Overtime

I have a reputation for being one of the CIAC’s most outspoken critics, but today is an occasion to give the governing body for high school sports in Connecticut full praise for fixing a huge problem by adopting a new postseason format for football.

Instead of the current six classes, there will now be four. Instead of four teams in each class, there will now be eight. The state will add quarterfinal round games and an extra week to the season. Thirty-two teams instead of 24 will now qualify for the CIAC Tournament.

The CIAC board of control yesterday morning unanimously approved a proposal made by the football committee two weeks ago.

It was widely expected that the state would adopt a change, but the timing was unanticipated. Under the current system, there are six one- or two-loss teams in Class LL that are out of the playoff race, including Greenwich, Cheshire and Hamden.

“I was very surprised that it passed like this, but I’m glad it did,” said New Canaan coach Lou Marinelli, a committee member who last night was inducted into the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame. “Every time we would make a proposal, they would throw something back and want us to do something else.”

If I have one minor quibble, I would have preferred three divisions instead of four and really reward excellence. Interestingly, Marinelli has a contrarian viewpoint.

“I tried to get six,” Marinelli said. “Why not? Look at how many kids go to postseason tournaments in other sports. We’re still under what everybody else does. Why not have more kids who play than in any other sport get the same opportunities as other sports?”

One other minor criticism discussed has been why the state decided to add a week to the end of the season, rather than start a week earlier. Football players who participate in a winter sport will have virtually no transition time.

Marinelli said there was a bigger consideration that has been forgotten.

“It might look good on paper, but one of the big obstacles is the league championship games and Thanksgiving Day games are a tradition in communities,” Marinelli said. “The only way to avoid this is to go one extra week at the end.”

As one reader to this blog pointed out, the additional week will only affect eight teams.

If the new format in my eyes is not 100 percent perfect, they got it 95 percent right. There will now be more true champions that had to navigate more difficult tournaments with more compelling matchups.

“As long as they keep spring football and have that schedule, a kid playing football in Connecticut is far better off than playing in New York or Massachusetts,” Marinelli said. “They will be able to play as many as 14 or 15 games, like the better states like Texas, California and Florida.”

Nick Koules, a legendary Stamford sports figure, passed away this morning at the Sunrise Assisted Living home in Stamford. He was 92.

Koules, who had been in declining health, was a longtime fixture on the Fairfield County sports scene, officiating in baseball, basketball and soccer for more than six decades.

Koules was well known to coaches, players and fans alike, and remained an active referee until a few years ago. Last winter he attended a number of high school basketball games, often with Lou Filippetti, his long-time friend and colleague.

“He was a close friend and I’ll certainly never forget him,” Filippetti said. “What he’s done for me and sports in the Fairfield County area. He had a heart of gold and we will certainly miss him.”

Koules was renowned for working as many as 10 games a day on weekends. In his 67 years as a referee and umpire, Koules worked a number of championship games at all levels.

One person who knew him best is Mike Walsh, the Trinity boys basketball and assistant baseball coach, who also is active in youth baseball in Stamford.

“There has never been an official who knew how to control a situation in games better,” Walsh said. “We lost a legend. All the lives he touched and people who respected him. We will miss him. There is only one Nick Koules and there will always be only one Nick Koules.

There will be a complete story in tomorrow’s edition of The Advocate.

This has been a great day for the CIAC. Besides revising its football playoff system into a four-division, eight-team format, the state introduced an iPhone application.

The brainchild of Matt Fischer, the CIAC’s director of information services, SchoolZapp – Connecticut puts most of the information on the CIAC’s handy website right on your iPhone (one of my favorite possessions, by the way).

The application costs just 99 cents. I downloaded it today and used it tonight while covering the Darien-Foran Class L semifinal volleyball match. Instead of printing out rosters for the game, I just called them up on my phone. As Fischer wrote to me on a Twitter message after I had sent him one to applaud the idea, “Printing out rosters is so 2008.”

The application should be of great use to anyone involved with or who follows high school sports in the state, and like everything else with the iPhone, it is very user friendly.

Here is the release by the CIAC, which includes the link to purchase the application off of iTunes.

As expected, the CIAC today approved a new football playoff system that will go into effect starting next year.

The CIAC will go to a four-division system like it does in most other sports, with eight teams qualifying for the state tournament in each class. The season will be expanded by a week to allow for an extra round in the playoffs.

The change should be greeted with universal approval.

Here is the release by the CIAC.

If there is a lingering picture from last night’s CIAC Class LL semifinal girls soccer game, it is of Tessa Dunster after setting up what proved to be Westhill’s winning goal in a 2-1 decision over Ridgefield.

Dunster suffered a calf injury early in the game, but said she was not coming out unless she felt she would be a detriment to the team. Dunster picked her spots, and in the 72nd she made a beautiful play to win a 50-50 ball and get free down the right side. Most players would have taken a shot, but as Ridgefield goalkeeper Rebecca Corso came out, Dunster made a perfect centering pass that Julia Busto, who had made a run and had a step on a defender, booted into the open net.

