Printer Friendly Version - Guilford’s Hockey Squads Have Nice Weeks on the Ice

Sophomore Maddie Epke lit the lamp in overtime to send the Guilford girls’ ice hockey team to a 7-6 victory against West Haven-Sacred Heart Academy at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport last week. File photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The Guilford girls’ ice hockey squad was victorious in all three of its games last week. The Indians have won five of their last six and now stand with a record of 6-3 on the season.

Guilford started off its week by squaring off with Hall-Conard in a home game on Jan. 22. The Indians skated to a 7-4 win over the Warriors at Patsy DiLungo Ice Rink.

Two days later, Guilford went up against West Haven-Sacred Heart Academy in the Connecticut Ice Girls High School Hockey Showcase game at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. The Indians netted a 7-6 victory in overtime when sophomore Maddie Epke scored the winning goal for Guilford during the extra session.

Epke scored five goals and had two assists for the Indians, who rallied from a 5-1 deficit to send the game to OT. Sophomore Daniella Vickerman had a goal with two assists, including the game-tying score late in regulation. Senior Audrey Rowen also scored a goal, while senior Mary Evans, junior Christina Garofalo, and sophomore Olivia Gill contributed one assist apiece. Sophomore goalie Julia McDonald stopped 26 shots in net for Head Coach Rich Binkowski’s squad.

The Indians wrapped up their week by notching an 11-1 win over Trumbull-St. Joseph at the Sports Center of Connecticut on Jan. 25.

Guilford boosted its record to 4-5-1 on the year after winning its last two games. The Indians earned victories versus Amity and Watertown-Pomperaug in recent action.

Guilford claimed a 6-4 home win versus Amity at Patsy DiLungo Ice Rink on Jan. 22. Senior captain Jack Dacey scored four goals for Guilford in the victory.

Then on Jan. 25, the Indians hit the road to play Watertown-Pomperaug at the Taft School. Guilford prevailed by the final score of 6-3 for its second win of the week and the team’s third in its last four games. Dacey had another big night with four more goals and a pair of assists.

The Indians competed against three teams in a quad-meet at Haddam-Killingworth High School on Jan. 25. Guilford swept the competition by defeating all three teams at the meet.

Guilford earned a 65-16 victory versus Griswold at H-K. The Indians also routed Terryville by the score of 66-9. Guilford additionally posted a 39-34 win over the host Cougars on its way to the sweep.

The Indians lost two of their three games last week and are now 3-9 this winter.

On Jan. 20, Guilford hosted Avon and took a 34-25 defeat. The following day, the Indians lost a 52-46 decision against Foran on the road. Then on Jan. 24, Guilford lost to Hand by a 41-37 final in a home game.

Nicholas Meeks won the gold medal by finishing first in the saber competition when the Guilford fencing program hosted the Individual Novice Tournament E1 event on Jan. 25. Guilford’s fencers competed in épée, foil, and saber at the event.

In addition to taking first place, Meeks also earned his E20 United States Fencing Association rating with his performance in saber at the Novice Tournament. Nicholas Gangemi came in second place for the Indians in the saber competition. Julian Gangemi finished eighth, Jack Audet was 10th, and Shivaji Kumar finished in 11th place.

Sands Pascucilla took fourth place in the foil competition. Pascucilla was followed by Jay Patel (7th), Benjamin Kellner (8th), and Arya Nadgouda (9th).

In épée, Matthew Kotzbauer came in fifth place and Luke Robbins finished sixth for the Indians. Also placing in the competition were Max Banning (9th), Jake Burrell (10th), and David Crair (18th).

Maddie Merkle took first place for the foil competition while representing Indians’ fencing at the Individual Novice Tournament E1 event at Guilford High School on Jan. 25. Guilford saw a few other fencers turn in solid showings at the meet.

Joy Qiang claimed the silver medal with a second-place finish in the saber competition at the tournament. Emma Bewersdorf took the bronze for épée by finishing in third place. Riley Weed came in 11th place for the épée competition on behalf of Guilford.

The Greater New Haven Warriors boys’ swimming and diving team went up against the Lyman Hall-Coginchaug co-op in its lone meet of the week. The Warriors earned a 100-77 victory at Sheehan High School to improve to 3-2 on the year.

Freshman Christian Butler qualified for the Class LL Diving State Championship by recording a lifetime-best point total of 181.15 points for the Warriors. Fellow sophomore Patrick Cucchiarelli swam a lifetime-best mark of 1:12.14 in the 100 backstroke. Sophomore Kyle Borrelli swam a lifetime bests in the 100 freestyle (56.65) and the 100 breaststroke (1:15.98), while junior Collin Romero did a lifetime best of 1:05.92 in the 100 freestyle.

Junior Connor Coyne swam a season-best time of 1:58.85 in the 200 freestyle for GNH. Junior Tanner Powell (24.22), freshman Joey Gould (26.82), and sophomore Miguel Pearce (27.40) recorded season bests for the 50 freestyle. Sophomore Finn Henry finished with a season-best mark of 59.30 in the 100 backstroke.

Senior Jack Dacey turned in a pair of four-goal performances for the Indians in a big week that saw them notch wins in both games they played. File photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier