Girls’ Soccer

The Branford girls’ soccer team clinched a berth in the Class L State Tournament by earning a 1-0 home win over West Haven on Oct. 18. Branford also lost to Guilford and Foran last week to stand with a mark of 5-7-3.

Branford played three games in Hammonasset Division action last week. On Oct. 16, the Hornets took a 3-1 home loss against West Haven.

Two days later, Branford hosted West Haven and edged the Blue Devils 1-0 to lock up a spot in states and get its first win in divisional play. Taylor Brown scored the game’s lone goal for the Hornets in the second half. Branford had played West Haven to a 0-0 tie earlier in the season.

The Hornets closed out last week with a game and Foran and lost 2-1 versus the Lions.

Boys’ Soccer

After losing to Shelton, Branford avenged previous defeats against a pair of Housatonic Division adversaries last week. The Hornets now have a record of 10-4-1.

Branford started last week by taking a 4-1 loss at on Oct. 16. Two days later, the Hornets claimed a 1-0 victory at Law, a team that had beat Branford 3-2 earlier in the year.

On Oct. 20. Branford had another Housatonic contest when it hosted Hand and came away with a 2-1 win over the Tigers, who had previously defeated the Hornets 6-0. Ethan Boileau had a goal and assist for the Hornets in the victory. Branford finished with a record of 5-3 in the division this year.

Field Hockey

Branford ran its winning streak to 11 consecutive games following victories against Mercy and Guilford last week. The Hornets are now 12-1-0-1 overall with a record of 9-0 in SCC contests.

Branford began its week by recording a 6-0 home shutout over Mercy on Oct. 16. Brianna Shaw had three goals with an assist, while LanLe Crotty netted a pair of goals. Crotty scored from Sabrina Torcellini on a corner in the first half, after which Madison Acquarulo scored from Shaw for a 2-0 halftime advantage. In the second half, Shaw scored three straight goals with Zaffino getting an assist on the last one to make it 5-0. Crotty followed by scoring the final goal. Branford outshot Mercy 22-3 and saw Erica Klarman make three saves in the cage. Twenty-two athletes played for the Hornets in this victory.

The day after that game, the Hornets went to Guilford to face the Indians and came home with a 2-1 win. All the scoring came in the second half of this back-and-forth matchup. Autumn McHenry scored from Shaw on a corner to give Branford a 1-0 lead with 21:05 to play. Guilford tied it by netting a goal two minutes later, but four minutes after that, Zaffino scored a goal to put the Hornets up for good with 15:35 remaining. The play started on a corner as the ball went to Torcellini, who took a shot that went off a Guilford player, and Zaffino was there to put it past both the Indians’ defense and their goalkeeper. Branford had 12 corners to Guilford’s five and took nine shots on goal with the Indians getting seven. Klarman made six big-time saves to help Branford emerge victorious.

Volleyball

The Hornets recently swept a pair of matches against SCC Quinnipiac Division opponents by earning 3-0 victories versus Hillhouse and Foran. Branford improved its overall record to 10-6 this season and finished with a mark of 4-2 in Quinnipiac Division contests, clinching a share of the division title.

On Oct. 16, Branford posted a 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-14) home win over Hillhouse to cap a season sweep of the Academics. Erin O’Brien had 24 assists with five kills and four aces, Haley Maercklein had five kills and six aces, and Madison Daniels contributed five kills to go with three aces.

Three days later, the Hornets notched a big 3-0 win at Foran behind final scores of 27-25, 25-12, and 26-24. The Hornets’ not victory not only avenged an earlier loss to the Lions, they also clinched their share of the Quinnipiac title with this win. Maercklein recorded eight digs, four kills, and four aces; Taryn Broughal had four blocks with six aces, and Marisa Minore had nine kills, five digs, and one ace.

Boys’ Cross Country

Branford finished in 15th place at last week’s SCC Championship, which was held at East Shore Park in New Haven on Oct. 19.

Ryan McCarthy turned in the Hornets’ best showing by finishing in 63rd place with a time of 18 minutes and 36 seconds. Harrison Troidle was close behind in 65th place and a time of 18:43. Additionally for the Hornets, Matt Daley finished in 84th at 19:30, Andrew Betzig took 98th place with a 19:48, Andrew DeBenedictis placed 99th with a mark of 19:48, Chris Borst finished 114th in 21:37, and Chris Bjork came in 115th place with a time of 21:41.

Girls’ Cross Country

The Hornets competed at the SCC Championship last week and came in 18th place.

Sophie Spencer ran a time of 25:16 and took 97th place, while Caroline Erickson and Emily Borst finished 102nd and 103rd, respectively, with the same time of 25:55. Julianne Dillon finished 119th with a time of 28:55, and Violet Smiarowski placed 123rd at 30:03 for the Hornets.

Girls’ Swimming and Diving

The Hornets faced North Haven for a road meet at Gawrych Town Pool last week. Branford took a 97-78 defeat against the Indians.