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12/28/2016 11:00 PMBoys’ Ice Hockey
The Branford boys’ ice hockey squad notched a 7-2 home victory over North Haven that marked its first win of the year, as well as the first win for new Head Coach James DiNapoli. The game between the two SCC/SWC Division II rivals took place at Northford Ice Pavilion on Dec. 23. Then on Dec. 28, the Hornets faced Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe at Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport and lost a 4-1 contest to stand at 1-3 for the season. Branford had previously lost to Fairfield 7-3 at home on Dec. 21.
Girls’ Ice Hockey
Branford-East Haven-North Branford picked up its first victory on the season by recording a 2-1 overtime triumph versus Mercy-Northwest Catholic at Champions Skating Center in Cromwell on Dec. 27. The next day, the Hornets made it two in a row by posting a 4-2 home win over Amity-North Haven-Cheshire at DiLungo Rink to improve to 1-3-1 for the year. The week before, Branford-East Haven-North Branford lost a 3-0 home decision against Hamden on Dec. 22.
Boys’ Basketball
Branford recently tipped off another campaign with Head Coach Jake Palluzzi and split its first two games. The Hornets got things going by recording a 43-39 victory at rival East Haven on Opening Night on Dec. 23. Four days later, Branford faced North Haven in the North Haven Holiday Tournament and took a 53-47 loss to move to 1-1. The Hornets will play Cheshire in their home opener at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 6.
Due to the realignment of the divisions in the SCC this year, Branford is no longer in the Oronoque Division. The Hornets are now in the Quinnipiac Division with Career, West Haven, Foran, and Law.
Girls’ Basketball
The Hornets own a record of 2-3 on the season, having most recently competed in the Foran Holiday Festival, where they took a 44-34 loss to Foran on Dec. 27 that was followed by a 37-32 versus Law the following afternoon. For the previous week’s action, Branford prevailed at North Branford 49-36 in a non-conference contest on Dec. 19 and then dropped a 45-33 home decision to East Haven on Dec. 23.
Boys’ Swimming and Diving
Branford and Guilford are in their second season as a co-op team this winter and the squad is once again coached by Ray Beaulac. The Hornets opened up their campaign by hosting Hamden on Dec. 19 and the squad dropped a 95-77 decision to the Green Dragons at Walsh Intermediate Pool.
Boys' Indoor Track
Branford kicked things off this year with representation at a pair of recent meets.
On Dec. 20, the Hornets were at Floyd Little Athletic Center for the first SCC Developmental meet. Branford's top performances came from Marzio Mastroianni (10:32.57) and Ricky Tratnyek (11:03.59) in the 3,200-meter run, as well as Matt Alexander in the long jump (17 feet-9 inches) and Kadir Sahin in the 1,000 (3:15.66). Glenn Iacovetti ran a nice time of 1:40.76 for the 600.
A week later, Iacovetti ran the 800 at the Rhode Island Classic and finished with a time of 2:13.22.
Rich Biondi is back for another season as Branford's head coach. This spring, Biondi will be an assistant for the boys' outdoor track squad after having been that team's head coach for many years.
"Early in the season, it has been an opportunity for our kids to gain experience. The team is comprised of 19 freshmen and sophomores and each meet is a chance for growth," Coach Biondi said. "Glenn Iacovetti has really begun to emerge in the middle-distance events. Glenn is new to track and has a high degree of pain threshold. He works extremely hard and is eager to improve. I am excited to see where Glenn will be in a month from now."