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09/24/2014 12:00 AMFootball
Hand hosted Hillhouse on Sept. 19 at the Surf Club and pitched a 17-0 shutout. While the Tigers' offense scored bookend touchdowns in the first and final quarters, their defense forced a trio of Hillhouse turnovers and prevented the Academics from taking a snap inside the Hand 30-yard line to lead the Tigers to the victory.
Also defensively for Hand, it held the Academics to just 81 total yards of offense and only 22 of those came following the halftime break. Junior quarterback Nick Van Dell was 13-of-23 with 132 yards through the air while he also ran for another 24.
On the second offensive possession for the Tigers (1-1), they got on the scoreboard when senior running back Ryan Whelahan (37 yards on 25 rushes) found the end zone on a 4th-down, 8-yard scoring scamper with 5:06 to play in the first before an extra point kick from senior Tyler Phan put Hand ahead 7-0 following the opening frame-a lead that remained at halftime after a scoreless second quarter.
For the Academics (0-2), they fought their way into Hand territory only twice and the Tigers' defensive squad made its presence felt with those three turnovers as Hillhouse fumbled on its own 30 in the first quarter following the Whelahan touchdown and was intercepted by junior cornerback Ryan Kaufmann and senior corner Connor McShane at the 5:01 and 1:15 junctures, respectively, of the second period.
At the 8:31 mark of the third frame, the Tigers' offensive issues continued as Phan missed a 30-yard field goal prior to Hand fumbling at the Hillhouse 1-yard line with about four minutes remaining in the quarter. Phan did redeem himself, though, eight seconds into the final frame on a field goal from 15 yards out to put the Tigers up by 10.
Hand forced an Academics' punt at its own 3-yard marker as 10:13 was left on the clock, but that ensuing possession ended with Hillhouse blocking a Tigers' punt to take over at the Hand 36-yard line.
The Tigers later took control of the ball seven yards out from the Academics' end zone with 1:39 to go and then entered it when junior running back Tristan Dowd ran one in from three yards as six ticks were left in the game.
Girls' Soccer
Hand fell to Amity 4-1 on Sept. 16 before defeating SCC Hammonasset Division rival Law 2-0 on Sept. 20 to sit at 2-1-1 (1-0 in SCC Hammonasset).
Against Amity, the Spartans went ahead 2-0 before Taylor Scully crossed the ball to Julie Thompson, who scored her second goal of the season. Facing Law following a scoreless first half, the Tigers didn't allow a shot on goal after the break. Nicole Luongo scored Hand's first goal off a nice pass from Olivia Sacco. Sacco then made the score 2-0 with 10 minutes left in the game thanks to a pass from Sam Mayhew. Sacco received the pass, faked around a defender, and scored her first goal of the season. Hand outshot Law 16-2.
Field Hockey
Hand suffered a 3-2 loss to rival Cheshire on Sept. 16 at home. Hannah Leckey and Erin Mammele scored while Sam Pavano had an assist as the Tigers outshot the Rams 27-11. Mel Rennie had eight saves in a contest that saw Hand rally after being down 3-0.
Hand also blanked North Haven 9-0 on Sept. 19 and then fell 2-0 at Darien the next day to sit at 3-2 on the year.
Girls' Volleyball
The Tigers dropped a pair of 3-1 decisions to West Haven on Sept. 15 and Lyman Hall on Sept. 17 to even out their mark at 2-2 following the first two weeks of the regular season.
In the West Haven contest, Krissy LaSance had 19 assists while Ryann Corniello added five kills and four aces. Also in that matchup, Hand dropped the first pair of sets (24-26, 23-25), yet took the third set (25-19) to avoid the sweep.