Field Hockey

The North Branford field hockey team continued its winning ways by claiming victory in both of last week’s games to improve to 9-0 on the season. The Thunderbirds netted wins against Stafford and the Westbrook-Old Lyme co-op squad to stay undefeated for the 2022 campaign.

North Branford kicked off last week by claiming a 3-1 road victory over Stafford in a non-conference road game on Sept. 27. Junior Keana Criscuolo scored 2 goals for the T-Birds in the win. Sophomore Alivia Schmidt scored a goal, while fellow sophomore Lily Ardito had an assist for North Branford. Freshman Ashlyn Rourke and fellow freshman Madison DiStefano both saw time in goal for Head Coach Babby Nuhn’s club.

The Thunderbirds wrapped up the week by earning a 3-1 win versus Shoreline Conference rival Westbrook-Old Lyme in a road game at Westbrook High School on Sept. 30. Senior Sophia Toto scored 2 goals for North Branford in the victory. Schmidt added a goal for the T-Birds. O’Rourke and DiStefano once again shared the goalkeeping duties for the T-Birds.

North Branford will welcome Old Saybrook to Colafati Field for a matchup at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6. The T-Birds will then play a home game versus Morgan on Monday, Oct. 10 at 6 p.m.

Boys’ Soccer

The North Branford boys’ soccer team picked up its first win since the 2017 season when the Thunderbirds claimed a 2-1 victory over Vinal Tech last week. The T-Birds also took losses against Platt Tech and Coginchaug for an overall record of 1-7 on the year.

North Branford took a 6-2 home loss to Platt Tech on Sept. 26. Junior Lars Peterson scored his first career goal for the Thunderbirds in the game. North Branford’s second goal came off of an own goal by Platt Tech.

Two days later, North Branford hosted Vinal Tech and won the contest by a 2-1 score for the T-Birds’ first win since Nov. 6, 2017. Freshman Brock Sargent netted the first goal of the game for North Branford. Freshman Isaiah Franco scored the game-winning goal in the final minutes to left the Thunderbirds to the victory. Franco’s score marked his first career varsity goal and came off an assist from senior Noah Bredbury.

The Thunderbirds went on to take a 3-0 loss Coginchaug in a home game on Oct. 30.

North Branford is hosting East Hampton on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 3:45 p.m. The T-Birds will then face Old Saybrook on the road on Monday, Oct. 10 at 4 p.m.

Girls’ Soccer

The North Branford/Hale-Ray girls’ soccer team had two road games on its schedule last week. The Thunderbirds took a loss to Old Saybrook and then lost Coginchaug to move to 0-6 on the year.

In its first game of the week, North Branford took a 3-0 loss at Old Saybrook on Sept. 27. The Thunderbirds went on to face Coginchaug on the road on Oct. 1 and took a 4-0 defeat against the Blue Devils.

North Branford is playing a game at East Hampton at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 7. The Thunderbirds will then host Old Saybrook on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 6 p.m.

Girls’ Volleyball

The North Branford girls’ volleyball team took two defeats last week to move to 3-6 on the season. The T-Birds lost contests against Valley Regional and East Hampton in last week’s action.

On Sept. 28, North Branford hosted Valley Regional and took a 3-1 loss to the Warriors. Two days later, the Thunderbirds played a road match in East Hampton and lost to the Bellringers by a 3-0 score.

North Branford is hosting Branford for its lone match this week. The contest takes place at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at North Branford High School.

Football

The North Branford football team hit the road to face Cromwell-Portland (C-P) for a divisional duel on Sept. 30. The Thunderbirds took a 27-13 defeat against the Panthers at Pierson Park in Cromwell, putting their overall record at 2-2 with a mark of 1-2 in the Pequot Conference Sassacus Division this year.

C-P scored the first touchdown of the game on a 47-yard pass and then used a 14-yard TD run to take a 13-0 lead in the first quarter. Senior Jack Meehan returned the opening kickoff for an 87-yard touchdown to put North Branford on the board. Senior Eric Izzo kicked the extra point to make it 13-7 after one.

C-P scored the only touchdown of the second quarter on a 4-yard pass. North Branford prevented the Panthers from converting the 2-point try and trailed 19-6 at halftime.

Following a scoreless third quarter, C-P broke off a 55-yard touchdown run and then hit the 2-point conversion pass to increase its lead to 27-7 in the fourth. North Branford scored the final TD of the night when senior quarterback Mason Provencher connected with Meehan for a 33-yard scoring strike later in the fourth, putting the final score at 27-13.

Provencher went 8-of-13 passing for 103 yards and also ran the ball 6 times for 45 yards in the contest. Senior Jace Kamienski had 4 rushes for 20 yards for North Branford.

Along with Meehan’s 33-yard touchdown reception, Izzo had 2 catches for 24 yards, senior Elias Defaranos caught 2 passes for 19 yards, and senior AJ Johnson grabbed a 19-yard reception for the Thunderbirds. Meehan additionally finished the game with 131 yards worth of kick return yardage, highlighted by his 87-yard TD return.

Meehan also had 2 pass deflections on defense for the T-Birds in the game. Senior Tyler Serenson led North Branford with 12 tackles, including 3 for loss, while junior Lucian DePino had 10 tackles on the night.

Senior Dom Langello made 9 tackles that included 3 for a loss of yardage. Senior Ian Kamienski had 7 tackles, junior Luke Blomster and freshman AJ Sigel both recorded 6 tackles, and Meehan finished the game with 5 tackles for North Branford.

North Branford is hosting the Sport & Medical Sciences Academy co-op squad for its next game on Friday, Oct. 7. The matchup kicks off at 6:30 p.m. at Colafati Field.