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09/24/2017 12:00 AMBoys’ Soccer
The Branford boys’ soccer team played three SCC Hammonasset Division games at home last week and came away with a pair of victories to stand at 5-1 overall with a mark of 2-1 in the Hammonasset. The Hornets defeated Amity and Shelton before losing to Law in last week’s action.
The Hornets started off last week by posting a 5-1 home win over Amity on Sept. 18. Ethan Boileau scored on a penalty kick just three minutes into the game to give Branford a 1-0 lead. Seven minutes later, Boileau assisted a goal by Hazem Salem for a 2-0 advantage. Marzio Mastroianni scored from Ben DeMaio with 10 minutes left in the half, and the Hornets had a 3-0 lead at intermission. In the second half, Will Riggs scored from Juan Leon-Munoz, who later had the assist on a goal by Ian Cabahug to make it 5-0.
Two days later, Branford had a home game against Shelton and prevailed 2-1. Cody McCarns scored from Boileau to give Branford a 1-0 lead 19 minutes into the game. The Hornets maintained their one-goal edge until there was 15 minutes left in the game, when DeMaio scored on an assist by Hazem Salem for a 2-0 advantage. The Gales cut it to 2-1 with seven minutes remaining, but Branford held on for the win against the previously undefeated defending SCC champions. The win marked the first time the Hornets defeated Shelton in program history.
Then on Sept. 22, Branford closed the week by taking a 3-2 loss to Law at home in another divisional game at home. Boileau and Mastroianni scored the Hornets’ goals.
Thus far this year, 10 different players have netted a goal for Branford, and five players have scored three or more. Eleven different players have an assist. Mastroianni leads the Hornets with eight goals, while Leon-Munoz has six assists to lead the team. Branford’s strong defense has been spearheaded by Kosta Gionteris, Abdalla Syed, and goalkeeper Praneeth Ganedi. Head Coach Paul Hunter said that co-captains Boileau and Ian Cabahug continue to be the backbone of the team, both offensively and defensively, with how they’re running the central midfield.
Girls’ Soccer
The Hornets earned their first win of the season by posting a 6-1 victory in Hamden on Sept. 18. Later in the week, Branford played a pair of SCC Hammonasset Division games, taking a 2-1 loss at Guilford and then playing to a 0-0 tie at West Haven. Branford is now 1-3-2 on the season.
Facing Guilford, Alayna Boileau scored one minutes into the second half to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead. However, Guilford netted the last two goals of the game to come away with the 2-1 win.
Volleyball
The Hornets recorded two wins in SCC Quinnipiac Division play last week to improve to 3-4 overall and 3-0 in the division. Branford defeated Quinnipiac opponents North Haven and Hillhouse with a loss against Guilford in between.
On Sept. 18, Branford posted a 3-0 home win over North Haven behind scores of 25-16, 25-21, and 27-25. Diana Karosas had six kills with six aces, Haley Maercklein had four kills, three blocks, seven digs, and three aces; and Marisa Minore recorded 12 kills and two aces for Branford.
Two days later, the Hornets were at Guilford and took a 3-0 (25-13, 25-8, 25-13) defeat. Karosas had four kills, while Minore had four digs with three aces.
The Hornets capped off their week with a 3-0 victory at Hillhouse on Sept. 22.
Girls’ Swimming and Diving
Branford had a meet in Hamden on Sept. 19 and eked out a 93-32 victory versus the Green Dragons.
The Hornets sealed their win when the 400 freestyle relay of Gabija Karosas, Gabrielle Gillis, Melissa Juliano, and Sally Nardella took first place with a time of 3:58.74. Karosas, a senior, also captured first in the 200 individual medley (2:23.67) and the 500 freestyle (5:49.88). Freshman Juliano earned first in the 100 freestyle (59.31) and 100 backstgroke (1:10.47). Senior Kaitlyn Haynes prevailed in the diving competition by totaling 225 points for Branford. Nardella won the 200 freestyle (2:05.97), Ryan Bohan was first in the 100 breaststroke (1:22.41), and Branford’s 200 medley relay of Karosas, Iliana Badillo, Bohan, and Jennifer Antell took first at 2:05.85.
Field Hockey
Branford played a pair of contests last week and picked up three points in the standings by virtue of a 2-1 overtime loss to Hand and a 6-0 victory versus Sheehan. The Hornets are now 2-1-0-1 on the campaign.
