By Michael Letendre
This week, scholastic sports in town get into full gear and several different programs will be challenged right off the bat during the opening week.
The Central Connecticut Conference has several possible championship-level programs and the teams from Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern should be pushed from the start.
Here’s just a brief rundown of some of the CCC battles our teams will be dealing with after the holiday break:
Football
*Bristol Central at Windsor (Friday, 7 p.m.)
*Bristol Eastern vs. Farmington (Friday, 6 p.m.)
Interesting Fact: The Rams and Lancers are a combined 8-22 against their respective opponents all-time. Along those lines, Central has a losing record against Farmington as does Eastern against Windsor.
The Warriors will challenge the Rams while the Lancers have a great shot against the River Hawks from Alumni Field in Bristol.
Boys Soccer
*Bristol Central at Avon (Thursday, 3:45 p.m.)
*Bristol Eastern at Plainville (Friday, 3:45 p.m.)
Interesting Fact: The Lancers (6-8-3 in 2022) actually get to open their campaign against a CCC South competitor in the form of the double-tough Blue Devils (6-9-1 regular season) while the Rams (6-9-2) will have their hands full against the Falcons (8-5-3) on the road.
Girls Soccer
*Bristol Central vs. Windsor (Friday, 3:45 p.m.)
*Bristol Eastern at Bloomfield (Thursday, 3:45 p.m.).
Interesting Fact: Central, the defending CCC South champs, look to start the season with zest against Windsor – a team that went .500 in 2022 (6-6-5). The Lancers and the Warhawks combined to win four total matches last season and Eastern can equal its win total from 2022 with a victory on the road on Friday.
Volleyball
*Bristol Central vs. Simsbury (Thursday, 6:30 p.m.)
*Bristol Eastern at South Windsor (Thursday, 5 p.m.)
Interesting Fact: What an opener for the Class L runners-up from 2022. South Windsor (17-2 regular season in 2022) invades the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium for a huge opening night affair. The Rams are the defending CCC South Champions (7-0 CCC South, 14-6 regular season). On the flip side, the Lancers (13-9) battle a Bobcats’ program that hovered around .500 last season. Both programs have the ability to start the season at 1-0.
On the Horizon
Next week, Central and Eastern’s combined swim team squares off against Rocky Hill on Tuesday, September 12 from the Dennis Malone Aquatic Center in Bristol at 3:45 p.m.
And on the cross country front, the boys and girls programs at Bristol Central travels to Hubbard Park on September 12 – squaring off against Platt and Plainville in a CCC South challenge.
Meet time is 3:45 p.m.
As always, for further information of dates and times of your favorite Bristol scholastic sports team, go to casciac.org.
