Printer Friendly Version - Guilford Boys’ Soccer Defeats Hand to Take SCC Championship

The Guilford boys’ soccer team took home its first SCC title in a decade by posting a 1-0 win versus Hand in the championship game of the Conference Tournament on Nov. 8 at West Haven High School. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

For the first time in a decade, the Guilford boys’ soccer squad is the champion of the Southern Connecticut Conference. Junior Anthony Ippolito’s breakaway goal 2:50 into the second half gave the Indians all the offense they would need in a 1-0 win over Hand in the SCC Tournament final at West Haven High School on Nov. 6. Guilford now stands at 12-1-6 overall as it kicks off Class L State Tournament play this week.

Ippolito received a ball over the top from junior Evan Lemon, took advantage of a misstep from a Hand defender, and then beat the Tigers’ goalie with a low shot for the goal. By virtue of the victory, the 2nd-seeded Indians captured their first SCC title since the 2009 campaign and their seventh in team history. Top-seeded Hand moved to 13-2-4 with the defeat.

Guilford and Hand had battled to a pair of ties during the regular season. On Sept. 14, the two teams played to a 2-2 draw. Then on Oct. 8, the Indians and Tigers squared off again and the game ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

In round three, Ippolito netted the only goal of the night to help Guilford prevail. Ippolito was selected as the SCC Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

“I got a lucky bounce. Evan got me the ball and I simply ran under it,” Ippolito said of his game-winning score. “Then I found myself in a one-on-one situation with the goalie.”

Guilford’s goalie, senior captain John Kosh, made a huge save for the Indians midway through the second half. Hand junior Scott Testori broke down the wing and tried to hit a cross shot past Kosh, who came up with the save to maintain the Indians’ one-goal edge. Kosh made four saves in the game en route to his 10th shutout of the season.

“He’s a great player. When he got open and broke on the wing, I knew he had a tough shot to make. I was able to take away his angle and make the save,” said Kosh of Testori. “Everything we do, we do for the boys. This is a team effort.”

Guilford’s victory gave Curtis Gullette a conference championship in his first campaign as the Indians’ head coach. Gullette felt confident that Ippolito was going to take advantage of his scoring chance by finding the back of the net. Ippolito had been recently moved up to forward after having previously played center midfielder for Guilford.

“This is the ultimate goal for a first-year coach,” Gullette said. “When I saw Anthony running toward the goal with an opportunity like that, I knew it was going in. He’s a great finisher.”

Earlier in the tournament, Ippolito scored the winning goal in overtime when Guilford earned a 2-1 home victory over Wilbur Cross in the SCC semifinals on Nov. 2. Then on Nov. 4, the Indians notched a 2-1 semifinal victory against Xavier by winning via a 4-2 margin on penalty kicks following regulation and overtime. Ippolito, sophomore Callum Stephens, junior Niall O’Brien, and junior captain Aidan Buchanan scored for Guilford during the PK session with Buchanan netting the game-winner. Buchanan, a defender, made the All-SCC First Team this fall.

The Indians are the No. 8 seed in the Class L State Tournament and hosted No. 25 Foran for a first-round showdown on Nov. 11 (after press time). If Guilford wins that game, it hosted the winner of No. 9 Wilcox Tech and No. 24 Masuk in the second round on Nov. 13 (after press time). The quarterfinals will be held on Friday, Nov. 15, and the semifinals are on either Monday, Nov. 18 or Tuesday, Nov. 19. The Class L state final takes place on Saturday, Nov. 23.

Hand is on the same side of the bracket as Guilford as the No. 4 seed. That means there is a chance that the two rivals will face each other for the fourth time this year in the state semifinals.

The Guilford boys’ soccer team’s roster includes senior captain John Kosh, seniors Cade Yerkes, Devlin Ahlefeld, Will Ian, Noah Killheffer, Jake Conklin, Jack Clancy, William Johnston, and Noah Kosh; junior captain Aidan Buchanan, juniors Joseph Mirrione, Niall O’Brien, Evan Lemon, Anthony Ippolito, Miles Montalvo, Camilo Carmona, Aidan Medvecky, Michael Malatesta, and Nathaniel Pizzuti; sophomores Theodore Freeman, Jacob Pinckney, and Callum Stephens; and freshmen Justin Hess and William Rice.