Printer Friendly Version - Hand Boys' XC Misses Division Title by One; Flaherty Prevails for Girls

The Hand girls' cross country team defeated Foran, but fell to SCC Hammonasset Division winner Guilford in a tri-meet on Oct. 7 at the Surf Club. Junior Sheila Flaherty won the race in a time of 19:42.

Hand hosted both Guilford and Foran at the Surf Club on Oct. 7 in a meet that decided the SCC Hammonasset Division title. The Tigers lost to Foran by a point, 27-28, but defeated Guilford 24-31 to finish their dual-meet campaign with a record of 7-2 (3-1 in the division).

Colin Roth was the race's runner-up (16:40) and joining him were Kevin Clarke in fifth (17:00), Garrett Noonan (8th; 17:12), Connor Roth (10th; 17:20), Sean Collins (12th; 17:28), Ryan Johnson (17th; 17:54), Adam Taylor (18th; 17:55), Sean Marrinan (24th; 18:20.30), Chris Parker (25th; 18:47), and Bryce Thomson (26th; 19:02).

The Tigers hosted a tri-meet on Oct. 7 at the Surf Club against rivals Foran and Guilford as all three clubs entered the day tied atop the division with Hammonasset records of 2-0. In the division championship race, Hand fell to Guilford by a 22-33 final, yet defeated the Lions.

While Hand didn't come away with a sweep in the regular season finale, it did boast the race's winner. Sheila Flaherty crossed the finish line first in a time of 19:42-holding off Guilford's Sydney Stofflet by six seconds.

The Tigers (finishing 3-1 in SCC Hammonasset Division) also had a strong underclassmen presence in the top 10 on the day. Right behind Flaherty was Megan Phillips, who was fifth to finish the course at a time of 20:07, in addition to ninth-place finisher Gabby Martin (21:35). Also cracking another one of the top 10 slots for the Tigers was Madeline Yaggi (10th; 21:28). Colleen Caruth finished 11th and clocked in at 21:29. Close by were Emily Baker (13th; 21:30), along with Chloe Moulin (15th; 21:49), Maya Nahar (16th; 21:53), and Gabby Larizza (18th; 22:17).

Rounding out the Tigers' placers on the afternoon were 20th-place competitor Sam Morin (22:23), plus Gillian Shaughnessy (22nd; 23:10) and Kori Citrin (26th; 24:39).

The Tigers hosted division rival Cheshire on Oct. 10 and took a 17-13 loss to move to 2-3 on the year (1-1 SCC Division I East).

Nick Van Dell was 14-of-24, throwing for 261 yards and a touchdown, and he was also the Tigers' leading rusher (19 carries for 118 yards). Mark Hill caught six passes for 89 yards; plus Liam Sullivan reeled in a pair for 88 yards; Reid Sweitzer caught three balls on 60 yards and a TD; and Andrew Fitzgerald tallied 52 yards on a trio of receptions.

Cheshire (5-0; 2-0) got on the board first with a 31-yard field goal 2:46 into in the first quarter before Tyler Phan missed a potential game-tying field goal about five minutes later. The Rams struck again in the first on an 80-yard touchdown toss to lead by 10 following the opening frame.

Hand got back into it in the second as Van Dell raced 65 yards to the end zone to cut the Tigers' deficit to three with 9:46 of action left before intermission and that 10-7 margin held up as the halftime score.

With 8:45 remaining in the third, Hand went ahead 13-10 thanks to Sweitzer grabbing a TD catch of 19 yards. Cheshire then missed a field goal on the ensuing drive as 5:56 was left to play in the third before the Tigers were forced to punt two minutes later.

Down 13-10 to start the fourth, the Rams retook the lead 68 seconds into the final quarter on a 9-yard scoring scamper. As 3:29 remained on the clock, Hand held the ball in Cheshire territory, yet it couldn't capitalize and complete the game-winning drive. The Rams were able to regain possession, gain a crucial first down with 1:40 to go, and run out the clock.

After its 4-3 road win at Cheshire on Oct. 7, Hand defeated non-SCC foe Granby Memorial 6-1 at home on Oct. 9 to improve to 9-2 overall.

In the Granby game, Kacey McCarthy (with an assists from Katie McKeon) and Sam Pavano scored in the first half to give the Tigers a 2-0 halftime lead. In the second half, Cameron Ruberti, Erin Mammele (following a Hannah Leckey feed), McCarthy (assisted by Erin Maxwell and Alli Buller), and Ruberti (from Pavano) tallied goals. Mel Rennie and Kyle Gargiulo were in net for Hand during the evening and Rennie had a save.

Following its 2-0 victory over Sacred Heart Academy on Oct. 4, Hand suffered a 3-2 home loss to East Lyme on Oct. 6 before a 3-0 shutout of Law two days later to sit at 6-4-1 (3-1 in the SCC Hammonasset Division) following a 1-0 defeat to North Haven on Oct. 10.

Facing East Lyme, Hand scored first on a goal off a corner kick by Taylor Scully with 13 minutes left in the first half as Olivia Sacco and Marissa Kottage assisted. East Lyme scored to tie the game five minutes later. The visitors went ahead 2-1 at 10 minutes into the second half, yet Annie Hess scored when 14 minutes remained in regulation on a corner kick that was taken by Kottage. East Lyme did notch the eventual game-winner with nine minutes left in the game.

Against SHA, Emily Ashman started in goal and was solid throughout the match as the Tigers outshot the Pacers 14-8. Sacco put Hand ahead 1-0 on a penalty kick 7:32 into the first half and then Julie Thompson scored the second goal on a cross from Kat Allen.