Football

The Branford football squad opened up the 2017 season with a road game against SCC Tier 3 rival Guilford last week. The Hornets took a 35-14 defeat to the Indians on Sept. 8.

The Hornets’ next game will be on the road versus non-conference opponent New Fairfield at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 15.

Boys’ Soccer

The Branford boys’ soccer team earned a 6-0 shutout at East Haven in its first game of the fall season on Sept. 8.

Last year, Head Coach Paul Hunter’s squad rallied to make the Class L State Tournament by netting a 1-1 tie against Cheshire in its final game of the regular season. The Hornets took a 2-1 loss to Torrington in the first round and finished at 6-10-1 overall.

Girls’ Soccer

The Hornets’ girls’ soccer squad began the year with a home game against rival North Haven last week. Branford and the Indians played to a 2-2 tie on Sept. 8.

Jen Kohut is back for another year as head coach of the Hornets following a season in which the team posted a record of 3-12-1.

Volleyball

The Branford volleyball team was on the road to face non-conference opponent Fairfield Warde in its first match with new Head Coach Cody Michaels. The Hornets took a 3-0 defeat on Sept. 8.

In 2016, Hornets went 12-6 for the regular season en route to qualifying for the SCC Tournament and the Class L State Tournament in Eva Esposito’s final season as head coach. Branford won two matches in SCCs and one match in states to finish up the year with a total record of 17-8.

Boys’ Cross Country

The Branford boys’ cross country team started off its year by running at the Windham Invitational at Windham High School on Sept. 9. The Hornets finished in 21st place as a unit at the meet.

Senior Harry Troidle ran a time of 18 minutes and 16 seconds to take 56th place for the three-mile course. Troidle was followed by junior Matt Daley (121st, 19:42), senior Ryan McCarthy (139th, 20:05), junior Andrew DeBenedictis (172nd, 20:54), sophomore Andrew Betzig (179th, 21:10), and sophomore Christopher Borst (190th, 21:35).

Branford is coming a season that saw the team win the SCC Oronoque Division title on its way to an overall record of 6-3.

Girls’ Cross Country

The Hornets were represented by three athletes at last week’s Windham Invitational.

Emily Borst led the Branford pack by posting a time of 25 minutes and 10 seconds to finish in 82nd place for the three-mile race. Fellow senior Sophie Spencer finished 99th with a time of 26:09, while sophomore Violet Smiarowski came in 127th place behind a mark of 29:02.

Branford finished with a record of 2-7 last year.