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10/01/2022 12:26 PM

Grizzlies Pick Up Plenty of Wins During Eventful Week


Senior MJ Santa Barbara and the Guilford field hockey team improved to 3-1-0-1 on the year after prevailing in two of their three matchups in last week’s action. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier Photo courtesy of Kelley Fryer
Junior Andres Gutierrez assisted senior teammate Sami AbuGhazaleh for the only goal of the day when the Grizzlies defeated Notre Dame-West Haven by a 1-0 score to stay undefeated on the season. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Courier

Field Hockey

The Guilford field hockey team hit the turf to play a trio of home games last week and claimed victory in two of those three contests. The Grizzlies notched victories against Lauralton Hall and Hand and also took a loss to Darien for an overall record of 3-1-0-1 this season.

On Sept. 20, Guilford hosted Lauralton Hall and claimed a 5-2 win over the Crusaders. MJ Santa Barbara, Kim Evans, Gigio Meneo, Scout Climie, and Ella Clarke scored the goals for the Grizzlies in the victory. Meneo and Climie both had an assist, as did Grace Barlage. Eliza Chamberlain made 5 saves to get the win in net for Guilford.

Two days later, the Grizzlies dropped a 6-2 decision to Darien in a non-conference game at Guilford High School. Barlage scored both of Guilford’s goals in the contest, marking the first time that the Blue Wave had allowed any goals thus far this season. Chamberlain made 10 saves in goal for the Grizzlies.

Guilford wrapped up the week by posting a 3-0 shutout versus Hand in another home game. Santa Barbara netted 2 goals in the game for the Grizzlies. Barlage scored the other goal for Head Coach Kathy Palmer’s club. Chamberlain made 2 saves for the shutout in net.

During the previous week’s action, Guilford took a 2-1 overtime loss to Cheshire in a road game on Sept. 16. Junior Tania Evans scored the goal for the Grizzlies in the game. Chamberlain had 5 saves for Guilford.

Guilford is hosting Mercy for a SCC matchup on Thursday, Sept. 29 at 3:45 p.m. The Grizzlies will then hit the road to face non-conference opponent Glastonbury at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1.

Boys’ Soccer

The Guilford boys’ soccer team improved its record to 6-0 on the season after earning victories in each of its road games last week. The Grizzlies notched one-goal wins over both Amity and Notre Dame-West Haven to stay undefeated on the campaign.

Guilford was on the road to face Amity on Sept. 20 and edged out the Spartans by a 2-1 score in Woodbridge. The very next day, the Grizzlies played a road game versus Notre Dame-West Haven and recorded a 1-0 shutout against the Green Knights at Veterans Field. Senior Sami AbuGazaleh scored the lone goal of the game on an assist by junior Andres Gutierrez in the 47th minute to lift Guilford to the win.

Guilford will hit the road to face Cheshire at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1. Then on Monday, Oct. 3, the Grizzlies will return home to host Hand at 5 p.m. at Guilford High School.

Girls’ Soccer

The Guilford girls’ soccer squad played a pair of road games in last week’s action. Guilford split the set by netting a victory over Lauralton Hall and then taking a loss to Foran, putting the team’s record at 2-2-1 on the year.

On Sept. 20, Guilford traveled to Milford to face Lauralton Hall and posted a 6-0 shutout versus the Crusaders. Three days later, the Grizzlies were back in Milford to take on Foran and lost to the Lions by a 3-1 final.

Guilford is hosting Branford on Thursday, Sept. 29 at 6 p.m. The Grizzlies will then play a home game against Hand at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 3.

Girls’ Volleyball

The Guilford girls’ volleyball team had two matches last week and came away with two victories to improve to 4-1 for the fall season. The Grizzlies claimed a win against Hamden and then defeated Jonathan Law in their recent contests.

Guilford played a road match versus Hamden on Sept. 21 and defeated the Green Dragons by a 3-1 score. The Grizzlies won the match with set scores of 16-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-23.

Halle Krause punched up 9 digs to go with 8 kills and 8 assists for Guilford in the victory. Riley Mullett dished out 11 assists and also had 5 digs. Sam Alberghini finished the match with 6 kills and 4 digs for Head Coach Marisa Ceneri’s squad.

