Printer Friendly Version - Branford Boys’ Soccer Loses in State Quarters; Field Hockey Takes First-Round Defeat

Sophomore Ralf Ciarleglio and the Branford boys’ soccer squad earned wins versus Harding and Barlow in the first two rounds of the Class L State Tournament, after which the Hornets were eliminated from the draw with a 2-1 home loss to Maloney on Nov. 10. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Sound

The Branford boys’ soccer team won its first two games in the Class L State Tournament to advance to the quarterfinal round, where the Hornets took a 2-1 defeat against Maloney on Nov. 10. The Hornets had reached the quarterfinals by shutting out Harding 3-0 and then earning a 1-0 victory versus Barlow in a game that came down to penalty kicks. Head Coach Paul Hunter’s squad finished its season with an overall record of 14-5-2.

No. 8 seed Branford opened up states play by hosting No. 25 Harding on Nov. 7. The Hornets posted a 3-0 shutout over the Presidents in a first-round matchup at Branford High School.

The following day, Branford faced No. 9 seed Barlow for a second-round home game and defeated the Falcons 1-0 in a contest was decided by penalty kicks. After the two sides were scoreless through 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime, Branford and Barlow went to a penalty-kick session. The Hornets prevailed by a 5-4 margin in PKs to move on to the quarterfinals.

On Nov. 10, Branford hosted No. 17 seed Maloney and dropped a 2-1 decision against the Spartans in the Class L quarters. The Hornets trailed Maloney 1-0 at halftime. In the second half, sophomore Ralf Ciarleglio netted a goal for Branford to tie the game at 1-1. Maloney scored a goal to take a 2-1 lead with a little less than four minutes left in the game and then hung on for the win.

Prior to states, Branford had finished the 2018 regular season with a record of 11-3-2. Then in the SCC Tournament, the Hornets earned a 1-0 overtime win against Cheshire in the quarterfinals, before taking a 1-0 loss to Xavier in the semifinals.

The Branford field hockey squad was eliminated from the Class M State Tournament when the Hornets took a 3-0 loss at Hand in the first round of the Class M State Tournament on Nov. 6. Branford finished with an overall mark of 9-7-2-1 in their first year with Head Coach Pete Frye.

No. 7 seed Hand scored two goals in the first half and one more in the second half in its win versus 10th-seeded Branford. The Hornets had previously posted a record of 8-5-2-1 during the regular season. In the SCC Tournament, Branford recorded a 3-2 victory over Amity in the quarterfinals and then dropped a 5-0 decision to Cheshire in the semifinal round.

The Branford girls’ swimming and diving team will have some swimmers competing at the Class M State Championship this week. The Class M meet takes place at Wesleyan University at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 13.

The Hornets’ football team traveled to Wallingford to square off against Sheehan in an SCC Tier 3 matchup on Nov. 9. The Hornets took a 64-27 defeat against the Titans to drop to 5-3 overall with a record of 1-2 in SCC Tier 3 this year. Sheehan improved to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in Tier 3 with the win.

Branford held a 20-7 lead after the first quarter and led Sheehan by a 27-14 score at halftime. However, the Titans used a dominating second-half performance by running back Terrence Bogan to score 35 points in the third quarter and 15 points in the fourth on their way to the victory.

Senior Jackson Seward scored on a 16-yard touchdown run to give Branford a 7-0 lead about two minutes into the game. Later, with the game tied at 7, Seward took home an 8-yard TD rush to give the Hornets a 12-7 advantage with 7:16 left in the first quarter. Later in the frame, junior quarterback Sean Kelly connected with senior Chris Bouton on a 44-yard touchdown pass. Seward ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 20-7 through one.

Early in the second quarter, junior Spencer Landsbach rushed for a 14-yard TD, and sophomore Justin Osler followed by kicking the extra point for a 27-7 advantage. Sheehan used a 19-yard touchdown pass to cut it to 27-14 at the half.

In the third quarter, Sheehan’s rushing attack took control of the game as Bogan ran for five touchdowns in the period to give the Titans a 49-27 lead entering the fourth. Bogan scored two more TDs in the final quarter for Sheehan on its way to the 64-27 win.

Seward had 19 carries for 89 yards to lead Branford’s ground game, while Bouton caught a pair of passes for 72 yards. On defense, Aidan MacNeil had an interception, and fellow junior David Tedeschi recovered a fumble for the Hornets. Seward had 12 tackles, Osler made 11 tackles, and Landsbach had nine tackles in the game.

Branford is now ranked in the No. 11 spot for the Class M State Playoff rankings in which the top eight teams qualify. The Hornets have two games remaining in the 2018 regular season. Branford will host non-conference opponent East Lyme (3-5) at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 15, followed by the 77th edition of the team’s annual Thanksgiving Day rivalry game against fellow SCC Tier 3 opponent East Haven (7-1, 2-1). The game kicks off at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 22 at East Haven High School.