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10/30/2016 12:00 AMField Hockey
On the heels of a 14-2 regular season, the Branford field hockey team hosted Hamden for a SCC Tournament quarterfinal contest on Oct. 29 and defeated the Green Dragons 6-1 to advance to the semis. The Hornets, who are the No. 3 seed, will play at 2nd-seeded defending champion Lauralton Hall at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 1. With a victory, Branford would face the winner of Cheshire and Guilford for the title at Lyman Hall at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3. This is the seventh-straight year that Branford has reached the SCC semifinals.
Branford held a 2-0 halftime advantage and then outscored Hamden 4-1 in the second half. Kiersten Bjork scored the Hornets’ first goal on Brianna Shaw’s assist with 12:22 left in the opening frame. Six minutes later, Molly Zaffino sent one to the back of the cage on an assist by Shaw. In the second half, Zaffino scored an unassisted goal, after which Bjork scored from Zaffino and Shaw. Crotty later scored from Carol Frye and then Bjork netted her third score unassisted with 6:33 to play. Keira Integlia made two saves for Branford, which took 15 shots on goal to Hamden’s four. Erica Klarman also saw some time in the cage during the second half.
Prior to competing in SCCs, Branford concluded its regular season by taking a 2-0 loss at Hand on Oct. 24, earning an 11-1 home victory against Shelton on Oct. 26, and then posting a 2-0 win against Sacred Heart Academy at home two days later.
In the Hand contest, Integlia made 10 saves for the Hornets, who put 13 shots on goal and forced the Tigers’ keeper to make 10 saves. Branford also had nine corners to Hand’s five.
The Shelton game marked the Hornets’ Senior Night and they paid tribute to their five senior athletes, who are captains Alanna Grimm and Integlia, along with Bjork, Frye, and Emily Sachs. Also honored were senior team managers Olivia Datre and Victoria Warfield.
“Great day for seniors, who were greeted in the morning with decorated lockers, food, and thoughtful gifts by their teammates,” Head Coach Cathy McGuirk said. “After the game, [there was] a super reception planned by parents of underclassmen and [the seniors were] given the traditional giant cookie by mom Paula Grimm.”
When it came to the game, Branford scored 11 times in the first half en route to a victory in which 29 Hornets saw playing time. Bjork scored four goals and had an assist, Shaw converted three goals and added an assist, Crotty scored twice and had a pair of assists, Sachs and Zaffino each had two assists, Caitlin Baker and Frye both scored a goal, and Grimm and Sabrina Torcellini contributed one assist apiece.
Against Sacred Heart Academy, Bjork scored from Shaw to break a scoreless tie with 19:31 remaining. Bjork then netted her second goal on Crotty’s assist with 10:51 left. Integlia made one save for the Hornets, who took 13 shots on goal and had 20 penalty corners.
Volleyball
The Hornets capped their regular season with a record of 12-6 by sweeping Sheehan in their regular season finale on Oct. 24, after which they posted a 3-1 home victory versus Lauralton Hall in the first round of the SCC Tournament on Oct. 28.
The Sheehan win came on the road and avenged an earlier loss to the Titans this season. This time around, Branford swept the match with scores of 25-13, 25-18, 27-25. Adrienne DiGioia had 13 kills with 12 digs in the win. Haley Maercklein had 12 kills and nine blocks, Jen Hwang recorded 10 digs, Marisa Minore 10 kills with two digs, and Erin O’Brien added 31 assists.
Then as the No. 5 seed in the SCC bracket, Branford dispatched 12th-seeded Lauralton Hall by the final of 26-24, 25-18, 18-25, 25-21. Maercklein had a monster performance that saw her post 28 kills to go with 13 blocks, four digs, and two aces. DiGioia served 22-for-22 and also had 12 kills and 18 digs. O’Brien had 33 assists with three digs, Hwang tallied 16 digs, and Maddie Obrempt went 6-for-6 from the service line.
Branford will next play at No. 4 seed Hand in the SCC quarterfinals at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 1. With a win, the Hornets would face the winner of Amity and Foran on Thursday, Nov. 3. The final is at East Haven at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5.
Boys’ Cross Country
Senior Andrew Byrne ran a time of 17 minutes and 56 seconds to take 21st place for Branford at the Class MM State Championship at Wickham Park on Oct. 29. As a team, the Hornets finished in 12th place out of 23 squads.
Matt Daley was next in line for the Hornets as the sophomore finished 60th in 18:59. Senior Spencer Mariotti was close behind in 62nd (19:01), while junior Ryan McCarthy took 73rd (19:19) and junior Harrison Troidle placed 80th (19:31). Also, Andrew Debenedictis finished in 107th (20:00) for Branford and sophomore Robbie Lionetti came in 117th (20:34).
Girls’ Cross Country
The Hornets saw four athletes run at last week’s Class MM State Championship.
Senior captain Courtney Cosgrove had the best showing for Branford as she finished in 34th place with a time of 22 minutes and 13 seconds. Also competing were junior Sophie Spencer (65th, 23:37), junior Emily Borst (85th, 24:28), and freshman Molly Klarman (105th, 25:22).
Football
The Hornets dropped to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in SCC Tier 3 play after taking a 26-15 loss to Creed-Career-Whitney (C-C-W) at Bowen Field in New Haven on Oct. 28. Branford fell behind 14-0 after the first quarter and was unable to make up the deficit in dropping the decision.
C-C-W used a pair of touchdown rushes to hold a 14-0 lead after the first quarter. With 8:25 left in the second quarter, Brian Nichols forced a fumble that Spencer Berty scooped up and returned 14 yards for a score. James Dering kicked the extra point and Branford trailed 14-7 at the half.
In the third quarter, C-C-W broke off a 65-yard TD run to extend its advantage to 20-7 entering the fourth. The Hornets made it a one-score game with 9:52 to play when Griffin Lynch tossed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Justin Lopa. Lynch followed by finding Jackson Seward on the 2-point conversion and it was 20-15. However, C-C-W (2-5, 2-2) came back with a 23-yard scoring pass that made it 26-15 with 4:40 remaining and held on for the victory.
Dalton Carden ran 18 times for 67 yards, while Seward picked up 35 yards on nine carries to lead Branford’s ground game. Seward also caught seven passes for 42 yards.
On defense, Berty made 11 tackles to go with the recovered fumble that he took back for a touchdown. Seward also had 11 tackles, while Noah Lordan made 10.
Up next, Branford hosts SCC Tier 2 foe Foran (3-3, 1-2) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4.
Girls’ Soccer
Branford had one game last week and played to a 2-2 tie on the road against rival East Haven.
The Hornets held a 2-0 lead at the half after getting goals from Bridget Wirtz and Emma Milles. Wirtz was fouled in the box then made her penalty kick. Milles scored off a header on a pass from Taylor Brown.
Branford concludes its season with a home game against Foran at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 1.