Two days later, the Grizzlies hosted Jonathan Law and notched a 3-1 win over the Eagles at Guilford High School. Guilford took the match by the final tally of 25-22, 25-20, 21-25, 25-18. Krause recorded 15 assists, 10 kills, and 8 digs in the victory. Mullett had 16 assists with 5 digs for the Grizzlies. Alberghini posted 9 kills to go with 4 digs and 4 blocks on the night.

Guilford is playing three home matches this week. The Grizzlies are hosting Hand on Friday, Sept. 30 at 5:15 p.m.; Lyman Hall on Monday, Oct. 3 at 5:15 p.m.; and Mercy on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 4:45 p.m.

Boys’ Cross Country

The Guilford boys’ cross country team posted a sweep of a quad-meet when the Grizzlies hosted three SCC opponents at the East River Preserve last week. Guilford finished with a team score of 25 points to earn victories versus Amity (51), North Haven (65), and West Haven (95) on Sept. 20 to improve to 5-1 this year.

Junior Coleman Love took first place overall for the race by crossing the finish line with a time of 16:18 for Guilford. Junior Alex Hansen came in third place with a time of 16:23. Senior Bretton Garrick ran a time of 16:34 to claim fourth place, while junior Connor Pensa finished fifth with a time of 16:35 on behalf of the Grizzlies. Junior Alex Milano ran a time of 17:52, good for 10th place.

On Sept. 23, Guilford competed at the Ocean State Invitational at Goddard Park in Rhode Island. The Grizzlies took home the second-place trophy for the second year in a row by scoring 130 points at the meet, holding off Fairfield Warde (132) for runner-up honors and only finishing 3 points out of first place.

Love finished in 11th place by running a time of 17:00 for Guilford. Senior captain Mike Masotti took 19th place with a time of 17:16, and Hansen finished in 24th place at 17:25. Pensa finished in 40th place with a time of 17:50, and senior Ryan Franchi reached the finish line in 17:55 to come in 43rd place.

Guilford will hit the course to take part in the SCC Divisional Championship next week. The competition takes place at the Guilford Fairgrounds at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 29.

Girls’ Cross Country

The Guilford girls’ cross country team hosted Amity, North Haven, and West Haven for a quad-meet on Sept. 20. The Grizzlies swept the meet by tallying a team total of 25 points, edging out Amity (30) for the best performance of the day at the East River Preserve.

Freshman Ciara Davenport finished in first place for Guilford by running a time of 18:55 at the meet. Senior Alex Suchy took fourth place overall with a time of 20:20. Senior Clara Laughlin came in fifth place by hitting the finish line in 21:04 for the Grizzlies. Sophomore Ana Sadlon finished in seventh place at 21:51 for Guilford, while junior Michaela Hogan timed in with a mark of 22:09 to take eighth place.

Branford will be competing in the SCC Divisional Meet at the Guilford Fairgrounds on Thursday, Sept. 29 at 4 p.m.

Girls’ Swimming and Diving (3-0)

The Guilford girls’ swimming and diving team added three more wins to its ledger last week and improved its record to 6-0 on the season in the process. The Grizzlies claimed victories against Jonathan Law, Mercy, and the Old Lyme-Valley Regional-Old Saybrook co-op to stay undefeated thus far this fall.

Guilford started off the week by earning a 90-86 road win over Jonathan Law at Foran High School on Sept. 19. Three days later, the Grizzlies hosted Mercy and defeated the Tigers by a 101-75 final at Walsh Intermediate School. Guilford finished off its week with a XXX victory against Old Lyme-Valley Regional-Old Saybrook in a road meet at the East Lyme Aquatics Center

Guilford is participating in the Shoreline Invitational at the Walsh Intermediate pool on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 9 a.m. After that, the Grizzlies are back at Walsh to host Foran for a contest on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 3:45 p.m.

Football

The Guilford football team hit the road to take on SCC opponent West Haven for a Friday night matchup on Sept. 23. The Grizzlies took a 47-20 loss against the Blue Devils at Ken Strong Stadium to put their record at 1-2 for the year.

Guilford is hosting Lyman Hall (1-2, 0-1) for an SCC Tier 3 contest on Friday, Sept. 30. The game gets underway at 7 p.m. under the lights at Kavanaugh Field.