By Carl Cavrell
(November 12, 2025) — On a bitterly cold November night, the third-ranked Haddam-Killingworth High School Boys Soccer team traveled to the Madison Surf Club for a Class S State semi-final game against the seventh-ranked Morgan Huskies of Clinton.
In the first half, fighting a talented Morgan team and a brutal wind in their faces, a long free kick found its way into the net to put HKHS down by one goal. Refusing to give in, the Cougars attacked over and over, finally knotting the score at 1-1 when Phin Merriam pounded in a cross received from Lucca Piacenti.
In the second half, with the wind as their ally, HKHS scored their second goal when Tristen Edwards was assisted on a pass from Phin Merriam before a minute had passed. But HK did not let up as the team scored two more goals, making it four in a row. Finn O’Hanlon scored the team’s third goal from an Ian Pizzorusso pass, and Phin Merriam got his second goal assisted by Eli Hamann-Shay.
Although Morgan notched a late goal, that was it for the Huskies, as goalie Oskar Heikkila once again made several stellar saves to help the Cougars seal the victory. The team will now travel to Trinity Stadium in Hartford on November 15, 2025 to take on Somers in the Class S State Championship game.
