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10/29/2017 12:00 AMGirls’ Soccer
The Hand girls’ soccer team earned a tie to finish the regular season at 14-1-1 and then won its opening contest in the SCC Tournament last week.
On Oct. 23, the Tigers played to 0-0 draw against Mercy. Then in the quarterfinals of the SCC Tournament on Oct. 28, top-seeded Hand hosted No. 8 Cheshire and prevailed by the score of 2-0.
Hand outshot Cheshire 10-5 with Sam Riordan (assisted by Viv Mazzarella at 32:50 of the second half) and Kayla Howard (from Taylor Scully at 19:34 of the second) scoring its goals. Morgan Lipford made four saves in net.
The Tigers will now host No. 4 Shelton in a SCC semifinal on Oct. 30. The winner moves on to the final on Thursday, Nov. 2 at West Haven at 5:30 p.m. against either No. 3 Law or No. 2 Sheehan.
Boys’ Soccer
Hand finished the regular season by taking a loss against Guilford, but bounced back with a win against Hamden in the SCC Tournament quarterfinals.
The Tigers dropped a 2-1 contest to Guilford on Oct. 23 to close the regular season with a record of 11-3-2. Guilford scored its first goal on a direct kick that floated into the net. The Indians increased their lead to 2-0 in the second half on a breakaway goal by one of their strikers. Late in the game, Owen McShane was awarded a penalty kick following a scuffle in the box and converted it to put the Tigers on the board. However, Guilford held on for 2-1 victory.
Hand was the No. 3 seed for the SCC Tournament and hosted No. 6 Hamden in a quarterfinal on Oct. 28. The Tigers edged out the Green Dragons by the final score of 1-0. Hand plays a semifinal on Monday, Oct. 30 at No. 2 Shelton. A win there puts the Tigers in the final on Thursday, Nov. 2 at West Haven at 7:30 p.m. against either No. 4 Fairfield Prep or No. 8 Career-Hillhouse.
Field Hockey
The Tigers recent completed their regular season and will now play in the SCC Tournament.
Hand faced Branford in its regular-season finale on Oct. 28 and prevailed 3-0 to finish 13-1-2.
Third-seeded Hand next plays in the SCC Tournament with quarterfinal action against Hamden at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 31. With a victory, the Tigers would face the winner of Cheshire and Lauralton Hall in the semifinals, which take place at Guilford on Wednesday, Nov. 1. The final will also be at Guilford on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 2 p.m.
Football
Hand improved to 6-1 on the campaign after recording a 38-7 victory at Law on Oct. 27. Hand is ranked fifth in the Class L State Playoff rankings in which the top eight squads qualify.
Phoenix Billings was 7-of-14 and threw for 128 yards with a touchdown for the Tigers. Billings also ran for a TD, while gaining 57 yards on six carries. Delvantae Hutton led the ground game with 130 yards on 16 carries and scored a touchdown. Isaiah McNeilly gained 54 yards on six rushes, and Brian Casagrande added a TD for Hand, which saw Chris Bartosic reel in three catches for 104 yards and a touchdown.
On defense, Jack Flanagan and Macken McDonald both recorded a sack, Ian Butler grabbed two interceptions, and Connor Castaldo also had an interception. Butler additionally blocked a punt, plus Shane Reiner and Colin McCabe tied for the team led in tackles with five apiece to help Hand get the win.
Hand next hosts Cheshire (5-2) on Friday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.
Girls’ Cross Country
Hand finished in seventh place at the Class L State Championship on Oct. 28 at Wickham Park in Manchester.
Anna Steffen placed 17th with a time of 21:16 for the Tigers, whose other runners were Madison Rotermund (27th, 21:38), Rachel Parthasarthy (52nd,22:23), Sarah Caso (58th, 22:39), Jade Law (62nd, 22:49), Chloe Veth (81st, 23:17), and Anna Son (99th, 23:56).
Boys’ Cross Country
The Tigers came in 12th place at last week’s Class L State Championship.
Racing for the Tigers at states were Jamie Calderon (44th, 18:17), Carson Hines (64th, 18:43), Cale Gabrynowicz (67th, 18:44), Dante Zucconi (70th, 18:47), Tyler Merritt (85th,19:06), Michael Campanelli (103rd, 19:29), and Martin Wolek (141st, 20:34).
Girls’ Volleyball
The Tigers wrapped up the regular season and then competed in the SCC Tournament last week.
Hand began the week by taking a 3-0 loss to East Haven on Oct. 23. The next night, the Tigers lost 3-2 loss to Cross to finish the regular season at 8-11.
The 10th-seeded Tigers then traveled to No. 7 Branford in the first round of the SCC Tournament on Oct. 27 and took a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-15) defeat.
Next up for Hand is the Class L State Tournament, which opens on Monday, Nov. 6.
Girls’ Swimming and Diving
The Tigers finished with a 8-3 record on the dual-meet season after a posting an 85-77 victory at Branford on Oct. 20. Hand’s record marks a one-win improvement upon its mark of 7-4 in 2016.
Ruby Redlich and Allie Mascia both won a pair of events for Hand in last week’s win versus Branford. Starting off the meet, the Tigers’ 200 medley relay team of Kayla Mendonca, Gabby Wira, and team co-captains Case Porter and Mascia finished in first place with a time of 1:59.19. Redlich took first in the 200 freestyle (2:03.85) with Erin Reilly placing fourth (2:08.13). Hand finished second, third, and fourth in the 200 individual medley behind Emma Ruffo (2:25.63), Porter (2:29.78), and Wira (2:31.00). Mascia took first in the 50 free (25.69) with Ava Keane finishing third (28.40). Porter won the 100 butterfly (1:04.19), followed by Kayla Mendonca in second (1:05.16) and Roisin Beirne in fourth (1:16.69). Mascia was victorious in the 100 free (56.94) with Ava Keane coming in third (58:16). Redlich secured first place in the 500 freestyle (5:32.29), and Sammy Tuveson took third (5:51.00). The 200 freestyle relay team of Redlich, Reilly, Keane, and Mascia placed first (1:47.44) for the Tigers. Other strong performances were put in by Mendona in the 100 backstroke (59.28), Wira in the 100 breaststroke (1:17.32), and the 400 freestyle relay team of Kylie Scarpellino, Redlich, Ruffo, and Mendonca (3:56.96).