Printer Friendly Version - Hand Football Loses to New Canaan in Home Opener; Girls’ Swim Squad Notches Two Wins

Senior receiver Seth Sweitzer reeled in a pair of TD passes from quarterback Patch Flanagan when the Hand football team took a 28-18 loss to New Canaan in a battle of Connecticut heavyweights at the Surf Club on Sept. 24. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Source

The Hand football team squared off against New Canaan for a marquee matchup in its first home game of the 2021 season on Sept. 24. In a duel that came down to the final minutes, the 9th-ranked Tigers took a 28-18 defeat against No. 5 New Canaan in a non-conference game at the Surf Club. Hand is now 0-2 on the season as it gets ready to face Masuk this week.

New Canaan took a 14-0 lead over Hand and held on to that two-score advantage until the final minutes of the opening half. The Rams scored on a 20-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and then hit on 17-yard TD pass during the second quarter to go up 14-0. The Tigers responded with two quick touchdowns to cut the deficit to 14-12 just before halftime.

Senior Patch Flanagan ran for an 11-yard touchdown run that made it 14-6 with 38 seconds remaining in the first half. On New Canaan’s next drive, senior Seth Sweitzer intercepted the Rams’ quarterback to give the ball right back to the Tigers. With six seconds left in the half, Flanagan threw a 37-yard touchdown to Sweitzer to trim New Canaan’s lead to two points at the break.

New Canaan used a 20-yard touchdown run to increase its lead to 21-12 in the third quarter. The game stayed that way until Flanagan found Sweitzer on a 43-yard TD strike that made it 21-18 midway through the fourth. Hand got the ball back with a chance to take the lead, but a tipped pass led to an interception and a 22-yard return for a touchdown that gave the Rams some insurance with a 28-18 lead.

Hand’s next contest is a road game versus non-conference opponent Masuk on Friday, Oct. 1. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. at Benedict Stadium in Monroe.

The Hand girls’ swimming and diving team earned recent wins versus Branford and the East Haven-Cross-Hillhouse (EH-C-H) co-op squad to improve its record to 3-1 this season.

Hand hosted Branford on Sept. 20 and claimed a 67-59 victory at the Madison Swim & Racquet Club. Senior Kacie Wines finished first in the 200 individual medley (2:28.72) and also won the 100 butterfly (1:07.68) for Hand. Freshman Lillian Miller took first place in the 200 freestyle (2:08.75) to help the Tigers prevail. Fellow freshmen Emily Butler (2:32.56) and Lily Vest (2:36.75) took second and third place, respectively, in the event. Hand’s 200 medley relay of Seorin Kim, senior Abby Chemacki, senior Grace Sweeney, and junior Julia Urbowicz also claimed first place (2:02.28) in the victory.

Then on Sept. 25, the Tigers posted a 78-68 home win against EH-C-H. Wines (2:12.49) and Kim (2:13.21) swam solid times in the 200 freestyle while placing second and third, respectively, to help Hand notch the victory.

The Hand boys’ cross country team improved to 5-1 on the year after taking two of three in a road meet last week. The Tigers defeated Amity and Career to go with a loss against Xavier at Fitzgerald Field on Sept. 21.

Hand finished with a team score of 43 at last week’s meet. The Tigers earned wins versus Amity (53) and Career (no team score), while also taking a loss to Xavier (31).

Junior Harrison Grenier led the pack for the Tigers by taking third place with a time of 16:36. Senior Jack O’Keefe came in fifth place with a time of 16:47. Senior Danny Hilmer finished eighth (17:17), junior Nick Montana took 11th place (17:33), and senior Robert Constable finished in 17th place (18:25) for Hand.

The Hand girls’ cross country squad competed against Amity and Mercy in a meet at Fitzgerald Field on Sept. 21. The Tigers took losses against both opponents to move to 2-3 for the season.

Hand recorded a team score of 65 points in its recent competition. The Tigers took a defeat to Amity (19) and also lost to Mercy (54) at the meet.

Freshman Kylee Bolding turned in Hand’s top performance by running a time of 22:46 to take sixth place in the race. Fellow freshman Marla Lafferty finished in seventh place by clocking in with a mark of 22:56. Sophomore Tessa Burch finished in 20th place (25:46), senior Jan Mearle-Scotland finished in 29th (27:20), and senior Peytyn Geis came in 37th place (28:08) for the Tigers.

The Hand girls’ soccer team moved to 3-1-1 on the season after earning a win and a tie to go with a loss in recent action. The Tigers took a loss to Branford, battled Lauralton Hall to a draw, and then posted a shutout against Career-Hillhouse last week.

Hand dropped a 2-1 decision against Branford at the Surf Club on Sept. 21. With the Tigers trailing 1-0, sophomore Rory Parri netted a goal in the 20th minute of the game to tie it up. The game stayed tied until Branford scored the game-winning goal to take a 2-1 lead in the 71st minute of the contest.

Two days later, the Tigers faced Lauralton Hall on the road and played the Crusaders to a 0-0 tie. Then on Sept. 25, Hand notched a 9-0 victory over Career-Hillhouse at the Surf Club.

The Hand girls’ volleyball team stands at 4-2 on the year after gaining a split of two home matches last week.

On Sept. 20, the Tigers hosted Wilbur Cross and earned a 3-0 shutout at Daniel Hand High School. Then on Sept. 23, Hand played a home match against North Haven and lost by a 3-0 score.

The Hand field hockey squad came away from last week’s slate with a draw and a loss to put its record at 2-2-1 this year.

On Sept. 21, Hand hosted Sacred Heart Academy and the game ended in a 0-0 tie at the Surf Club. Two days later, the Tigers played a home game versus Guilford and took a 3-1 defeat to the Grizzlies. Sophomore Jordan Kells scored Hand’s lone goal of the game.