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11/11/2014 11:00 PMField Hockey
Hand opened the Class M State Tournament as the No. 2 seed and breezed past No. 15 Farmington 8-1 in the first round at home on Nov. 4. For the quarterfinals against No. 10 New Canaan, the host Tigers prevailed 2-1 to advance to the semifinal round.
Versus Farmington, Hand took a 5-0 halftime lead behind goals from Katie Omdahl (2), Kacey McCarthy, Cameron Ruberti, and Cami Hobin; plus assists from Hannah Leckey, Erin Maxwell, and Erin Mammele (2). In the second half, Sam Pavano scored twice and Nora McCarthy tallied one while Leckey and Clare Gravina each earned a helper. Mel Rennie notched two saves, plus Kylie Garguilo had a trio of stops.
In the New Canaan tilt, after a scoreless first half, Ruberti gave Hand a 1-0 edge at 25:58 on a tally before the Rams netted the equalizer eight minutes later. Omdahl then grabbed a feed from Mammele with 7:21 left in regulation to score and send the Tigers into the round of four. Both squads had eight shots a side as Rennie stopped seven strikes to her net.
Hand (18-2-1 overall) next took on No. 6 Avon (14-2-1) in the semifinal round earlier this week and a victory there puts the Tigers in the finals on Saturday, Nov. 15 at Wethersfield versus either top-seeded and defending champion Wilton (15-2-1) or No. 4 Lauralton Hall (16-3-1).
Boys' Soccer
The 6th-seeded Tigers began the Class L State Tournament with a first round home win over No. 28 New London on Nov. 3. For the second round hosting No. 21 Barlow on Nov. 5, the Tigers took a 3-0 loss also at home to conclude its campaign 15-2-4.
Girls' Volleyball
Hand was seeded 17th in the Class L State Tournament and scored a road victory over No. 16 Kennedy on Nov. 3 in the first round by a 3-1 final (26-24, 25-27, 25-21, 25-18). On Nov. 6 at top-seeded Farmington in the second round, the Tigers were swept (25-15, 25-17, 25-12) to conclude their campaign at 13-9 overall.
Football
Hand hosted SCC Division I East rival West Haven on Nov. 7 and took a 21-0 loss to move its mark to 3-6 on the year.
Nick Van Dell was 14-of-24 for 106 yards passing while he also rushed for another 28 as the Tigers totaled 172 yards of offense for the game.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Blue Devils (5-4, 1-3 SCC Division I East) got on the board thanks to a 63-yard touchdown rush 5:14 before halftime. During the third at the 9:19 juncture, West Haven took to the air and went ahead 14-0 on a 49-yard TD strike before finishing the evening with a 9-yard toss with 10:40 remaining in the fourth.
The Tigers (also 1-2 in SCC Division I East) next travel to another SCC Division I East foe in Notre Dame-West Haven (7-2, 3-0 in the division) on Friday,
Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.
Girls' Swimming and Diving
At the Class L State Diving Championship on Nov. 5 in Middletown, Hand's Lauren LaChapelle finished 18th (300.75 points).