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10/27/2019 12:00 AMFootball
The Hand football team recorded its 30th-consecutive victory and improved to 6-0 on the year by notching a 47-7 home win against non-conference opponent East Lyme on Oct. 25. The Tigers totaled 422 yards of offense, led by nine catches for 204 yards and four touchdowns from senior tight end Ethan Haberman, on Breast Cancer Awareness Night at the Surf Club. Senior quarterback Phoenix Billings threw all four of those TD passes to Haberman, going 12-for-17 for 232 yards in the victory. Hand’s defense also played a great game by limiting the Vikings’ offense to 140 yards, including just 40 yards allowed by the first unit.
Hand opened the scoring at the 9:28 mark of the first quarter when Billings threw a 9-yard TD pass to Haberman for a 6-0 lead. Four minutes later, senior Jesse Lutz raced up sideline for a 19-yard touchdown run that gave the Tigers a 12-0 advantage. Lutz had eight carries for 86 yards and a score on the night.
Hand closed out its 20-point first quarter on Billings’s 7-yard TD toss to Haberman on the final play of the frame. Isaiah McNeilly ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 20-0 after one.
The Tigers kept rolling by scoring three touchdowns in the second quarter. Shane Reiner punched home a 2-yard TD run, Billings scored from two yards out on a QB keeper, and then Billings threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Haberman to give Hand a 40-0 command at halftime.
Billings connected with Haberman on 38-yard scoring strike for the tandem’s fourth TD of the night at the 10-minute mark of the third quarter. McNeilly kicked the extra point to make it 47-0.
East Lyme scored its lone TD of the game with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Hand is currently in the No. 2 spot in the Class L State Playoff rankings behind St. Joseph, which is also 6-0. The Tigers’ next game is at fellow SCC Tier 1 opponent West Haven at Ken Strong Stadium on Friday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. The Blue Devils come into the contest with an overall record of 2-3 and are 1-1 in SCC Tier 1 play. Hand has a record of 1-0 in SCC Tier 1.
Boys’ Soccer
The Tigers clinched the SCC Housatonic Division title by earning wins over Law and Cheshire in divisional play last week. Hand defeated Law by a 6-1 score on Oct. 21 and then solidified the title with a 2-0 victory against Cheshire on Oct. 25. The Tigers went 6-0-2 in the division this year and have an overall record of 9-1-4.
In the Cheshire game, Hand got on the board by netting the first goal of the game at the 10-minute mark. Jack Wildermann took a free kick that was settled in the box by Scott Testori, who passed to Chris Porte for the score. Two minutes later, Testori headed home a goal off a corner kick from Porte to make it 2-0. Sophomore goalkeeper Tim Perez recorded the shutout in net for the Tigers.
Girls’ Soccer
Hand lost two contests in last week’s action, but also qualified for the Class L State Tournament by earning a tie versus Shelton. Hand has a record of 6-6-3 with one game left in the regular season.
The Tigers started their week by dropping a 2-0 decision to West Haven on Oct. 21.
Two days later, Hand qualified for states by playing Shelton to a 0-0 draw on Senior Night. The Tigers honored their four seniors—Kayla Howard, Caroline Pfaff, Chloe Thompson. and Olivia Travisano—prior to the game. Sophomore goalie Brooke Salutari came up with seven saves to help Hand get the tie, including a game-saving stop in final minutes.
In its last game of the week, Hand took a 1-0 loss to Cheshire on Oct. 24.
Girls’ Volleyball
Hand earned a pair of recent victories to improve to 12-5 heading into the home stretch of the regular season. The Tigers posted a 3-0 shutout versus Sheehan on Oct. 21 and then blanked Hillhouse by that same score four days later. Hand has now won five of its last seven matches.
Field Hockey
The Tigers finished their regular season with a record of 10-6 after losing two of their last three games.
On Oct. 21, Hand dropped a 2-1 decision versus Hamden. The Tigers bounced back with a 2-1 win against Mercy the following day. The day after that, Hand took a 2-0 defeat to Branford in its regular-season finale.
