Printer Friendly Version - Guilford’s Soccer Squads Win Division Crowns; Football Hands East Haven First Defeat

Last week, Braden Stephens and the Guilford boys’ soccer team tied Law, knocked Cheshire from the ranks of the unbeatens with a 2-0 win, and then defeated Amity 1-0 to clinch the SCC Quinnipiac Division title. Stephens scored the Indians’ goal in the Amity victory. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The Guilford boys’ soccer team claimed a huge victory versus a top Southern Connecticut Conference rival last week to improve to 8-5-2 overall and clinch the SCC Quinnipiac Division title with a mark of 4-0-2 in divisional play. Guilford has also assured itself a berth in the SCC Tournament.

Guilford played to a 0-0 tie against Law on Oct. 15. The Indians then shut out Cheshire by a 2-0 score on Oct. 17, dealing the Rams their first defeat of the season. Two days later, Guilford posted a 1-0 shutout versus Amity to clinch the Quinnipiac Division title.

Guilford’s game against Cheshire was scoreless at halftime. With 32 minutes to play in the contest, Eric LePeak scored the first goal of the game to give the Indians a 1-0 lead. Cheshire had a few chances to tie it up, but goalie Ian Slattery came with some big saves in goal for Guilford. With just a few minutes left, Hugh Medvecky scored a goal to put Guilford up by two.

In the Amity win, Braden Stephens scored the lone goal of the game as the Indians came away with a 1-0 victory.

Guilford notched a Class L State Tournament berth after earning a big win in SCC Hammonasset Division play last week, after which the Indians clinched the division title by earning a tie versus Hand. The Indians now have an overall record of 5-5-5 and finished with a mark of 5-0-3 in the Hammonasset Division this year.

Guilford took a 2-0 defeat against Shelton on Oct. 16. The Indians then clinched their postseason bid by earning a 2-1 win versus East Haven in a divisional contest on Oct. 17. Facing Hand in another Hammonasset game, Guilford played the Tigers to a 1-1 tie on Oct. 20 to take the division crown.

The Guilford football team scored a 28-20 home victory over previously undefeated East Haven in an SCC Tier 3 matchup on Oct. 19. The Indians improved to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in SCC Tier 3 with the win. East Haven dropped to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Tier 3 with the defeat.

Charles Walcott finished his night with 178 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries for the Indians. Walcott gave Guilford an early 7-0 lead on a 6-yard TD rush. He later scored on a 3-yard touchdown run in the opening moments of the second quarter to make it 14-0 with 10:23 to play in the first half. Walcott completed his first-half trifecta of TDs by scoring from six yards out with 4:11 to play before the break to bring it to a 21-0 Guilford command at halftime.

The Yellowjackets scored on touchdown runs of 59 and 56 yards in the third quarter to make it a one-score game heading to the fourth. However, Ethan Vashel, connected with Aidan Chiaia on an 8-yard touchdown pass with just more than two minutes to play to give Guilford some breathing room. East Haven scored the game’s final touchdown as time expired, but it wasn’t enough. Vashel completed 11 out of his 19 passes for an even 100 yards in the victory.

The Indians will next host SCC Tier 2 opponent Foran (1-5) on Friday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.

Guilford came in sixth place at last week’s SCC Championship that was held at East Shore Park in New Haven on Oct. 19.

Elijah Dillon finished in 19th place by running a time of 17 minutes and 28 seconds to earn All-SCC Second Team recognition for Guilford. Also competing for the Indians were Ben Crair (29th, 17:50), McKendry Eschinger (43rd, 18:09), Griffin Hughes (45th, 18:10), Will Dinauer (51st, 18:21), Keldon LaRose (63rd, 18:40), and Jacob Shiffrin (66th, 18:42).

Guilford earned a win and took a loss in last week’s action. The Indians now have a record of 11-2-1 on the season.

The Indians blanked Branford by a 3-0 score on Oct. 16. Three days later, Guilford dropped a 1-0 decision versus Cheshire.

The Indians took a hard-fought 3-2 loss (26-24, 23-25, 25-20, 19-25, 11-15) against Amity on Oct. 15. Guilford rebounded by posting a 3-1 victory over East Haven on Oct. 17 to finish SCC Oronoque Division play with a perfect mark of 8-0. The Indians had clinched their second straight Oronoque Division title during the previous week.

Guilford took a defeat last week and is now 0-9 on the year. On Oct. 18, the Indians competed against West Haven and took a 96-74 loss to the Blue Devils.

Maddie Gambardella and the Guilford girls’ soccer team defeated East Haven and tied Hand last week to clinch both a Class L State Tournament berth and the SCC Hammonasset Division title. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

Ben Crair raced to 29th place to help the Guilford boys’ cross country team finish in sixth place at the SCC Championship on Oct. 19. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier