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03/10/2017 11:00 PMBoys' Ice Hockey
One week after winning its first conference title in program history, the Guilford boys' ice hockey team kept steamrolling through the postseason by claiming victory its first three Division II State Tournament games to advance to the final. No. 4 seed Guilford hosted No. 13 Trumbull in the first round of the Division II State Tournament on March 7 at DiLungo Rink in East Haven and prevailed 6-2. Four days later, the Indians advanced to their second straight state semifinal with a 9-6 victory over No. 5 Farmington Valley in a quarterfinal contest at Trinity College. Then on March 13, Guilford faced off against 9th-seeded South Windsor in the semifinals at Ingalls Rink in New Haven and edged out the Bobcats by a 3-2 final to reach the championship game.
The Indians, who are now 20-5 overall, will play No. 2 seed Watertown-Pomperaug (18-4-1) for the Division II title at Ingalls Rink at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 17. This will be Guilford's fourth appearance in a state final and its first since 2011. The Indians won the Division III state title in 2010 and took the Division II crown back in 1994.
Against Trumbull, Jack Ring (with 13:22 left in the second period), John Delucia (12:15 remaining in second), and Rick Sandella (5:30 to play in the middle period) scored goals to give Guilford a 3-1 lead heading into the third period. Trumbull made it a one-goal game by scoring with 13:20 to go in regulation, but Cam Bagnall provided some insurance on a power play goal with 9:45 to play. Ring notched his second score of the night 5:45 later and then Jake Watrous's goal capped off the opening round triumph for the Indians.
In the semifinal contest against South Windsor, Delucia scored from Jack Kane to give Guilford a 1-0 lead at the 6:14 mark of the first period. South Windsor responded with a goal just 39 seconds later to tie the game at 1-1, which was how it stayed through the first two periods. At the 3:31 mark of the third, Sandella put the Indians up 2-1 when he scored on assists from Kane and Delucia. Then with just under six minutes to go in the game, Delucia made it 3-1 by scoring on a Kane assist. The Bobcats got a goal to cut it to 3-2 with 2:03 to play, but Guilford hung on for the one-goal win to advance to the Division II final. Kyle Dwyer made 16 saves in net for the Indians.
Boys’ Basketball
The Indians’ boys’ basketball squad recorded its first State Tournament victory since 2003 last week, after which Gullford saw its season come to a close with a loss in the second round of the Class L bracket.
No. 8 seed Guilford defeated No. 25 Platt 71-54 in the first round of the Class L State Tournament at home on March 7. Hosting No. 9 Windsor in the second round on March 9, the Indians dropped a 79-67 decision to finish the season with an overall record of 16-7.
Facing Platt, Jordan Krause led the Indians with 28 points, while Noah Rubino added 19.
Sam Dombroski and Rubino netted 18 points apiece for the Indians in the Windsor game.
Girls’ Basketball
The Guilford girls’ basketball team took a 69-49 loss to top seed Holy Cross in the quarterfinals of the Class L State Tournament on March 7. The Indians, who were the No. 8 seed, finished the year at 18-8 and also made their first SCC Tournament semifinal in 10 years this winter.