team effort, the Tigers controlled possession throughout the game and capitalized on two corners to give them a 2-0 lead. Kingswood would fight back and cut the lead to one with 13 minutes remaining, but Suffield remained strong and held on for the end-of-season victory.

Eight seniors helped lead the way this fall for Suffield: Alana Colaccino, Shay Fuente (captain), Karly Higgins, Amanda Kikonyogo, Olivia Marcyoniak (captain), Claire Meier-Scherling, Allie Mohn (captain), and Samaya Roberts. Marcyoniak and Fuente were named NEPSAC All-Stars with Marcyoniak also receiving All-NEPSAC honorable mention.