Girls’ Cross Country
The Tigers came in seventh place when they competed at the Class MM State Championship that took place at Wickham Park in Manchester on Oct. 26.
Morgan Combs took 33rd place for Hand by completing the 5K course in a time of 22:12. The Tigers’ other runners at the meet were Anna Stetten (41st, 22:32), Keelin Virgulto (44th, 23:02), Georgianna Rankin (57th, 23:59), Madison Rotermund (81st, 25:05), Magdalhia Lesink (86th, 25:33), and Anna Son (104th, 26:51).
Boys’ Cross Country
Hand posted an eighth-place showing at the Class L State Championship meet at Wickham Park on Oct. 26.
Connor Parthasarthy came in 21st place for the Tigers by finishing the 5K course in 17:36. Also competing for Hand at the state meet were Dante Zucconi (27th, 17:45), Besutekad Opstrup (49th, 18:15), Daniel Hilmer (57th, 18:24), Sam Stiewing (59th, 18:28), John O’Keefe (65th, 18:34), and Lukas Kraemer (97th, 19:16).
Girls’ Swimming and Diving
The Tigers completed their regular season by splitting their last two meets to finish with a record of 8-3.
In its last meet of the regular season, Hand recorded an 84-73 win over Branford on Senior Night on Oct. 25. The Tigers were bolstered by first-place showings from Ava Dougherty in the 200 individual medley (2:31.75), Erin Reilly in the 100 freestyle (57.07), Grace Vest for the 500 freestyle (6:02.57), and Julia Urbowicz in the 50 freestyle (26.76). Hand’s 200 medley relay team of Kayla Mendonca, Allie Lesnick, Reilly, and Ruby Redlich took first place (2:02.47), as did the 200 freestyle relay of Redlich, Reilly, Emma Ruffo, and Mendonca (1:48.40).
Hand also received runner-up performances from Vest in the 200 freestyle (2:13.44), Ruffo in the 100 butterfly (1:08.03), Sophia Cadematori for the 200 individual medley (2:35.10), Wines in the 50 freestyle (27.40), and Kylie Scarpellino in the 200 freestyle (6:05.91).
Taking third place were Scarpellino in the 200 freestyle (2:15.20), Urbowicz in the 100 butterfly (1:08.40), Cadematori in the 100 freestyle (1:04.51), and Betts for the 500 freestyle (6:10.42).
Earlier in the week, the Tigers took a 96-81 defeat against Amity on Oct. 22. Mendonca claimed first place in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:17.31 to go with a victory in the 500 freestyle at 5:16.61. Redlich won the 100 freestyle (57.47), while Ruffo took top honors in the 100 backstroke (1:06.15).
Reilly took second place in the 200 freestyle (2:04.32), and Dougherty finished second for the 100 breaststroke (1:16.62). Hand’s 200 medley relay of Mendonca, Dougherty, Ruffo, and Redlich came in second place (1:59.60), while the 400 freestyle relay of Urbowicz, Reilly, Ruffo, and Mendonca also finished in second (3:56.42).
Swimming to third-place finishes were Redlich in the 50 freestyle (57.47), Lesnick in the 100 breaststroke (1:23.44), and Cadematori in the 100 backstroke (1:08.67).
During the previous week, Hand lost to Cheshire by the final score of 96-81 on Oct. 18. Reilly claimed first place in the 50 freestyle (26.29) with Mendonca earning first for the 100 butterfly (1:01.01).
Redlich finished second in the 100 freestyle with a time of 57.11. The Tigers’ 200 freestyle relay of Redlich, Reilly, Wines, and Mendonca finished second (1:47.01). The 200 medley relay team of Redlich, Ruffo, Reilly, and Wines took third (2:03.82).
Third-place performances were also delivered by Mendonca in the 200 freestyle (2:02.74), Wines for the 200 IM (2:26.73), Wines in the 500 freestyle (5:42.58), Redlich in the 100 backstroke (1:06.54), Ruffo in the 100 breaststroke (1:16.75), and Eva Alquist in the diving competition (146.63 points).