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10/20/2019 12:00 AMFootball
The North Branford football team returned from its bye week with a vengeance last week. On Oct. 19, the Thunderbirds routed Old Saybrook-Westbrook (OS-W) by the final score of 48-14 at Colafati Field to improve to 3-2 this year. Junior quarterback Brandon Fratta tossed five touchdowns in the victory for North Branford, which totaled 561 yards of total offense on the afternoon.
Senior Nate Raymond put the T-Birds on the board when he corralled a 12-yard TD pass from Fratta in the first quarter. In the second quarter, North Branford scored three touchdowns to take a 28-0 lead into halftime. First, junior Alex Clinton caught a 74-yard TD pass from Fratta, and then junior Tyler DiNapoli ran home the 2-point conversion to make it 14-0. Raymond later sprinted 51 yards to the house for another touchdown, after which he hauled in an 87-yard TD pass from Fratta. DiNapoli was successful on both extra point kicks as North Branford took a commanding lead.
Early in the third quarter, DiNapoli caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from Fratta to put the T-Birds up 35-0. After OS-W got on the board, DiNapoli plunged in for a 1-yard TD to extend North Branford’s lead to 41-7. The Rams scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter before Clinton caught a 54-yard TD pass from Fratta for the final points of the game.
Fratta finished 15-of-21 passing for 404 yards and five touchdowns. Clinton caught five passes for 169 yards and two scores for North Branford. Raymond had four receptions for 137 yards and two TDs, while adding 51 yards and a score on the ground. DiNapoli ran for 60 yards and a touchdown to go with two receptions for 48 yards and a TD.
On defense, senior Ronnie Longo had an interception, a fumble recovery, and a sack for North Branford. Junior Efstathios Gianniotis recorded two sacks in the victory.
The T-Birds will look to keep things rolling when they host Valley Regional-Old Lyme at Colafati Field on Saturday, Oct. 26 at noon.
Field Hockey
The T-Birds won all three of their contests in shutout fashion last week. North Branford owns a record of 13-0 and has posted a shutout in all 13 of those victories.
On Oct. 14, the Thunderbirds squared off with Morgan and earned a 2-0 victory at home. The Huskies put the pressure on North Branford by taking six shots on goal, but senior keeper Jaime Matthews turned them all aside to get the shutout. Sophomore Olivia Toto opened up the scoring with a goal at the 19:13 mark of the first half. Toto later assisted senior captain Ava Galdenzi for a goal at the 11:45 mark of the second half to make it 2-0.
Head Coach Babby Nuhn said that senior captain Melanie Norton played a strong game in the midfield for North Branford. She added junior Gabby Gibilisco thwarted several scoring opportunities by Morgan in the game.
Three days later, North Branford traveled to Deep River to play Valley Regional and blanked the Warriors by a 7-0 score. Galdenzi scored a goal in the first minute of the contest and finished the game with three goals for a hat trick. Toto scored two goals and also had a pair of assists. Senior captain Ali Barrett assisted on three goals and scored a goal, while senior Bianca D’Onofrio also had a goal for the T-Birds. Matthews and junior Sofia Votto combined to make 12 saves for the shutout in net.
The Thunderbirds closed out their week by notching a 4-0 victory at Killingly on Oct. 19. Senior Avonlea LeBeau proved a strong presence on the defensive end for the T-Birds, along with Gibilisco and junior captain Kelli Jacobson. Matthews made seven saves for another shutout. Galdenzi, Norton, Barrett, and Toto all scored one goal apiece, while Jacobson contributed an assist.
Boys’ Cross Country
North Branford sent four athletes to compete at the Shoreline Conference Championship that took place at Cromwell High School on Oct. 18. Haddam-Killingworth won the meet as a team with Cromwell taking second place. H-K’s Matt Jennings was the individual winner with a time of 15:49.
For the Thunderbirds, junior Roberto Didiano posted the team’s best result by finishing in 28th place with a time of 17:59. Also running for North Branford were senior Joe DeLucia (53rd, 19:00), junior Conor Leete (72nd, 20:33), and sophomore Zachary Chittenden (73rd, 20:43).
Girls’ Cross Country
The Thunderbirds competed at the Shoreline Championship at Cromwell High School on Oct. 18. Haddam-Killingworth came in first place as a team, and Old Saybrook was the runner-up at the meet. Liv DiStefano of East Hampton took first place in the race by clocking in at 18:36.
Junior Onna Gott finished in 39th place by running a time of 22:58 to lead North Branford. Sophomore Regan Leete came in 54th place with a time of 23:56.
Girls’ Soccer
The Thunderbirds notched a win and a tie in their two Shoreline Conference games last week, improving to 3-7-3 for the season. North Branford is heating up down the stretch with a record of 3-0-1 in its last four contests.
North Branford visited Morgan on Oct. 15 and played the Huskies to a 4-4 tie. Trailing by a 4-1 score in the second half, the Thunderbirds scored three-straight goals to walk off the field with the draw.
Junior Mallory Preiss got things going for North Branford by scoring off of a set piece. Junior Adrianna Lucibello and sophomore Grace Marra then scored back-to-back goals to get North Branford within one. Junior Catie Dow buried a penalty kick late in the game to tie the score at 4-4. Senior goalie Gianna Sullo played net for the T-Birds in the game.
On Oct. 19, North Branford hosted Westbrook and claimed a 4-0 victory versus the Knights. Freshman keeper Ava Candelora earned the shutout in goal for North Branford. Senior captain Lexi Rosado scored a pair of goals, while Dow and junior Alessia Valentino also netted goals in the win.
Rosado’s first goal came after she stole the ball in the midfield and raced into the box for a left-footed finish. On Rosado’s second goal, senior captain Britny Gildersleeve launched the ball up to Rosado, who beat a few defenders and placed a perfect upper-90 shot past the Westbrook goalie. Rosado also assisted Dow’s goal on a corner kick, and Gildersleeve assisted Valentino off of another corner.
Boys’ Soccer
North Branford lost three games last week to move to 0-12 this season.
The Thunderbirds opened action by taking a 9-0 loss versus Morgan on Oct. 14. Sophomore goalie Michael Virginelli made 12 saves for North Branford in the game.
On Oct. 17, the T-Birds took a 10-0 defeat against Westbrook. The next day, North Branford dropped a 6-2 decision to non-conference opponent Amistad.
Volleyball
The Thunderbirds earned a win in one of their three contests last week and are now 4-12 this fall. North Branford lost a pair of matches by 3-0 scores against East Hampton and Valley Regional before topping Northwestern by a 3-1 final to finish the week.
On Oct. 14, North Branford took a 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-23) defeat to East Hampton. Senior captain Sally Cucinotta five kills and two aces, while senior Julia Ricardo finished with four kills for the T-Birds. Senior Emily Cole had three aces with 12 assists, and senior captain Katy Pedersen contributed 18 digs.
Two days later, North Branford dropped a 3-0 (25-16, 29-27, 25-20) contest versus Valley Regional. Cucinotta had six kills to go with three aces and 10 digs. Senior Sofia Cavalier had 17 digs, Pedersen and Cole posted 12 digs apiece, and Cole had 10 assists.
North Branford completed its week with a win over Northwestern by a score of 3-1 (25-18, 25-22, 13-25, 25-20) on Oct. 17. Cucinotta led the T-Birds with five kills in the win, and Pedersen contributed 30 digs. Cole had nine assists and four aces, while Cavalier added 13 digs and seven assists for the Thunderbirds.