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10/20/2019 12:00 AMGirls’ Soccer
The Hand girls’ soccer team battled East Haven to a 0-0 tie in a road game and then posted a 5-0 shutout at Wilbur Cross in last week’s action. The Tigers improved to 6-4-2 on the year with these results and have solidified a berth in the Class L State Tournament.
Goalkeepers Brooke Salutari and Maddie Thomas combined for seven saves and the shutout when Hand faced East Haven on Oct. 16. Head Coach David Dikranian’s club was bolstered by a stellar effort from Maya Howard, Mia Forti, and Chloe Thompson on the defensive end of the field.
Two days later, Forti scored two goals for the Tigers in their states-clinching win over Cross. Hand also received single scores from senior captain Caroline Pfaff, Maya Howard, and Lila Sullivan in the victory. Howard and Pfaff each had an assist, as did Anna Cohen and Lily Fried. Adelynn Arroyo made her first varsity start in the midfield for Hand in the victory.
Boys’ Soccer
The Tigers gained a 4-4 draw with North Haven on Oct. 15 before closing out the week with a 2-0 win over West Haven on Oct. 19. Hand now has a record of 7-1-4 this season.
Scott Testori scored a pair of goals for Hand against North Haven. Jason Wallack and Chris Porte both scored a goal, and Porte also had an assist for the Tigers. Hand gave up two goals to the Indians late in the game to settle for draw.
In the West Haven game, Porte scored both goals for Hand with Testori assisting on each of them. Porte score his first goal in the 20th minute of the opening half and then tacked on an insurance goal in 42nd minute in the second half.
Field Hockey
Hand played just one game last week when the team traveled to Wallingford to face Sheehan on Oct. 17. The Tigers notched a 2-0 victory versus the Titans to boost their record to 9-4 on the campaign.
Girls’ Volleyball
The Tigers split a pair of recent matchups to move to 10-5 this fall. Hand earned a 3-1 (25-18, 25-11, 25-22) victory against North Haven on Oct. 16 and then took a 3-0 loss to Guilford two days later.
In the North Haven match, senior Allie Nelson had 22 kills to go with six digs and three aces for the Tigers.
Nelson also contributed 10 kills, five digs, and two aces in the match versus Guilford.
Girls’ Cross Country
Hand came in fourth place as a team when the Tigers ran at the SCC Championship at East Shore Park in New Haven on Oct. 17.
Morgan Combs recorded a time of 22 minutes flat to finish in 18th place for Hand at SCCs. Also competing for the Tigers were Keelin Virgulto (22nd, 22:26), Anna Stetten (27th, 22:36), Georgianna Rankin (50th, 22:58), Madison Rotermund (52nd, 24:04), Magdahlia Lesnik (73rd, 24:57), and Isabel Craven (74th, 25:00).
Boys’ Cross Country
The Tigers took fifth place as a unit while traversing the 5K course at last week’s SCC Championship meet.
Dante Zucconi finished in eighth place overall by completing the race in a time of 17:34 for the Tigers. Connor Parthasarthy finished in 19th place (17:51), Besufekad Opstrup finished 22nd (17:58), Daniel Hilmer came in 40th place (18:42), Sam Stiewing finished in 43rd place (18:47), Joseph Genther finished 53rd (18:57), and Corey Duncanson came in 67th place (19:15) at the meet.
Football
The Tigers improved to 5-0 and ran their winning streak to 29-straight games by posting a 41-6 blowout at Norwalk in a non-conference duel on Oct. 17. Hand allowed the Bears to score the first touchdown of the game, but then rattled off 41 unanswered points on its way to the victory.
With Hand trailing 6-0, Colin McCabe got the Tigers on the board by scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run to tie game. Jesse Lutz scored from nine yards out at the 7:29 mark of the opening quarter, after which Isaiah McNeilly tossed the 2-point conversion pass to Will Flanagan to give Hand a 14-6 lead through one.
In the second quarter, Phoenix Billings threw a 10-yard TD pass Ethan Haberman with 42 seconds to play until halftime. McNeilly’s extra point kick sent the Tigers to the locker room up with a 21-6 advantage.
Billings scored Hand’s lone touchdown of the third quarter on a 12-yard run with 4:50 remaining in the frame. In the fourth quarter, Lutz scored on a 3-yard TD run and then O’Brien added a 5-yard touchdown rush to help the Tigers put the game away. McNeilly kicked the extra point following both of these scores as Hand walked off the field with the 41-6 victory.
Hand, which is the No. 1-ranked team in the Class L State Playoff standings, will return home to face East Lyme in another non-conference matchup this week. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Surf Club on Friday, Oct. 25.