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10/04/2015 12:00 AMGirls’ Swimming and Diving
The Hornets stayed unbeaten at 5-0 by earning a 99-85 home win over Sacred Heart Academy on Sept. 30.
Erika Maercklein was victorious in a pair of events for Scott Butler’s squad by winning the 50 freestyle in 25.75 seconds, as well as the 100 breaststroke in 1:11.85. For other individual winners, Paige MacNeil swam to top honors in the 100 butterfly (1:00.87), Caitlin Daley won the 100 freestyle (57.25), Gabija Karosas prevailed in the 100 backstroke (1:02.71), and Quinn Franco-Camacho bested her competition in the diving with a total score of 163.90. Branford also took first in a pair of relays. The 200 medley quartet of Karosas, Maercklein, MacNeil, and Daley won with a time of 1:55.80, while the 200 freestyle grouping of MacNeil, Isabel Albinger, Daley, and Maercklein went 1:44.56 to claim victory.
Volleyball
Branford continued its winning ways last week by claiming victory in all three of its matches to improve to 7-2. The Hornets, who have won five straight, earned a 3-0 home win over Career, edged out Sacred Heart Academy on the road by a 3-2 final, and then swept Cross at home 3-0. Eva Esposito’s club has won five straight.
Against Career, set scores red 25-8, 25-14, 25-9 in Branford’s favor. Sarah Wirtz went 12-for-12 with four aces on serve, Haley Maercklein had four kills and three aces, and Madison D’Onofrio recorded four kills.
For the five-set showdown against SHA, it was a back-and-forth duel that saw the Hornets lose the opening set 17-25, win the second 25-13, take the third 25-17, drop the fourth 18-25, and then prevail in winner-take-all fifth frame by the score of 15-8. Abby Atkinson had a career-high 17 kills to go with 10 digs and two blocks. Adrienne DiGioia put forth her all-time best night at the service line by going 29-for-29 and she also added seven kills with 11 digs. Gillian Basilicato had eight digs with Lauren Elmasry contributing four kills and three digs.
In the Cross win, Atkinson had 11 kills, three aces, and five blocks; D’Onofrio recorded three kills, Wirtz had six aces; and Erin O’Brien handed out 17 assists.
“Overall, a great week in terms of wins, going 3-0, ending the week with an exciting match against Sacred Heart,” Coach Esposito said. “We are starting to play more consistent. With the second half of the season coming next week, we look to keep improving.”
Field Hockey
The Hornets won both of their games last week and did so while shutting out each of their opponents to raise their record to 4-2. Branford first recorded a 7-0 home shutout of North Haven and then prevailed at Guilford by a 2-0 margin two days later.
Twenty-two players contributed to the win against North Haven as Branford held a 3-0 lead at halftime and never looked back. LanLe Crotty had four goals with an assist, Alanna Grimm scored twice, and Kiersten Bjork had a goal with an assist to support the Hornets’ effort. In the first half, Crotty scored from Bjork 3:35 into the game and netted her second seven minutes later on a helper from Carol Frye. Around the midway mark, Bjork scored on Crotty’s assist to make it 3-0. Crotty scored twice in a four-minute span early in the second half with the first goal coming on an assist by Leah Pendl-Robinson. Grimm then put home a pair of goals in the final 11 minutes and Sabrina Torcellini assisted on the latter score. Branford had 20 shots on goal and Keira Integlia made one save for the shutout. Coach Cathy McGuirk said her squad put together a total team effort to get the win and was pleased with strong play up and down the field from numerous athletes, including Pendl-Robinson, Jackie DaRos, Ashlee Smestad, Shradha Shrestha, Matilda Kreider, Britney Bunbanlu, Liante Claude, Carly Shea, Maddie McGann, Samantha Coleman, Shannon Finn, and Emma Dwyer.
“We have been working hard on offense and it paid off in this game,” said Coach McGuirk. “Team support is key to a good team.”
