Volleyball

The Hornets claimed a 3-0 victory versus Woodstock in the first round of the Class L State Tournament before losing to RHAM by that same score to finish the year.

Branford was the No. 16 seed in the Class L bracket and swept No. 17 Woodstock at home with scores of 25-20, 25-18, 25-21 on Nov. 9. Abby Atkinson had 13 kills with three aces and five digs, Adrienne DiGioia posted six kills, eight digs, and three aces; Haley Maercklein had six kills with two blocks, Erin O’Brien handed out 23 assists to go with two digs, and Madison D’Onofrio had four aces and two kills.

“We were really excited to have a home State Tournament game, especially with taking the win in three sets,” Coach Eva Esposito said. “They felt really good about themselves. They didn’t want their season to end.”

The Hornets then traveled to Hebron to face unbeaten top seed in RHAM and took a 25-12, 25-7, 25-11 defeat. For Branford, Atkinson recorded six kills and seven digs, D’Onofrio had three kills with two aces, and DiGioia contributed four kills.

“We ran into a tough RHAM squad. We really believed we could win,” said Esposito. “Unfortunately, they had a trio of hitters which we couldn’t control and we didn’t play a consistent offensive game.”

Even with the loss, Coach Esposito was proud of her squad for putting a together a season that featured a 16-9 record, a share of the Oronoque Division title, plus two SCC Tournament wins to complement the victory in states.

“Overall, I feel we had a very successful season,” Coach Esposito said. “We had a good mix of upperclassmen and underclassmen who brought a lot of skill to our team. We had some good wins against some quality teams, we won the Oronoque, we made the semis of the SCC Tournament, and the State Tournament is always a tough road. We eventually are going to make it further and further each year. I think a lot of people underestimated us and we proved to be a quality team.”

Field Hockey

A season that saw the Hornets make great strides came to a conclusion in the first round of the Class M State Tournament as Branford dropped a 4-1 contest at New Canaan last week. Cathy McGuirk’s club finished the fall season with a record of 11-5-2-1.

As the No. 10 seed, Branford hit the road to face the 7th-seeded Rams in the rain on Nov. 10. New Canaan scored the game’s first two goals before the Hornets got on the board late in the first half to make it 2-1 at the break. Unfortunately, the Rams scored twice in the latter stanza to emerge with the 4-1 victory, although Coach McGuirk praised the unrelenting effort put forth by her squad.

“They were a better team than us. They just had older kids that were more experienced, but the Branford kids were on as many balls as they could get to and they hustled. There wasn’t any backing down on this team,” said McGuirk. “Many times the ball would get by them and they’d hustle back and get it. The kids definitely worked hard to get to the ball.”

New Canaan (14-3-1), which went on to win its second round game and will face Lauralton Hall in the semifinals, took a 1-0 lead over Branford by scoring with 19:18 left in the opening half. The Rams then made it 2-0 by putting one home with 4:06 to go before halftime. However, the Hornets broke through with 1:07 remaining in the half when Sabrina Torcellini scored from fellow sophomore Autumn McHenry to cut the deficit to a goal. Off a penalty corner, junior captain Carol Frye started the play by sending the ball out to McHenry. She worked it past a New Canaan defender and across to Torcellini, who put a hard sweep past the goalie for the score and to give Branford some momentum entering intermission.

“You work on corners and try to get the kids to do what you want them to do and, in this case, we picked the right kids to do something. They got a stick on the ball, were able to beat a few players, and it was a nice, strong play by Sabrina,” said McGuirk. “She considers herself a defensive player, so we’re trying to convince her that she can also be an offensive player.”

The scored stayed 2-1 until New Canaan netted an insurance goal with 19:17 to play, after which the Rams sealed it at 4-1 by scoring with 12:53 left. Junior captain keeper Keira Integlia made nine saves in the cage with sophomore Leah Pendl-Robinson also stopping a pair of shots. New Canaan outshot the Hornets 14-3 and had 10 corners to their two.

Despite the defeat, Coach McGuirk complimented her group for progressing immensely throughout a campaign in which Branford played its best down the stretch—which resulted in a 3-2 win at Hand late in the regular season, plus a 2-0 triumph versus Hamden in the SCC Tournament quarterfinals.

“It was too bad the season had to end when it did. Things were really going well and we’re proud of what the kids have done this season,” she said.

McGuirk went on to point out sophomore Britney Bunbanlu for improving a lot this year and playing a great game against New Canaan, along with senior Shradha Shrestha for clearing some balls out of harm’s way in front of the cage. McGuirk additionally noted Integlia for making a diving save, Torcellini for her relentless play on defense, McHenry for playing strong down low, sophomore forward LanLe Crotty for her excellent defensive effort, junior Kiersten Bjork for constantly scooping up the ball, Frye for her hard hits, junior Alanna Grimm for never giving up to make sure she got to the ball, and senior captain Matilda Kreider for her good stops and hard hits. McGuirk was also happy that captains Emma Dwyer and Kenya Claude contributed in the game, as did fellow senior Shannon Healy. On top of that, McGuirk gave special thanks to three of her team’s athletes in sophomore Fiona Palmieri, plus freshmen Jessica Amarante and Mary Nwagboli, for braving the elements while they videotaped the game.

Football

The Hornets’ four-game win streak was broken by Amity last week as the Spartans scored four touchdowns in the second half to emerge with a 28-21 triumph at the MacVeigh Complex on Nov. 13. Branford is now 4-5 as its gets ready for its annual Thanksgiving Day game against rival East Haven.

Following a scoreless opening quarter, Branford got on the board first when Zach DeGoursey scored on 1-yard touchdown run that was followed by the extra point kick from Teddy Gionteris. The Hornets had a 7-0 lead and that’s the way it stood at halftime.

Amity (2-7) used a 2-yard TD rush from Colin Beaulieu to tie the game at 7 in the third quarter and then went up 14-7 when Liam Butler threw a 12-yard touchdown to Truman Etkin. DeGoursey came back with another 1-yard scoring rush and Gionteris’s kick had the game knotted again at 14-14. Butler then found Beaulieu on a 69-yard scoring strike and Amity brought a 21-14 advantage to the final quarter. In the fourth, DeGoursey scored his third 1-yard TD run of the game, and after Gionteris kicked another extra point, it was 21-all. However, Boileau later brought home a 10-yard touchdown rush that gave the Spartans a 28-21 lead and Branford was unable to score on its subsequent drive in taking the defeat.

DeGoursey rushed 33 times for 155 yards and the three TDs to lead Branford’s offense. Griffin Lynch completed nine passes for 112 yards. Luke DiStasio had five catches for 65 yards, plus Daniel Thomas had four receptions for 47 yards.

On defense, Spencer Berty and David Donnelly combined for a sack and Noah DeGoursey grabbed an interception for the Hornets. Donnelly also had a pair of pass deflections and 13 tackles. Other top tacklers were Jackson Seward (14), Jake Roberts (9), James Dering (7), Jacob Santos (6), and Berty (6).

John Limone’s squad now gears up for the 74th edition of the annual Beehive Bowl against East Haven at Branford High School at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 26. The Hornets are looking to avenge consecutive shutouts and also play spoiler against the Yellowjackets, who own a record of 7-2 and are in contention to make the Class M State Playoffs. Branford holds the all-time edge in the series at 37-32-4.

To see photos from the Amity game, visit Zip06.com.