While her teammates celebrated, Dunster put her hands on her head and slowly walked back to the middle of the field, consumed by a combination of exhaustion and pain.

Not long after the final whistle sounded, Dunster was getting her calf treated by Chris Antonacci, the Vikings’ trainer.

Dunster was representative of a Westhill team that has been willing to do whatever it takes to keep its season alive and win the school’s first state title in the sport — indeed, the city of Stamford’s first state title in the sport.

Westhill, the No. 3 seed, will play top-seeded Glastonbury tomorrow night at West Haven High School at 7 p.m.

“That was Tessa to a T,” Westhill coach Dave Flower said. “She does it when it matters. Having Tessa fully healthy has been huge to us.”

While all the scoring last night took place in the second half, in a sense Westhill positioned itself for the victory in the first half. The Vikings were nervous and outplayed for the first 30 minutes by Ridgefield before settling down. It became obvious if they could get to halftime tied it would give them the chance to regroup, and that is what happened.

Busto had a terrific game, forcing Flower to give the precocious sophomore more playing time than usual. Her speed was a problem for the Tigers.

“I could not bring her out,” Flower said. “She was fired up and was giving their defenders trouble. She was hot.”

The defense, led by Clare Mahoney and Nicole Eriksen, again played well. Kirsten Eriksen set up Penny Cote on a spectacular first goal.

And another unsung hero was Haley Hilsenrath, who might be the Vikings’ most underrated player.

This has been a storybook ride for a team that is full of talented players and even better people. It is a team impossible to root against, unless you are lined up on the other side of the field.

Incredibly, the Westhill players still seem to believe that others view their season as a fluke, and that they still have to prove themselves. Perhaps that was fueled by their heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Fairfield Ludlowe in the FCIAC Tournament quarterfinals, when they lost on a goal with 5.8 seconds left.

But the team used the 10 days off before its first state playoff game to get recharged. And now it is one game away from history.

And it would be hard for anyone to consider what has happened over the past two weeks as a fortunate run.

“Maybe people outside of Stamford still think of us that way,” Flower said. “But none of this is luck. Just a lot of hard work.”

The Westhill High School girls soccer team’s historic run lives on. Julia Busto’s goal in the 72nd minute, off a marvelous play by Tessa Dunster, lifted the Vikings to a 2-1 win over Ridgefield in the CIAC Class LL semifinals tonight.

Penny Cote scored the first goal, on a beautiful assist by Kirsten Eriksen, as No. 3 Westhill (15-2-2) earned the right to try and become the first Stamford team to win a state title in soccer.

Westhill will face top-seeded Glastonbury in the final, either Friday or Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

After a sluggish start, the Vikings played a strong final 50 minutes. Dunster, despite a calf injury sustained early in the game, played with tremendous heart, while Clare Mahoney and Nicole Eriksen led a spirited defensive effort.

Here’s the story on tonight’s dramatic win.

I’ll have a follow-up story on the win and Westhill’s storybook season posted tomorrow.

The Westhill High School girls soccer team is in the midst of a historic season. The Vikings have already set school records with 14 wins and their highest seed (No. 3) in the state tournament.

Perhaps the accomplishment the players are proudest of is the one that is ongoing: the deepest run the team has ever made in the state playoffs. Tomorrow night the Vikings will play in the CIAC Class LL semifinals, against Ridgefield, for the first time and are two wins away from a state title.

One of the Vikings’ greatest attributes is their balance on the field, but one player who has been a key all season is junior forward Tessa Dunster, who leads the team with 11 goals. Dunster is a highly technical player who has been a dangerous weapon both finishing and on corner kicks.

I caught up with Dunster after practice today to discuss the reason for Westhill’s success, what it will have to do to avenge a 2-1 regular-season loss to Ridgefield, and the one thing she can’t do without before games.

The Westhill High School girls soccer team have become the nomads of the state tournament.

The Vikings’ CIAC Class LL semifinal game with Ridgefield tomorrow night has been pushed up an hour, and will now be played at 5:30 at Norwalk High School.

The game was originally scheduled for tonight, then moved to tomorrow at 6:30 before the latest change, which had to do with the availability of the Norwalk field.

There have been all sorts of scheduling issues for state games that have irked coaches this fall. Many have complained about the late notification with regard to the sites and times of contests.

On the one hand the CIAC has a tough issue: having to wait to see which teams advance before finding neutral sites that are both centrally located for the schools and have the proper accommodations.

But it is extremely unfair what has happened to Westhill and Ridgefield. With a number of good locations between Stamford and Ridgefield, assuming one of the schools would be willing to host it, the game should have been moved from Norwalk rather than disrupt the two schools’ preparations.