Boys’ Ice Hockey

The Branford boys’ ice hockey team is on a roll right now as the Hornets have won their last seven games, including a recent victory versus Hand that solidified the title for Branford in the President’s Cup Tournament. Head Coach Jim DiNapoli’s club also defeated the East Haven co-op team and Newtown last week to improve to 13-4-1 with two games to go in the regular season.

Branford claimed the crown in the President’s Cup by recording a 4-1 victory versus Hand in the championship game at The Rinks at Shelton on Feb. 19. Robbie Lionetti scored a goal just 3:31 into the game to give Branford a 1-0 lead that held up after the first period. Hand tied the game with a goal only 10 seconds into the second period, but the Hornets came back with two goals to hold a 3-1 lead through two.

First, Max Bunton scored an unassisted goal 4:16 into the period to put Branford up 2-1. A little more than four minutes later, Jack Manware made it 3-1 by scoring on an assist from Zach Jones. With 4:24 to play in the game, Max Bunton scored from Jones and Spencer Engstrom to put a bow on the Hornets’ 4-1 victory. Goalie Jared Yakimoff earned the win in net for Branford, which had advanced to the President’s Cup final by blanking Trumbull in the semifinals by a 2-0 score on Feb. 16.

Two days after its tournament triumph, Branford hosted the East Haven-Old Lyme-Old Saybrook-East Hampton co-op squad and captured a 2-0 win versus its SCC/SWC Division II foe. The game remained scoreless until there was 39 seconds left in the second period, when Lionetti scored from Manware and Jones for a 1-0 Hornets’ lead. Branford held its one-goal edge until there was 1:54 remaining, when Blake Kustra scored from Manware and Lionetti to give Branford some insurance with a 2-0 advantage. Yakimoff picked up another win in goal for the Hornets.

Then on Feb. 24, Branford had a road game against Newtown at Danbury Ice Arena and prevailed 7-1 for its seventh win in a row.

Branford will close the regular season with a home game versus New Fairfield-Immaculate at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 1. The Hornets did not qualify for the SCC/SWC Division II Tournament, but will open play in the Division II State Tournament with a first-round game on Tuesday, March 6. The quarterfinals are on Friday, March 9; the semis are on Monday, March 12; and the championship game takes place at Ingalls Rink on Friday, March 16.

Girls’ Ice Hockey

The Branford-East Haven-North Branford girls’ ice hockey team hosted the Notre Dame-Fairfield/Foran/Weston/Law co-op squad for a SCC South Division semifinal game last week. The Wings lost a 2-0 decision at DiLungo Rink on Feb. 19 to drop to 16-4 with the State Tournament on the way.

The Wings were the 4th in the tournament, while the Lancers were the No. 5 seed. The Wings had previously defeated the Lancers twice during the regular season by scores of 5-0 and 3-0.

Head Coach Jack Norton’s squad is the No. 8 seed in the State Tournament and will host No. 9 seed Northwest Catholic-Mercy in the first round at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 27. If the Wings win, they will play at No. 1 seed Greenwich in the quarterfinals on either Friday, March 2 or Saturday, March 3. The semis are at The Rinks at Shelton on Wednesday, March 7, and the championship game is being held at Bennett Rink at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 10.

Wrestling

Branford had four athletes wrestle at the State Open Championship that took place at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Feb. 23 and 24. Seniors Zach Cash and Kyle Zalewski, sophomore Cody McHenry, and freshman Justin Osler competed on behalf of the Hornets at the Open, scoring 35 points to put the team in 24th place. Zalewski turned in the top showing for Branford by placing sixth in the 220-pound weight class.

Zalewski competed in the 220-pound division in the Open after placing first at SCCs and third at states. In the first round, he outlasted Derrick Pommills of Notre Dame-West Haven by pinning him at the 6:51 mark of the bout. After that, Zalewski lost a 4-2 decision versus Danbury’s Montez Osbey in the second round. For his first consolation match, Zalewski prevailed by pin in 2:35 to advance to face Haddam-Killingworth’s Trevor Hines, who Zalewski pinned in 2:11. Zalewski then pinned Muhill Saravana of Farmington in 2:42, followed by a 7-2 victory to reach the consolation semis, where he took a 3-2 loss to Foran’s Qasim Khan. Zalewski then dropped a 7-5 decision versus Bethel’s Nicholas Cote to finish in sixth place.

After taking first place at the SCC Championship and second in the Class M State Championship, Cash once again wrestled in the 160-pound division at the State Open. He earned a bye through the first round and then defeated Jack Cronin of Nonnewaug by an 8-2 decision in the second round. Cash lost in the quarterfinals by pin-fall at the 3:51 mark, sending him to the consolation rounds. In his first match of the consolation bracket, Cash pinned Alec Arnold from Wethersfield at the 3:27, before losing a 16-6 decision against Joshua Schwartz of Northwestern.

McHenry competed in the 170-pound weight class and lost his first bout by pin at the 3:58 mark. In his first consolation match, McHenry edged out Umer Khan from Foran by a 3-2 score. After that, McHenry wrestled Jake Heerman from Stamford and won by pin at the 2:11 mark. McHenry later lost to Zavian Arroyo of Platt by a 6-1 decision. He had previously posted a fifth-place finish at states.

Osler wrestled in the 182 weight class and won a 3-1 decision against Michael Reilly of Pomperaug in the first round of the State Open. Osler then took a loss against E.O. Smith’s Isaiah Rivera at the 1:31 mark to go the consolation bracket. Osler started off there by winning a 6-0 decision versus Alex Otero of RHAM. In his next match, Osler squared off against Nonnewaug’s Steve Grudzien and prevailed by pin at the 3:40 mark. He then took a 9-1 loss against Dylan Sousa from Xavier. Osler had previously finished fifth in the 182 division at the Class M meet.