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11/11/2017 11:00 PMField Hockey
One week after playing in the SCC Tournament championship game, the Branford field hockey team kicked off play in the Class M State Tournament by winning its first two matchups to advance to the semifinals. The Hornets, who are seeded 4th in the tournament, notched a 4-3 win against 13th-seeded Watertown and a 3-0 victory over No. 12 seed Mercy to improve to 17-2-0-2 and make the state semis for the 29th time in program history.
Branford began the Class M State Tournament by hosting Watertown on Nov. 7 and came away with a 4-3 victory in a high-scoring contest. Senior captain LanLe Crotty scored a pair of goals for the Hornets, while sophomores Brianna Shaw and Molly Zaffino both recorded a goal with an assist. Shaw scored the first goal with 23:36 remaining in the first half by converting a corner on an assist from Autumn McHenry. Two and a half minutes later, Crotty found the back of the cage on an assist by Shaw. Then with just 10 seconds left in the half, Crotty scored from sophomore Molly Zaffino to make it 3-0 at intermission. The Hornets’ final goal came with two minutes left in the contest as Zaffino scored on an assist by senior captain Sabrina Torcellini to put Branford up 4-2. Watertown scored all three of its goals in the second half, including the final one on penalty stroke with 46 seconds remaining.
Two days later, the Hornets hosted Mercy in the quarterfinal round and won by the final score of 3-0. Zaffino and Shaw both had a goal with an assist, while Torcellini added a goal for Head Coach Cathy McGuirk’s squad. Senior goalie Erica Klarman made two saves in the shutout.
Zaffino scored the first goal from Shaw 5:16 into the game. With 10:59 to play in the opening frame, Shaw scored from Zaffino on a corner by deflecting the ball over the head of the Tigers’ goalie for a 2-0 lead that held up at halftime. Torcellini made it 3-0 when she scored an unassisted goal with 14:36 to go in the game. Branford had 33 corners and took 25 shots on goal in the victory.
Branford will face No. 8 seed New Canaan (11-7) in the Class M semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. at Trumbull High School. With a victory, the Hornets would face the winner of No. 2 seed Hand and No. 3 Guilford for the state title at Wethersfield High School on Saturday, Nov. 18.
Boys’ Soccer
The Branford boys’ soccer team defeated Waterford in its Class L State Tournament opener and then won a double-overtime contest against Watertown to advance to quarterfinals, where the Hornets dropped a 3-0 contest against Guilford. Branford finished its season with an overall record of 13-6-1.
On Oct. 6, the 11th-seeded Hornets hosted No. 22 Waterford in the first round of the Class L State Tournament and won by the final score of 3-1. The game was tied at 1 before senior Ethan Boileau scored his second goal of the first half to give Branford a 2-1 lead. Then in the second half, freshman Raffaele Ciarleglio netted an insurance goal to make it a 3-1 game.
Then on Oct. 8, Head Coach Paul Hunter’s squad faced No. 6 seed Watertown on the road in a second-round duel and prevailed by the final score of 2-0 in double overtime. Junior Juan Leon-Munoz scored both goals in the second OT for the Hornets, who saw junior goalie Praneeth Ganedi make 11 saves in the victory.
Three days later, Branford played at No. 3 seed Guilford in the quarterfinals and lost by the score of 3-0.
Girls’ Soccer
The Hornets’ girls’ soccer squad posted a victory at Law in the first round of the Class L State Tournament last week before losing to E.O. Smith in the second round.
Branford entered the Class L bracket as the No. 28 seed and went to Milford to square off against 5th-seeded Law on Nov. 7. The Hornets fell behind 1-0, but scored the last two goals of the game to rally for a 2-1 victory over the Eagles, who won 13 games this year and had recently lost to Hand in SCC Tournament final.
With Branford trailing 1-0 in the first half, sophomore Melanie Sachs scored the equalizer for the Hornets on an assist from senior Taylor Brown to make it a 1-0 game at intermission. In the first minute of the second half, Sachs found the back of the net again on senior Suzanne Prota’s assist to give the Hornets a 2-1 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. Senior Nina Grabowiecki made seven saves in net for Head Coach Jen Kohut’s club, which notched its first win in states since 2014.
Two days later, Branford headed north to Storrs for a second-round matchup against 21st-seeded E.O. Smith and took a 3-2 defeat to finish the year with a record of 7-8-3.
Volleyball
The Branford volleyball team took a 3-1 home loss against East Lyme in a Class L State Tournament first-round game on Nov. 6. Branford finished with a record of 12-8, plus a share of the SCC Quinnipiac Division title, in its first season with Head Coach Cody Michaels.
Branford was the No. 16 seed in the Class L tourney, while East Lyme owned the No. 17 seed. The Vikings took the first two sets on their way to winning the match 25-20, 25-13, 22-25, 25-18. Senior Haley Maercklein had 10 digs with 12 kills and eight blocks for Branford. Fellow senior Erin O’Brien recorded 20 assists to go with eight digs, while junior Taryn Broughal had five kills, three digs, two aces, and a pair of blocks.
Football
The Branford football team went to New Haven to face Creed-Career-Whitney in a SCC Tier 3 contest at Bowen Field on Nov. 10. The Hornets claimed a 23-6 victory against the Howling Wolves to improve to 2-7 overall with a record of 2-3 in Tier 3.
Sophomore quarterback Sean Kelly rushed for 124 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries for Branford. He also completed a short TD pass to senior Danny Thomas. Senior Zach Cash picked up 98 yards on 18 carries.
Following a scoreless first quarter, Kelly rushed for a 1-yard touchdown run just three seconds into the second quarter. Senior Teddy Gionteris kicked the extra point, and it was 7-0. Just more than a minute later, Branford’s Kyle Bissell sacked the Howling Wolves’ quarterback in the end zone for safety to make it 9-0. The Hornets got the ball back, and Kelly scored on a 4-yard run for a 16-0 Branford advantage at halftime.
With 4:05 left in the third quarter, Kelly threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Thomas, and Gionteris’s kick extended the lead to 23-0. The Howling Wolves (2-6, 1-3) returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, but they missed the 2-point conversion, and wouldn’t find the end zone again, as Branford came away with its second win of the season.
Bissell had the sack on the safety, while junior Chris Bouton also recorded a sack for the Hornets. Senior Cody St. Pierre lead the team in tackles by making eight. Cash returned two kickoffs for a total of 75 yards in the win.
Branford will conclude its season with the 76th edition of its annual Thanksgiving Day game against division archrival East Haven (1-8, 1-5). The game takes place at Branford High School at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 23.