Then in the Guilford victory, Frye scored the first goal on a penalty stroke that was called following a scramble in the circle with 22:50 left to go in the first half. Autumn McHenry netted the second with 3:13 to play in the half. The play started off a corner and, with good offensive movement, the ball went to Bjork, who passed to the center and found McHenry for the goal on a strong shot past the Indians’ keeper. The Hornets took 16 shots to Guilford’s 10 and both teams earned nine penalty corners. Integlia turned aside six offerings for another shutout and Pendl-Robinson also stopped a shot.. Coach McGuirk said a key to the win was the solid stops and interceptions by athletes all around the field. She complimented Shrestha for her quailty two-handed play, Bunbanlu for effective ball movement, Torcellini for her constant sprinting, Kreider for her strong hits, Grimm for hustling and scooping up whatever came her way, Bjork for some elusive dribbling, and Crotty for doing an excellent job of beating defenders.
Girls’ Cross Country
Branford hosted a meet at the Supply Pond on Sept. 30 and gave Amity a run for its money in dropping a 25-30 decision. The Hornets are now 4-3 on the season.
Cyrene Nicholas finished in third place with a time of 21:08 to lead the Hornets. Not far behind were Anneliese Troidle, who placed fourth at 21:23; and Courtney Cosgrove, who was fifth with a mark of 21:27. Additionally for Branford, Sophie Angelo took eighth place in 22:38, Kendall Simmons was 10th at 23:24, Maddy Vitale finished in 11th place in a time of 23:39, and Mansi Chapatwala took 14th place in 24:23.
“Our top three had a strong meet competing against perhaps the top team in the SCC—Amity. It was very competitive. They battled right to the end,” Coach Kevin Connell said. “We thought we had a good shot on our home course. They gave everything they had. We came up a little short. It should give the girls a shot of confidence going into the end of the season that they can compete with a team like Amity.”
Boys’ Cross Country
The Hornets took to their home course of the Supply Pond last week for a duel against Amity and took a 15-50 defeat to drop to 4-3 for the campaign.
Spencer Mariotti was Branford’s top finisher behind a time of 18:52 and Andrew Byrne was right there in 14th place at 18:54. Also competing for Branford were Marshall Borrus, placed 20th in 19:26; Robbie Lionetti, who took 21st place at 19:29; Matt Daley, who came in 23rd at 20:02; Harry Troidle, who finished 24th in 20:10; plus Ryan McCarthy who paced his way to 25th place with a time of 20:20.
“The freshmen came up big today. Even though it was a loss, they are emerging as very valuable to any success the varsity will have this season. Robbie and Matt continue to improve and we look forward to watching them develop. Ryan McCarthy is coming on strong as the season progresses. He and Harry Troidle are having a good battle at No. 6 and No. 7,” said Head Coach Kevin Connell. “We knew we would have our hands full on Sept. 29 ever since the schedule came out last year. [Amity is] arguably the best team in Connecticut and they showed why at Supply Pond. We have a young team learning every week and improving.”
Boys’ Soccer
Branford is now 1-4-2 after taking a 2-0 defeat to Shelton and a 1-0 loss to Branford.
Against Shelton, the Hornets gave up a goal seven minutes into the game and the other with four minutes left.
In the Guilford game, the Indians scored the game’s lone goal 12 minutes into the game. Ben DeMaio had the Hornets’ best chance to tie it with 13 minutes remaining, although Guilford’s keeper made an outstanding save.
“The boys continue to play extremely well against some outstanding competition. We seem to have shored up our early season defensive problems, but to some degree at the expense of our attacking chances,” Coach Paul Hunter said. “The boys’ effort, desire, and determination has been great. We’re not getting any breaks currently, but we continue to battle and look forward to the second half of the season.”
Football
The Hornets dropped to 0-3 by taking a 33-6 loss at Hand. Branford scored its first touchdown of the season when Griffin Lynch threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Noah DeGoursey. Leading tacklers on defense were DeGoursey (14), Spencer Berty (8), Tristyn Wooster (8), Luke DiStasio (8), James Dering (8), Neil Clyne (7), Jake Roberts (6), and Zach DeGoursey (6). Wooster also had two pass deflections and Noah DeGoursey recovered a fumble. Branford will next host North Haven (4-0) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 9.