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09/26/2016 12:00 AMGirls’ Soccer
The North Branford girls’ soccer squad won a pair of games last week and tied another to improve to 3-1-3 on the year.
On Sept. 20, the T-Birds topped Westbrook 3-0. Jenna Bryden scored a pair of goals and Caitlin May added the third for the Thunderbirds. Allie Augur recorded five saves in net for the shutout.
Augur stayed hot in goal with her second-straight shutout as North Branford played to a 0-0 tie with East Hampton on Sept. 22. Augur made six saves and North Branford forced East Hampton goalie Lindsay Orbann to make nine.
On Sept. 24, North Branford defeated Valley Regional 2-1 behind goals from Deanna Sgambato and Ana Pavic. Augur was electric in goal by making 22 saves to hand Valley the loss.
Boys’ Soccer
The Thunderbirds gained a tie and took a loss last week to move to 0-3-2 this season. On Sept. 20, North Branford tied Westbrook 0-0. Then Sept. 22, the T-Birds lost to East Hampton 2-1. Despite the loss, new Head Coach Brett Gagliardi said that it was the best game the T-Birds have played this year as they created multiple scoring opportunities.
Field Hockey
North Branford lost its second game of the season last week, but the T-Birds rebounded with a pair of victories to move to 5-2 overall.
On Sept. 21, Westbrook topped North Branford 1-0. It was the first time this year the Thunderbirds were held scoreless in a game. In net, MacKenzie Kaiser made eight saves for Head Coach Babby Nuhn’s squad.
North Branford then won a nail-biter against Old Saybrook on Sept. 23 by a 3-2 score and followed that up with a 2-0 victory over Stamford on Sept. 24. In the Stamford win, Amy Raucci and Sydney Hogan scored the goals for North Branford. The T-Birds’ defense was spectacular as Kaiser didn’t need to make a save to record the shutout.
Football
The T-Birds dropped to 1-1 after taking a 47-34 loss to Griswold on Sept. 23. North Branford held a 34-33 lead at the end of the third, but allowed 14 unanswered points in the final frame.
Quarterback Jeff Jablonski went 16-of-26 for 221 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also ran three times for 35 yards to lead North Branford on the ground. Dylan Blake ran home a touchdown from six yards out and Jason Alaska hauled in a 65-yard touchdown pass from Jablonski. Alaska caught two passes for 81 yards, while Blake had 68 receiving yards and Nick Mancini finished with 64. RJ Sobask scored on a fumble recovery and Lou Raffone returned a kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown to round out the scoring for the T-Birds.
Defensively, Mancini had a team-high 14 tackles, plus Matt Sibley finished with 12 and Blake recorded a pair of sacks. Alaska had an interception and Xavior Cognata forced a fumble.
Boys’ Cross Country
On Sept. 21, North Branford competed in the Running to the Sun Invitational at Coginchaug. Michael Madoule was the top runner for North Branford, placing 18th with a time of 19:07. Other racers included Parker Nadeau (25th, 19:30.85); Austin Gibilisco (35th, 20:23); Jared Jamieson (44th, 20:50); Zachary Jamieson (55th, 21:41); Patrick Miconi (60th, 22:22); and Michael Rabuffo (61st, 22:49).
Girls’ Cross Country
Last week, the Thunderbirds competed in the Running to the Sun Invitational, where Winnie Chan placed 39th at 25:26 and Jillian Damiani finished 40th in 25:38.
Volleyball
North Branford dropped 3-0 decisions to Cromwell, Haddam-Killingworth, and Old Lyme in last week’s action. The T-Birds are now 1-6 on the season.