Printer Friendly Version - McGuirk Gets Win No. 550 as Branford Field Hockey Keeps Rolling; Volleyball Qualifies for State Tourney

LanLe Crotty and the Branford field hockey team improved to 10-1-0-1 by earning wins against North Haven, Lyman Hall, and Stonington last week. Cathy McGuirk picked up her 550th career win as head coach of the Hornets in their 7-1 win versus Lyman Hall on Oct. 13. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Sound

Cathy McGuirk picked up her 550th career win as head coach of the Branford field hockey team when the Hornets posted a 7-1 victory at Lyman Hall on Oct. 13. Branford, which also earned a 9-1 win over North Haven and a 2-1 overtime triumph against Stonington last week, owns an overall record of 10-1-0-1 with a mark of 8-0 in games that count toward the SCC standings.

The Hornets started off last week by defeating North Haven 9-1 at home on Oct. 10. Brianna Shaw scored three goals, LanLe Crotty and Molly Zaffino each had two goals with two assist, Karly King scored a goal to go with an assist, Carly Shea added a goal, and Sabrina Torcellini, Autumn McHenry, and Britney Bunbanlu all had an assist for the Hornets. Erica Klarman made three saves, while Alisa Gueco and Hailey Brunner also saw time in the cage.

Three days later, Coach McGuirk earned win No. 550 when Branford prevailed by a 7-1 final over Lyman Hall in Wallingford. Zaffino had a huge game by scoring four goals for Branford. Madison Acquarulo tallied a goal with two assists, Crotty had a goal and an assist, McHenry also scored a goal, and Maggie Martin and King both contributed an assist in the win. This contest also served as Branford’s Play Pink Game with the proceeds going toward breast cancer research at Smilow Cancer Hospital.

The following day, Branford went to Stonington to play a non-conference game and came home with a 2-1 overtime win. After Torcellini scored from Shea to tie the game with 8:17 left in the second half, Zaffino won it for the Hornets by netting a goal on Torcellini’s assist with 3:54 to play in the OT session. Both goals came off corner plays. The Hornets’ game-winner started when Zaffino passed the ball out to Crotty, who passed it the Torcellini. Torcellini beat a Stonington player and made a solid pass toward the goal, where Zaffino was there at the post to put it for the victory. Klarman made eight saves for Branford.

McGuirk now owns a career record of 551-133-64-11. She has been the Hornets’ head coach for 41 seasons, a span in which the team has won 10 state championships, reached 14 state finals, and made the state semifinals 28 times. Branford has qualified for the State Tournament in each of the past 40 seasons with McGuirk. The Hornets have also won 17 conference titles, including 10 in the SCC, the most recent of which came last year. McGuirk, who coaches Branford with her husband John, has been named the Connecticut Field Hockey Association Coach of the Year four times and was the SCC Coach of the Year last fall.

Branford had a huge week last week as the Hornets clinched a spot in states and then handed one of their rivals their first defeat of the season. Head Coach Cody Michaels’s squad now owns a record of 8-6 on the season.

Branford started off by posting a 3-0 shutout at North Haven on Oct. 10. With the win, the Hornets clinched a berth in the Class L State Tournament, completed a season sweep of the Indians, and improved to 4-2 in Quinnipiac Division play. Haley Maercklein had a well-rounded effort that features seven digs, six blocks, two aces, and two kills. Marisa Minore had 11 kills, Tori Rudden contributed seven digs, and Madison Daniels had two kills with four aces for Branford.

Three days later, the Hornets claimed a 3-2 home win over Guilford, which entered the matchup with a record of 14-0 and had swept Branford 3-0 earlier in the season. This time, Branford rallied for a 25-12, 25-27, 12-25, 25-23, 15-13 victory against the Indians. Minore had 18 kills with 11 aces and four digs, while Erin O’Brien handed out a whopping 40 assists for the Hornets. Tory Rudden collected 13 digs, Diana Karosas had 13 kills, and Maercklein recorded 10 kills, six blocks, and three aces to help Branford notch its big victory.

In the previous week’s action, Branford earned a 3-1 win at Shelton and a 3-2 home triumph over East Haven. Against Shelton, Taryn Broughal had six blocks, seven kills, and six aces; Maercklein had four blocks, four kills, and five aces; O’Brien had 23 assists with three kills, and Minore added 13 kills. In the East Haven win, O’Brien dished off 27 assists to go with 12 digs, Karosas had 10 kills, five digs, and an ace; and Broughal recorded four kills, two blocks, and two aces for Branford.

Branford now stands with a record of 8-2-1 after splitting a pair of Housatonic Division games last week.

On Oct. 10, the Hornets shut out Sheehan by a 5-0 score at Branford High School to cap a season sweep of the Titans. Ralph Ciarleglio and Ben DeMaio each scored a pair of goals for Branford, which saw Marvin Hernandez dish out three assists in the victory.

Then on Oct. 12, Branford was edged 1-0 at Amity to move to 3-3 in Housatonic Division play this season.

The Hornets picked up three crucial points in their quest to make states by notching a tie and a victory last week. Branford improved to 4-5-3 on the season and needs three more points to qualify for the Class L State Tournament.

Branford began the week by playing to a 0-0 tie at Mercy in a Hammonasset Division contest on Oct. 11. The Hornets had taken a 2-1 loss to Mercy earlier in the season. Two days after that game, Branford claimed a 4-1 home victory over Hamden to complete a season sweep of the Green Dragons. Melissa Beatty netted a pair of goals for Branford, while Rose Lockery scored one goal to go with an assist in the win.

Branford hosted SCC Oronoque opponent Career for its regular season finale at the Supply Pond on Oct. 12. The Hornets earned a 15-50 victory over the Panthers to finish the regular season at 4-6 overall with a record of 3-1 in the division.

Ryan McCarthy crossed the finish line with a time of 18:21 to take first place for the Hornets in the win. McCarthy was followed, in second through fifth place, respectively, by Harry Troidle (18:42), Andrew DeBenedictis (19:21), Andrew Betzig (19:21), and Matt Daley (19:40).

The Hornets notched their first win of the year by posting a 15-50 home victory over Oronoque Division opponent Career last week. Branford went 1-9 overall for the regular season with a record of 1-3 in the division.

Sophie Spencer and Emily Borst both ran a time of 24:14 to share first place honors for Branford at the meet. Caroline Erickson placed third with a 25:48, Maddie Steinman took fourth at 27:57, Julie Dillon was fifth in 29:29, and Violet Smiarowski finished in sixth place behind a time of 30:15.

The Hornets hit the water for one meet last week when they competed against Shelton on the road. Branford took a 101-67 defeat versus the Gaels at Shelton Community Center Pool on Oct. 11.

Branford took a 72-26 home loss against Fitch in a non-conference contest on Oct. 13. The Hornets, who dropped to 1-5 with the defeat, trailed 38-20 at halftime before Fitch (5-0) outscored them 38-6 in the second half.

Jackson Seward scored three touchdowns for Branford in the loss. Seward ran for a 1-yard TD in the first quarter, caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Sean Kelly in the second quarter, and ran for a 28-yard touchdown in the third. Kelly also scored on a 3-yard TD run for the Hornets in the second quarter. All totaled, Seward ran 11 times for 52 yards and caught four passes for 62 yards. Kelly was 14-for-28 with 286 yards for the Hornets. Danny Thomas had seven receptions for 131 yards, while Will Ryder reeled in three catches for 93 yards.

After a week off, Branford will host SCC Tier 2 opponent Amity (1-4) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 27.