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10/18/2021 12:00 AMGirls’ Volleyball
The Branford girls’ volleyball team improved to 13-2 on the season after adding three more victories to its ledger last week. The Hornets defeated Shelton, Wilbur Cross, and North Branford in recent action and have now won eight matches in a row.
The Hornets recorded a 3-1 (24-26, 25-16, 25-18, 25-16) home victory versus Shelton on Oct. 11. Junior Allie Bietz posted 42 assists to go with six digs and two aces in the victory. Senior Marzia Johnson had 15 digs with six kills and one ace, junior Paige Kelly had 12 kills with three blocks, and sophomore Maddie Lawler finished the match with seven aces and one block for Branford.
On Oct. 14, the Hornets hosted Wilbur Cross and claimed a 3-0 (25-14, 27-25, 25-13) victory. Johnson had 15 digs with four aces and three kills in the win. Senior Kayla Krebs had 12 assists and four aces, Bietz had seven assists with five aces and two digs, and senior Molly Martone recorded five kills, four aces, and one block.
Two days later, Branford faced North Branford on the road and netted a 3-2 victory over the Thunderbirds, rallying to win the match by the final tally of 20-25, 25-16, 17-25, 25-23, 16-14. Bietz had 32 assists to go with four digs and three aces for the Hornets. Johnson had 10 digs with three aces and one kill, Kelly posted seven kills and three blocks, Lawler had four aces, and senior Lily Stockwell chipped in with seven kills and three digs.
Field Hockey
The Branford field hockey team continued its stellar play by notching two more wins last week to improve to 9-2-0-1 on the season. The Hornets blanked Amity and Lyman Hall in a pair of recent home games and have now won their last seven contests via shutout.
Branford started off its week by posting a 2-0 home victory over Amity on Oct. 12. Senior Julia McHenry scored from junior Lauren Kendrick to give Branford a 1-0 lead in the first quarter. The Hornets maintained their one-goal edge until the fourth quarter, when senior Nora Longway scored from McHenry to make it a 2-0 game.
Branford prevented Amity from getting any shots on goal as senior keeper Nina Shamas picked up the shutout in net. The Hornets were bolstered by excellent performances from senior Katie Laska, junior Aryana Wilson, and sophomore Reanna Sachs.
Branford went on to notch a 9-0 win over Lyman Hall in another home game on Oct. 16. The Hornets stormed out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter. Sophomore Mia d’Amuri scored the first goal from Longway, who netted the second goal on assists by McHenry and Kendrick. McHenry scored a goal from d’Amuri and then junior Scott Engstrom scored on an assist by Kendrick for a 4-0 Branford advantage.
In the third quarter, senior Ava Brunner scored from Engstrom, after which Kendrick scored from junior Gianna Bozzi and Longway to make it 6-0. Brunner went on to net an unassisted goal for a 7-0 lead and then Engstrom scored from McHenry to make it 8-0 through three.
Sophomore Iva Sekerovic scored an unassisted goal in the fourth quarter to finish off the 9-0 victory. Shamas and Bozzi combined for the shutout in goal as Branford once again prevented the opposition from getting any shots on net.
Boys’ Cross Country
The Branford boys’ cross country team completed its regular season by competing in a quad-meet at the Surf Club in Madison on Oct. 12. The Hornets took three of four at the meet to finish with a record of 8-1 for the regular season this year.
Branford posted a team score of 52 to defeat Cheshire (59) and Hamden (113), while also taking a loss against Hand (19) in its regular-season finale. Senior Wes Raymond finished in sixth place with a time of 17:16 for the Hornets. Senior Peyton Moriarty finished in seventh place (17:20), and fellow senior Pat Zdunek came in eighth place (17:39) at the meet. Junior Massimo Corrick took 15th place (18:18), sophomore Dom Zdunek finished in 16th (18:26), and sophomore Sam Coppola finished 17th (18:31) for the Hornets.
Girls’ Cross Country
The Branford girls’ cross country squad took on three teams for a quad-meet in its final contest of the regular season last week. The Hornets finished the regular season with a record of 2-7 after defeating one of its three opponents at the Surf Club on Oct. 12.
Branford scored 74 points as a team to edge out Hand (75) and take losses against Hamden (36) and Cheshire (38) in last week’s meet. Freshman Peyton Gaudreau ran a time of 21:31 to finish in fourth place for the Hornets. Junior Hannah Jackson took sixth place with a mark of 21:47. Senior Julia Duffy finished in 17th place (24:28), freshman Ella Stone came in 20th place (25:04), and junior Emma Allen finished in 31st place (29:31) for Branford.
Girls’ Soccer
The Branford girls’ soccer team played two games last week and came away with a tie and a loss to put its record at 7-3-2 for the year.
In its first game of the week, Branford played a road game versus Amity and battled the Spartans to a 1-1 draw. Senior Kendall Infantino scored a goal for Branford off a free kick during the first half. The Hornets held on to their one-goal edge until Amity tied the score with a goal in the last four minutes of the game. Senior Macey Girard made some big saves in net for the Hornets, who received a solid effort from sophomore Emma O’Connor on defense.
Three days later, the Hornets hosted Hand and took a 2-1 defeat against the Tigers. Sophomore Lucy Moran scored from fellow sophomore Tess Ferrie to give Branford a 1-0 lead just two minutes into the game. The Hornets brought their one-goal lead into halftime, but Hand scored two goals during the second half and went on to get the victory.
Boys’ Soccer
The Branford boys’ soccer team took two defeats last week to move to 3-8-1 on the year.
On Oct. 11, Branford took a 2-1 home loss against West Haven. Then on Oct. 14, the Hornets played a road game versus Jonathan Law and dropped a 3-1 decision in the contest.