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05/20/2019 12:00 AMGirls’ Lacrosse
The North Branford girls’ lacrosse team finished its regular season with a record of 13-3 to clinch the top seed in this week’s Shoreline Conference Tournament. The T-Birds took losses against Old Saybrook and Guilford last week, but defeated Old Saybrook to win the tiebreaker for the top spot in Shorelines.
On May 14, North Branford was edged out by Old Saybrook by the score of 11-10. Senior captain Jessie Kilburn scored five goals had three assists, while junior captain Avonlea LeBeau and freshman Oliva Toto netted two goals apiece. Senior Cayleen Defaranos scored North Branford’s other goal, plus senior Mary-Kate Torgerson and sophomore Aly Kendrick both had an assist. Junior goalie Carly Sorrentino made seven saves.
Two days later, the T-Birds posted a 15-6 win against Old Lyme. Kilburn scored six goals, Toto scored four, and junior Ali Barrett found the back of the net three times to go with two assists. Freshman Braeden LeBeau scored a goal and had five assists, Avonlea LeBeau contributed a goal, and senior captain Jordan Regan had an assist for the T-Birds, who saw Sorrentino record seven saves.
North Branford took a 17-5 defeat against Guilford in its regular-season finale on May 17.
The defending champion T-Birds have secured the top seed in the Shoreline Tournament and are hosting No. 4 seed Morgan in the semifinals on Tuesday, May 23 at 4 p.m. The winner will play either No. 2 Old Saybrook or No. 3 Old Lyme in the final at the Indian River Complex in Clinton at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 23.
Boys’ Lacrosse
North Branford split a pair of games last week to go 10-6 for regular-season play and earn the No. 2 seed in the Shoreline Conference Tournament.
On May 14, North Branford visited Old Saybrook and won via a 12-0 shutout. Junior captain Xavior Cognata made 15 saves in goal to keep the Rams off the board. Sophomore Tyler DiNapoli scored five goals and had three assists, freshman Jake Saldutti scored two goals, and senior Dylan Martinik had four assists. Senior captain Nick Barrett, junior Nate Raymond, senior Cameron DiPentima, junior Attilio Avallone, and freshman Joey Marra scored one goal apiece.
Two days later, North Branford took a 6-5 loss to Old Lyme on Senior Night. DiNapoli had a goal with two assists, Martinik had a goal and an assist, while Raymond, senior Jake Montanaro, and senior Alex Grimm all scored a goal. Cognata stopped nine shots in net.
As the No. 2 seed, North Branford is hosting No. 3 Old Lyme in the Shoreline Conference Tournament semifinals at 7 p.m. on May 21. Should the T-Birds win that game, they will advance to the final to square off against the winner of No. 1 Morgan and No. 4 Haddam-Killingworth at the Indian River Complex in Clinton on Thursday, May 23 at 7 p.m.
Baseball
The Thunderbirds finished the regular season at 13-7 are the No. 3 seed in this week’s Shoreline Conference Tournament.
On May 16, North Branford posted a 6-4 win over North Haven. Junior John Pollock pitched three innings in relief to earn the victory. Sophomore Jadon Canello tossed the final two innings to pick up the save. In the top of the first inning, senior captain Nick Mancini led off with a double and then fellow senior captain Carl Jacobson hit a single that moved Mancini to third. Freshman Dom Scalia and senior Colin Baxter hit back-to-back RBI singles to make it 2-0. With the game tied 4-4 in the sixth, North Branford scored two runs to take the lead for good. Junior Enrique Diaz led off with a single, after which junior Brett Feet, senior captain Steve Galluba, and senior Gio Parillo all hit singles that resulted in two more runs for the Thunderbirds. Mancini had three hits, while Jacobson, Scalia, Baxter, and Fee each had a pair of hits.
North Branford took a 4-1 loss to Branford on May 18. North Branford’s lone run came in the second inning, when Galluba hit a sacrifice fly to score Scalia. Mancini had two hits for the T-Birds, plus Jacobson, Pollock, and Scalia had one apiece.
North Branford is the No. 3 seed in the Shoreline Conference Tournament and will host No. 6 Valley Regional in the quarterfinals at 3:45 p.m. on Monday, May 20. The winner of that game moves on to the semifinal round to play the winner of No. 4 Coginchaug and No. 5 Old Saybrook on Tuesday, May 21. The final will be held at Palmer Field in Middletown at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 24.
Softball
North Branford lost two games last week and is 12-7 with one game left in the regular season.
On May 15, the T-Birds took a 14-2 defeat against Berlin. Senior captain Angelina Ramada and junior Katy Pedersen drove home the T-Birds’ runs in the game.
The following evening, North Branford lost to East Haven by a 15-3 final on Senior Night. Junior Kayla Despres had two hits and scored two runs, while Ramada and sophomore Erica Piercey both had an RBI.
North Branford is competing in the Shoreline Conference Tournament as the four-time defending champion this week. The quarterfinals are on for Thursday, May 23, the semis take place on Friday, May 24, and the final is on Saturday, May 25 at Old Lyme High School at 11 a.m.
Girls’ Tennis
The Thunderbirds won two of three during the last week of the regular season to finish at 15-5. The T-Birds will be competing in the Class S State Tournament this week.
On May 15, North Branford dropped a 4-3 decision to Old Lyme. Junior Sofia Cavalier earned a 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles; senior captain Sydney Constantinidi claimed a 7-5, 6-1 victory at No. 2 singles; and junior Janessa Pompano notched a 6-2, 7-5 victory at No. 4 singles.
The following afternoon, the T-Birds beat East Hampton/Hale-Ray by a 5-2 score. Constantinidi prevailed 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 singles, while Pompano netted a 6-3, 6-3 at No. 4 singles. Junior captain Briana Dautaj and junior Ava Galdenzi earned a 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles; senior Alyssa Diaz and sophomore Catie Dow won a 6-0, 6-1 decision at No. 2 doubles; and senior Ashley Testa and sophomore Emma Serenson notched a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 3 doubles.
North Branford posted a 6-1 win at Old Saybrook on May 18. Cavalier claimed an 8-2 win at No. 1 singles; Constantinidi posted an 8-0 shutout at No. 2 singles; senior captain Jordan Caplan won a 8-3 decision at No. 3 singles; and Pompano triumphed by an 8-0 final at No. 4 singles. Diaz and Dow rallied for an 8-5 victory at No. 2 doubles; and the team of Testa and Serenson earned an 8-4 win at No. 3 doubles.
Golf
North Branford took two defeats in last week’s action.
On May 14, the T-Birds lost to Morgan by the final score of 189-224. Freshman Dakota Cooper scored a 48 for North Branford. Fellow freshmen Ryan Monde shot a 50, Blake Pearson finished with a 63, and Jalen Rossicone scored a 63.
The next day, North Branford took a 216-228 loss against Maloney to move to 0-13 on the year.