Printer Friendly Version - 2014 Hand Tigers Winter Year in Review

Hand boys' ice hockey entered the Division II State Tournament at 10-10 as the No. 13 seed, but came out of it with the program's first state crown in eight years after a 5-4 win over No. 2 Amity in the final on March 21 at Ingalls Rink in New Haven.

The winter campaign was a memorable one for the Hand Tigers that featured their gymnastics squad winning both SCC and state crowns while boys' ice hockey had a remarkable run as the No. 13 seed to win the Division II state title.

Led by first-year Head Coach Ken Mitchell, Hand finished 10-10 on the regular season (13th in Division II) and then defeated four of the top five teams in its state tournament bracket in No. 4 Newington/Berlin/Manchester, No. 5 North Haven, top-seeded East Catholic, and No. 2 Amity by a 5-4 score for the state championship. The Tigers had three captains in senior Dan Healey, alongside assistant captains of seniors Dan Braumann and netminder Chase Briggs (First Team All-SCC/SWC Division II). Additional seniors were Max Leveroni, Nathan McCann, Andrew Price, and Matthew Leombruno. Junior Ben Solin also earned a Second Team All-SCC/SWC Division II bid.

Tad McGwire's club finished 2-15 for the regular season (1-9 in SCC Division II), yet qualified for the league's tournament and lost an 8-7 overtime decision to eventual champion Branford-East Haven-North Branford. Seniors included Morgan Connors, Nicole Francischelli, Kaitlin Gioeli, Mackenzie Hilton, Mary Sobran, and Erin Splain.

After Coach Kelly Smith's Tigers cruised to a 17-1 regular season mark, which included one meet in which they set a new school record with 142.95 points, they scored a SCC Championship all-time event-best 141.45 to win their sixth consecutive conference crown before again breaking the 142-tally barrier (142.275) to repeat as Class M state champions (15th state title overall). The postseason prowess continued at the State Open when Hand collected a runner-up finish with a 142.7 mark to reach its first New England Championship since 2006. the Tigers came in fifth, again with over 142 points (142.825). Hand was led by senior tri-captains of Kendall Jerzyk, Kendall Goodman, and Julie Keenan; along with additional seniors Stefani Taschner, Maria Iennaco, Ashlyn Thompson, Aimee Merkle Scotland, Sarah Klass, and Emma Mills. Smith was named the CIAC Coach of the Year and New Haven Register All-Area Coach of the Year.

Coached by Jen Lyman, Hand captured a SCC Division II title before finishing sixth at the conference championship. A big part of the Tigers' postseason success was freshman Tianyi Teddy Zeng, who won SCC, state, and State Open diving crowns. The Tigers' seniors were Ethan Crans, Noel Haren (SCC Division II Athlete of the Year), Matthew Kane, Jack Lynch, Katherine Mazzeo, Timothy Smith, and Doug Wu.

Tim Geary's group finished third at the SCC Championship before coming in fourth at the Class L State Championship. At SCCs, junior Ian Bergere took home the pole vault crown prior to winning the state crown for that event. Senior members of the team were Nicholas Balow, Adam Boey, William Brown, Nicholas Cochran, Adam D'Agostino, Colman Fahey, Connor Favre, Patrick Ferland, Michael Gentile, Cullen Kinnare, Cody Laska, Jacob Leichtman, Hunter Stokes, Todd Standard, Kevin Schofield, Richard Sangster, Joshua Riccio, Benjamin Reul, Prem Patel, Griffin Pardales, John Pancak, and Timothy O'Brien.

Under first-year Head Coach Rich Fisler, the Tigers were led by captains Kathleen Downes and Chloe Broquet. While the team welcomed more than 20 new fencers to the club, it also picked up a new weapon in the épée. At the state meet, the girls finished as the runner-up to Guilford.

Griffin McShane and Ha Hyeong Kim were the captains for Rich Fisler's team. In the postseason, Hand sent its foil squad to the Team State Championships at Guilford on March 8 and had a successful showing as the boys came in fourth place.

Coach Tim Tredwell's squad won its first SCC Hammonasset Division title since 2007 on its way to an 18-7 overall finish (7-1 in divisional action). In the postseason, the 5th-ranked Tigers defeated East Haven and Lyman Hall to reach the semifinal round of the SCC Tournament for the first time in eight years before falling to eventual champion Mercy in a hard-contested nine-point loss. Seeded 12th in the Class LL State Tournament, Hand defeated No. 21 Southington in the first round prior to losing at Amity the following round in a three-point decision. The Tigers were led by senior tri-captains Sophie Joel, Lily Taylor, and Colette Kraemer.

Coach Frank Rossi's Tigers finished 14-6 and were seeded sixth in the SCC before losing to Branford in the conference tournament's opening round. Hand then reached the second round of the Class L state bracket prior to a five-point loss to Woodstock Academy. Seniors included co-captains Brendan Hughes and Sam Jablonski, plus Andre Frederick, Phil Crampton, Scott Braren, Asa Palmer, Christian Koshgarian, and Griffin Wray.

Led by Head Coach Steve Swift, the Tigers were runner-up at the SCC Championship and then came in eighth at the Class L State Championship. Freshman Caroline O' Neil captured a SCC title in the 300. Seniors were Natalie Baughan, Lauren Brady, Jane Butler, Olivia Calabro, Justine Griffin, Caroline Morin, Kathryn Phillips, Rachel Odabashian, and Emily Shafer.

Mike Docker's Tigers were second at the SCC Championship and senior leadership for the Tigers came from Justin Dwyer, Colt Blumenthal, Kevin Mallon, and Lance Hosmer.

With Coach Todd Williams, the Hand girls' squad finished 10th and the boys 13th at the State Championship.