The Branford field hockey squad has a new look this season with numerous underclass athletes who are looking to jell as the campaign unfolds and continue the storied program’s run of success.

Branford graduated six seniors from its 2014 team that went 12-7 and made its usual appearances the SCC and Class M tournaments. Now, Cathy McGuirk’s club features a slew of sophomores in its starting lineup, as well as a larger collection of captains that consists of four seniors and two juniors. The campaign’s early returns have seen the Hornets split four close contests as they defeated Sacred Heart Academy 1-0 and Mercy 2-0 and then took 1-0 defeats versus SHA and Hamden.

“When you build a new team, you have a nucleus of kids working together who are new to each other and trying to find a way to work with each other. To me, that’s part of high school coaching—where kids have to learn to work together—and it takes a little bit of time,” Coach McGuirk said. “It’s the whole circle of events that makes things work and it doesn’t always come right away. As we keep saying, it’s a process. It’s a work in progress.”

Branford has six captains who are leading the team’s progression in defenders Matilda Kreider and Emma Dwyer, fellow seniors Kenya Claude and Annie Rapini, plus two juniors in goalie Keira Integlia and midfielder Carol Frye. Coach McGuirk said each of the captains has “their own style of leading” and that they “will use the strengths they have to lead the team.”

Integlia is using her experience to help lead the Hornets in her second season as the team’s starting keeper. She posted shutouts in Branford’s first two games and was back in the cage for a pair of low-scoring duels last week. Unfortunately, the Hornets dropped 1-0 decisions to both of their adversaries from Hamden, although Coach McGuirk still took away plenty of positives from two contests that saw her squad create several scoring chances, while taking more corners than the opposition.

Branford first played at Sacred Heart Academy on Sept. 22 and took a 1-0 defeat to the Pacers, who scored the game’s lone goal with 23:30 to play. Branford earned eight corners and SHA had two. McGuirk had nice things to say about all 13 athletes who played against the Pacers. In addition to Integlia (2 saves), the coach noted sophomore LanLe Crotty for working hard to get the ball down the field, Frye for doing a fine job of stopping balls in the middle of the field, junior midfielder Kiersten Bjork for using a nice reverse stick to control the ball, sophomore forward Jackie DaRos for displaying good speed and a nose for the goal, and sophomore defender/forward Sabrina Torcellini for being “all over the place” and making smart decisions and hard hits. On top of that, Coach McGuirk complimented the play of her two senior starters in Kreider and midfielder/defender Shradha Shrestha, junior defender Alanna Grimm, and sophomore defender Leah Pendl-Robinson, as well as sophomore forward/midfielder Britney Bunbanlu, junior midfielder Ashlee Smestad, and sophomore forward Autumn McHenry.

Three days after facing SHA, the Hornets hosted Hamden and took dropped another 1-0 contest that saw the lone goal get netted in the latter half, which happened with just 4:17 to play. McGuirk was pleased to see her team maintain possession for long spans. Branford took nine shots on goal, while the Green Dragons had three, and the Hornets also had seven corners to Hamden’s one. Integlia made four saves. McGuirk said her team showed improvement in this contest compared to the SHA game.

“There was probably better ball movement and ball pressure as far as getting it to where we wanted to get it and movement down the field,” she said. “Our kids were all over the circle and down to the ground trying to score and their defense and their goalie were just playing very strong and keeping us out. It wasn’t for a lack of trying.”

Of course, it’s always a goal for any team to qualify for the State Tournament, especially when you’ve made the bracket for 37-straight years like the Hornets have. But considering her team is filled with so many fresh faces, McGuirk’s main goal for now is to see her athletes find their footing and progress as the campaign takes shape.

“The goal is pretty simply stated. If an individual works to get themselves better, that helps the team get better and, when the team gets better, everything works,” she said. “The goal is to get a little bit better every day and make it all work.”

From the Sidelines

Branford’s roster also features seniors Sam Coleman (defender), Maddie McGann (forward), Shannon Finn (defender), and Shannon Healy (defender); junior Emily Sachs (forward/defender); sophomores Caitlin Baker (defender/goalie), Emily Knapp (defender), and Fiona Palmieri (defender); plus freshmen Jessica Amarante, Aleyah Bosworth, Liante Claude (forward/goalie), Maddie Galdenzi, Hema Medhat, Mary Nwagboli, Pam Remette, Abby Robinson (forward/defender), Mena Salama, Carly Shea (forward/midfielder), and Khusbu Shrestha.

This is Cathy McGuirk’s 39th season as head coach of Hornets’ field hockey. She’s once again assisted by her husband, John McGuirk, as well as Robin Axtell.

Branford also has four team managers in senior Shelby Oliveri, plus juniors Olivia Datre, Ian Bergmann, and Sush Jay.