Branford started off last week with a game at fellow SCC heavyweight Hand on Sept. 18 and took a 2-1 defeat in OT against the Tigers, earning a point as a result. LanLe Crotty scored a goal in the first half to put the Hornets up 1-0 at halftime. The goal came when Britney Bunbanlus got the ball in the circle and reverse sticked it to Brianna Shaw, who gave it a tap, after which Crotty’s backhand reverse shot found the back of the cage for a 1-0 lead. Hand tied the game with 4:30 remaining in regulation and then won it by netting a goal on a breakaway with three minutes left in the overtime period. Erica Klarman made 14 saves for the Hornets.
Then on Sept. 21, the Hornets collected two points following a 6-0 home win over Sheehan. In the first half, Crotty scored from Zaffino, Shaw netted a goal on an assist by Karly King, Zaffino scored from Bunbanlu, and then Zaffino tallied her second goal of the half on a feed from Crotty for a 4-0 advantage. The second half saw sophomore Maggie Martin record her first varsity goal, after which Zaffino recorded her third score of the day to cap off the 6-0 victory. Klarman made two saves to get the shutout for Branford, which took 20 shots on goal.
In the previous week, Branford took a 2-1 defeat against Cheshire, a game that saw Shaw score a goal for the Hornets, witZaffino getting the assist. Klarman made six saves for Branford, which earned 11 corners and took 16 shots on goal.
Boys’ Cross Country
Branford had a quad-meet at Hamden Town Park on Sept. 19. The Hornets edged out Notre Dame-West Haven (29-30), defeated Oronoque Division opponent East Haven (15-50), and lost to Fairfield Prep (21-38) in the meet. Branford is now 2-4 overall on the season with a mark of 1-1 in its division.
Harrison Troidle led the Hornets by running a time of 18:22 to finish in fourth place. Matt Daley ran 18:39 to place fifth, while Ryan McCarthy finished sixth at 18:40 for Branford. Also competing for the Hornets were Andrew Betzig (27th, 20:00), Andrew DeBenedictis (31st, 20:11), Chris Borst (41st, 20:37), and Christian Bjork (42nd, 20:38).
During the previous week, Branford took defeats against Cross, Guilford, and Law in a quad-meet at East Rock Park. Troidle finished in seventh place overall with a time of 18:26. Troidle was followed by Daley (16th, 19:21), McCarthy (19th, 19:36), (31st, 21:06), and Betzig (40th, 22:01).
Girls’ Cross Country
The Hornets were at Sacred Heart Academy for a quad-meet on a rainy day last week. Branford took 15-50 defeats against Oronoque Division foe East Haven, Lauralton Hall, and the host Sharks at the meet. The Hornets are now 0-6 this fall.
Emily Borst took seventh place behind a time of 23:56 to lead the Branford pack. Sophie Spencer finished in ninth place by posting a mark of 24:21. Caroline Erickson placed 18th (26:07), and Violet Smiarowski finished 34th (28:41) for the Hornets.
The week before this meet, the Hornets lost to Guilford, Law, and Cross in a quad-meet. Spencer took 16th place by running 25:14 for Branford, while Borst finished 21st with a mark of 25:49. Also racing for the Hornets were Erickson (30th, 27:24), Smiarowski (35th, 29:33), and Maddie Steinman (36th, 29:34).
Football
The Hornets hosted Sheehan for their home opener on Sept. 22 and took a 41-19 defeat against the Titans in a SCC Tier 3 matchup. Branford is now 0-3 overall and 0-2 in SCC Tier 3 this year.
Sheehan grabbed a 21-0 lead after the first quarter before the Hornets got on the board when Sean Kelly tossed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Thomas early in the second. The Titans (3-0, 2-0) came back with another touchdown to take a 27-7 lead into halftime. Sheehan scored a TD on its first drive of the third quarter and added another a few seconds into the fourth to go up 41-7. Branford scored the last two touchdowns of the contest as Jackson Seward raced eight yards to the end zone, after which Kelly found Thomas for a X55-yard TD reception.
Thomas had 11 catches for 192 yards and a pair of scores for the Hornets, who saw Kelly complete 12-of-20 for 186 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Chico Greene led Branford on the ground with nine carries for 30 yards.
On defense, Dalton Carden had a sack for Branford. Parker Landsbach made 13 tackles, Seward made 10 tackles, and Aiden MacNeil had seven tackles.
Branford’s next game is on the road against SCC Tier 1 squad Notre Dame-West Haven (0-3, 0-2) at Veteran’s Stadium at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 28.