Girls’ Soccer

The Hand girls’ soccer team improved its record to 12-2-1 after posting shutout victories in all three of its games last week. The Tigers blanked Sacred Heart Academy, Lyman Hall, and Wilbur Cross in last week’s action and have now recorded shutouts in 11 of their 12 wins on the year.

Hand kicked off last week by earning a 5-0 victory at Sacred Heart Academy on Oct. 17. Junior Charlie Lee scored 2 goals to go with 1 assist for the Tigers in the win. Junior Lilly McFadden had 1 goal and 1 assist, while senior Lily Fried and freshman Alice Agovino also scored goals for Hand in the game.

Sophomore Amanda Coric and freshman Keely Parri both had an assist for the Tigers. Junior goalie Lilly Paine made 4 saves in net and also had an assist in the victory.

The next day, the Tigers hosted Lyman Hall and won the game by an 8-0 score on Senior Night at the Surf Club. Senior Maya Howard scored 4 goals in the victory, including 2 on penalty kicks. McFadden scored 2 goals to go with 1 assist, and Fried handed out 2 assists for the Tigers. Parri and senior Lydia Doraz both scored a goal, while Lee and senior Maddie Coulis each had an assist. Paine stopped 5 shots in goal.

Hand wrapped up last week by netting a 8-0 shutout over Wilbur Cross in a road game on Oct. 21. Parri scored 2 goals off of corner kicks and also had 1 assist in the win. Howard scored 1 goal with 3 assists, Fried had 2 assists, and McFadden had 1 goal and 1 assist for the Tigers.

Coulis, Doraz, sophomore Piper Lea, and freshman Claire Levis added 1 goal apiece in the victory. Paine made 1 save to get her third shutout of the week.

Hand is facing North Haven on the road in its regular-season finale this week.

Boys’ Soccer

The Hand boys’ soccer team won one of its three games last week and now has a record of 6-7-1 this year. The Tigers took defeats versus Wilbur Cross and Fairfield Prep before finishing the week with a win over West Haven.

On Oct. 17, the Tigers took a 2-0 home loss against Wilbur Cross. Three days later, Hand hosted Fairfield Prep and dropped a 4-0 decision at the Surf Club. Then Oct. 22, Hand notched a 1-0 victory against West Haven in a road game.

Hand will be on the road to face Shelton for its final matchup of the regular season on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.

Boys’ Cross Country

The Hand boys’ cross country team put together a third-place performance when the Tigers competed in the Southern Connecticut Conference Championship that was hosted at East Shore Park in New Haven on Oct. 19. Hand scored 109 points as a squad on its way to finishing third at the conference meet last week.

Senior Harrison Grenier and fellow senior Nicholas Montana both earned All-SCC First Team honors for the Tigers when they hit the course for the SCC Championship. Grenier finished in third place by running a time of 16:15.2, while Montana came in sixth place after crossing the finish line with a mark of 16:32.6.

Junior Christopher Bonavita claimed 28th place (17:42.5) for Hand at SCCs. Junior Jacob Merenda finished in 32nd place (17:48.4) on behalf of the Tigers. Junior Ty Boucino finished in 40th place (18:04.0), sophomore Jack Rickleman finished in 67th (18:41.8), and junior Elliott Lee came in 82nd place (19:22.5) at the meet.

Next up for Hand is the Class MM State Championship that’s taking place at Wickham Park on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 3:50 p.m.

Girls’ Cross Country

Freshman Annecy Vlieks finished in fifth place to lead the pack for the Hand girls’ cross country team at last week’s SCC Championship meet. The Tigers finished in eighth place with 209 points scored when the SCC Championship took place on Oct. 19 at East Shore Park.

Vlieks recorded a time of 19:33.9 for the 5K race on her way to placing fifth at SCCs. Vlieks earned All-SCC First Team honors by virtue of that performance.

