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12/30/2013 11:00 PMThe Tigers kicked up a steady breeze of successful squads this fall season with several squads reaching their SCC and state tournaments.
Boys' Soccer
The Tigers finished the regular season 10-3-3 and captured the SCC Hammonasset Division for the second straight year with a divisional mark of 6-0. Despite an early SCC Tournament exit, Hand returned to the Class L State Tournament semifinals prior to a 3-0 loss to Joel Barlow.
Hand had three captains with Christian Koshgarian, Brian Jackson, and Griffin Wray. The Tigers held additional senior leadership from John Collins and Nick Nelson, along with Rich Sangster, Jack Thompson, Owen Dunn, Adam Bechtold, Andrew Price, Matt Rasey, and Colt Blumenthol.
Field Hockey
After an impressive 14-1-1 regular season, including a victory that snapped Cheshire's 32-game winning streak versus SCC opponents, Sue Leckey's squad battled those Rams in a tough SCC Tournament final loss. Hand rebounded in the Class M State Tournament before a 2-1 semifinal round defeat to eventual champion Wilton.
Helping the Tigers was a strong senior captain trio in forward Brenna Hobin, defender Mackenzie Hilton, and midfielder Brooke Barry.
Hand had further senior leadership sprinkled throughout the defensive unit with defensive left back Annah Curcio and Nicole Riccio on the right side. More senior presence came from forwards of Morgan Connors on the left wing, along with Emily Neal on the opposite side and Ally Duncan. Rounding out the class were Ashleigh Pavlovic, Amanda Rice, Ellen Lawton, Rachel Anderson, Nicole Francischelli, and Katherine Fritzeen.
Football
Hand showed the true spirit of its program by rattling off six straight victories and finishing the regular season 8-3 before a last-second 31-29 loss to Class L finalist Darien in the quarterfinals of the state playoffs.
Leading the Tigers past top competition were senior tri-captains in guard Ian Dieli, lineman Pat Rogers, and defensive back Hayden Atwater, along with senior leader Tom Wilson at the wideout position.
Hand had additional senior influence toward the playoffs thanks to receivers/cornerbacks Josh DeMartino, Jacob Mirando, and Hunter Stokes, running back/safety Conor Dowd, tight end/defensive end Mike Cinicolo, receiver Tim D'Annolfo, cornerback Sam Katz, back/linebacker Dan Rogers, tight end/offensive lineman Joe Blanchard, and offensive tackle/defensive end Asa Palmer.
Girls' Cross Country
Coached by Steve Swift, Hand (7-1 dual-meet record; 4-0 in division) won its first SCC Hammonasset Division title in a thrilling 27-28 win over Guilford before finishing as runner-up in the SCC Championship and seventh in states.
The Tigers were led by seniors Jane Butler, Gabriella Dess, Kathleen Downes, Halle Gardner, Julie Keenan, Abigail Kramer, Emily Shafer, Mira Reichstein, Kathryn Phillips, Melissa Parker, Rachel Odabashian, Caroline Morin, Erin McAneany, Katherine Mazzeo, and Nicole Lundgren.
Girls' Soccer
Head Coach Katie Keogh's Tigers finished the regular season at 6-3-7 before losses to eventual SCC and state finalist Branford in SCCs and Ridgefield in states.
Senior members were defender Megan Boswell, midfielder Kendall Goodman, forward Gabrielle Ciarleglio, midfielder/forwards Colette Kraemer and Sarah Boswell, Natalie Baughan, defender Lisa Chupp, goalkeeper Chloe Broquet, midfielder Abbey Stackpole, and defender Julia Testori.
Boys' Cross Country
Tim Geary's squad finished 3-1 in the SCC Hammonasset prior to coming in seventh at both the SCC Championship and states.
The Tigers' seniors included Colin Bilcheck, Luke Boyington, Charles Bratches, Nicholas Cochran, Adam D'Agostino, James Dorfman, Colman Fahey, Connor Favre, Michael Gentile, Daniel Healey, Andrew Hook, Cullen Kinnare, Jakob Leichtman, Kevin Schofield, Benjamin Reul, Stefan Pelletier, Prem Patel, Griffin Pardales, Joseph Pandolfi, Griffin McShane, and Nathan McCann.
Girls' Volleyball
The Tigers made a vast turnaround to the tune of a 10-8 regular season mark to return to both the SCC and Class LL state tournaments-Hand's first bid to each since 2008. Its postseason stay ended with opening round losses to Sheehan in the league bracket and Danbury in the state playoffs.
Hand was led by senior co-captains in libero Kyle Maxwell and setter Kendall Jerzyk, along with junior outside hitter and captain Cassidy Wygonik.
The Tigers had further senior depth and leadership through Lexi Stathakis, along with Lily Kennedy and Maggie Gautrau.
Girls' Swimming and Diving
After a conference record of 7-4, the Tigers finished third at the SCC Championship. Hand then finished eighth at the Class L State Championship before finishing 17th at the State Open.
Hand was led by senior co-captains Grace Hesse and Caroline Wolek. Additional seniors were Olivia Calabro, Annie Kennedy, and Megan Savage.