Printer Friendly Version - Branford Field Hockey Edges Cheshire 2-1 to Take SCC Title

The Branford field hockey squad captured its first SCC Tournament title in program history by defeating Cheshire 2-1 in the championship game at Lyman Hall High School on Nov. 3. The Hornets had reached the final by earning a 2-1 triumph versus Lauralton Hall that was decided on penalty strokes. Photo courtesy of Steady Photography

The Branford field hockey program has compiled a lengthy list of achievements throughout Cathy McGuirk’s 40-year tenure as head coach, but one thing the Hornets hadn’t done was win the SCC Tournament. That all changed last week when Branford beat Lauralton Hall 2-1 (4-1 on penalty strokes) in the semifinals to advance to a championship showdown versus the Cheshire Rams, who the Hornets defeated 2-1 at Lyman Hall on Nov. 3 to take home the tournament title.

Branford and Cheshire were locked in a 1-1 tie before senior Kiersten Bjork scored the go-ahead goal from junior LanLe Crotty on a corner play with 14:25 remaining. The Rams had a few chances to net the tying goal, but the Hornets kept the ball out of the cage, hung on for the win, and walked off of the field as SCC champions. Branford had won the SCC regular season title nine times prior to the tournament’s inception in 2010. Coach McGuirk’s squad improved to 17-2 and now sets its sights on the Class M State Tournament.

“It was just a super feeling for the coaches and kids to accomplish this against such a good team. Anybody is a good team when you’re playing in the finals and it was so exciting and worthwhile and such a hard game to win. Everybody was elated and it was a wonderful thing,” said McGuirk, who coaches the team with her husband John McGuirk and Robin Axtell and was named the SCC Coach of the Year. “The kids were like, ‘We want to get this for you,” and I said, ‘You’re getting it for you, not me. This is your game.’ And the kids were into it. The kids on the bench were cheering. We had less kids than Cheshire, but our kids were louder. Everybody was involved, including the parents. It was a wonderful feeling and there were tears of joy from some of them.”

Branford entered the SCC Tournament as the No. 3 seed and Cheshire was the top seed. The teams had split their two regular season meetings with the Hornets winning the first one 1-0 and Cheshire taking the second contest 2-0. When the bell rang for round three, the Hornets wasted little time getting on the board as freshman Molly Zaffino scored from junior Sabrina Torcellini and senior Carol Frye just 3:10 into the game. On a corner, Frye sent in the ball in to Torcellini and she took a solid shot toward the goal that Frye deflected to Zaffino, who pushed it in to give Branford a quick 1-0 lead. Cheshire later scored on a corner with 12:09 to play before halftime and the game went to the break tied at 1.

With 14:25 remaining in the game, Bjork inbounded a corner and there was a big scramble in the middle that saw a few Hornets get their stick on the ball. One of those players was Crotty and she promptly passed to Bjork, who shot the ball past the Rams’ goalkeeper for the deciding score in Branford’s 2-1 victory. Hornets’ junior Autumn McHenry was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

Branford had 10 shots on goal to Cheshire’s five and took 10 penalty corners to the Rams’ six. Senior keeper Keira Integlia made six saves. Integlia captains the Hornets with fellow senior Alanna Grimm, who said her team had a great pep talk before the game and featured tremendous energy that propelled Branford past the Rams (14-1-3-1).

“It was, by far, one of the best, if not the best game that we played all season. We worked so well together and had a lot of great plays and energy on the bench, in the stands, and all of that. There was just great energy that helped us out in the best way,” Grimm said. “I am so incredibly proud of my team. I could not be prouder...We’ve just come so far and all the girls have grown so much closer throughout the whole season. I’ve never been more proud of a team and I couldn’t be prouder to be a senior or a captain of this team.”

Branford had reached the title bout by prevailing at 2nd-seeded Lauralton Hall, the defending tournament champion, in a semifinal matchup on Nov. 1. The game was deadlocked at 1 through regulation and three overtime periods before the Hornets won it by outscoring the Crusaders 4-1 in the penalty stroke session.

There were zeros on the scoreboard until Zaffino scored from Bjork and Frye off a corner with just 10:10 remaining in regulation. The Hornets maintained their 1-0 edge and were on the verge of victory, but Lauralton (11-3-2-2) kept pressing and finally scored the tying goal on a corner play with just 39 seconds left. Some teams might have been demoralized after allowing the equalizer in the final minute, but Coach McGuirk said her athletes shook off the goal and were ready go to for overtime.

“Our kids never gave up. It was like, ‘We’re getting it back!’” McGuirk said. “That wasn’t going to bust our balloon. We were going to inflate our balloon and keep going. It was intense.”

Neither team scored during the three 10-minute OT sessions that were played 7-on-7 and so penalty strokes were needed to determine the winner. Branford won the coin toss, Integlia decided that the Hornets would shoot first, and Frye converted their first chance for a 1-0 advantage. Integlia thwarted the Crusaders’ initial offering and then Torcellini scored to make it 2-0. Lauralton scored to cut it to 2-1, but McHenry responded with a goal, and Integlia made the next save, putting the Hornets just one score away from victory. Crotty stepped to the line, took her shot, and sent it past the Crusaders’ keeper to send Branford to its first SCC final.

The Hornets earned 11 corners and Lauralton Hall had 10. Branford took six shots on goal to the Crusaders’ seven with Integlia making six saves to help the Hornets come away with a historic win that was followed by an even bigger one against Cheshire two days later.

“It feels amazing,” said Integlia. “We put in so much work for this starting back in the summer. Alanna and I were outside three or four days a week at summer practices trying to get in shape with the girls and we just put in the time and effort to be the best we can be this season. It definitely paid off.”

• Branford’s roster consists of senior captain defender Alanna Grimm, senior captain goalie Keira Integlia, senior forward Kiersten Bjork, senior midfielder Carol Frye, and senior defender Emily Sachs. The Hornets’ juniors are forward LanLe Crotty, midfielder Autumn McHenry, defenders Caitlin Baker, Fiona Palmieri, Sabrina Torcellini, Britney Bunbanlu, and Leah Pendl-Robinson; and goalie Erica Klarman. The sophomore class features forwards Maddie Galdenzi, MaryBeth Nwagboli, Aleyah Bosworth, and Khusbu Shrestha; midfielder Kenya Claude, and defenders Carly Shea, Abby Robinson, Jessica Amarante, and Hema Medhat. Branford’s freshmen are forwards Madison Acquarulo, Brianna Shaw, Molly Zaffino, Hailey Brunner, Maggie Martin, Gianna Benni, Claire Bickel, and Emily Taber; midfielders Alexis Pepe, Celia Shanley, and Karly King; defender Victoria Howe, and goalkeeper Gianna Messina. The Hornets’ team managers are seniors Olivia Datre and Victoria Warfield, plus junior Emily Knapp.

• Branford is the No. 3 seed in the Class M State Tournament and hosted No. 14 Pomperaug (7-8-1) in a first round matchup on Nov. 8 (after press time). With a victory, the Hornets would host the winner of No. 6 East Lyme and No. 11 Watertown in the quarterfinals on Thursday, Nov. 10. The final takes place at Wethersfield on Saturday, Nov. 19.