Sophomore Marla Lafferty took 31st place (21:57) for Hand at the SCC Championship. Fellow sophomore Kylee Bolding came in 32nd place (22:03.6) while representing the Tigers.

Junior Tessa Burch finished in 74th place (24:22.3) at the conference meet. Sophomore Hannah Staron finished in 79th place (24:41.1), freshman Maya Bell placed 98th (27:29.9), and junior Ava Millen finished in 99th place (27:31.6).

Hand will be competing at the Class M State Championship this weekend. The state meet is being held at Wickham Park at 2:05 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29.

Field Hockey

The Hand field hockey team gained a split of two recent home games to put its overall record at 9-4-1 this season. The Tigers earned a narrow victory over Cheshire before taking a close loss to Amity in recent action.

Hand began last week by claiming a 1-0 win versus Cheshire in a home game on Oct. 18. Sophomore Bridget Waters scored the lone goal of the contest on assists from sophomore Addison Kosiewicz and junior Kelly Kilbourn in the second quarter to lift Hand to the victory. Junior goalkeeper Faith Minickene made 7 saves in net to get the shutout for the Tigers.

Two days later, the Tigers hosted Amity and lost to the Spartans by a 1-0 score. Amity netted the game’s only goal during the first period and then held on for the one-goal win. Minickene made 10 saves in net for Hand.

Hand will conclude the regular season by playing road games against North Haven and Cheshire this week.

Girls’ Swimming and Diving

The Hand girls’ swimming and diving team finished its regular season with a record of 9-2 after splitting a pair of road meets last week. The Tigers took a defeat against Amity before earning a win versus Mercy to cap off an excellent regular season.

On Oct. 18, Hand took an 101-81 road loss to Amity at the High Plains Community Center. Junior Abby Simpson finished first in the diving competition for the Tigers by scoring 170.20 points at the meet. Sophomore Samy Chemacki won the 500 freestyle (5:27.28), while sophomore Aniella Lesnik placed first in the 100 breaststroke (1:23.94).

Three days later, Hand claimed a 91-76 victory over Mercy in its regular-season finale at the Middletown YMCA.

Hand will be participating in the SCC Championship this week. The SCC Diving Championship takes place at Sheehan High School on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 10 a.m.; the Swimming Qualifier is at Cheshire Community Pool on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 4 p.m.; and the SCC Swimming Championship will be hosted at Southern Connecticut State University on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 5 p.m.

Girls’ Volleyball

The Hand girls’ volleyball team took two recent defeats to move to 6-12 on the season. The Tigers lost contests against Shelton and Cheshire last week.

Hand took a 3-0 loss to Shelton in a road match on Oct. 17. Then on Oct. 20, the Tigers hosted Cheshire and lost to the Rams by a 3-0 score at Daniel Hand High School.

Hand is hosting Haddam-Killingworth for its regular-season finale on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 4:30 p.m.

Football

The Hand football team hosted Fairfield Prep for an SCC Tier 1 game at the Surf Club on Oct. 21. The Tigers took a 37-19 defeat against the Jesuits to move to 1-5 overall with a record of 0-4 in the division this year.

Fairfield Prep scored the first 2 touchdowns of the game and held a 14-0 lead over Hand after the first quarter. The two teams traded TDs in the second quarter as Prep brought a 21-7 advantage into halftime. The Jesuits then outscored Hand 16-6 during the third quarter to bring a 37-13 lead into the fourth.

Sophomore Paul Calandrelli completed 19 passes for 200 yards and 2 touchdowns for Hand versus Fairfield Prep. Sophomore Tyler Narracci ran the ball 9 times for 39 yards in the contest. Junior Owen Preskar caught 7 passes for 129 yards for the Tigers. Senior Sam Sisk had 2 receptions for 59 yards on the night.

Hand will travel to Middletown to square off against divisional opponent Xavier for its next game on Friday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. Xavier comes into the game with an overall record of 2-4 and an 0-3 record in SCC Tier 1 this year.