Printer Friendly Version - Branford Girls’ Soccer Improves to 10-2 with Two Shutouts; Volleyball Squad Notches Four Wins on the Week

Senior Paige Kelly helped the Hornets win all four of their contests on the court last week, boosting Branford’s record to 9-6 for the season. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Sound Photo courtesy of Kelley Fryer

The Branford girls’ soccer team claimed victory in both of its games last week and is now sporting an overall record of 10-2 this season. The Hornets netted shutouts against West Haven and Shelton in last week’s action and have now won seven games in a row, winning six of those games in shutout fashion.

Branford kicked off last week by notching a 1-0 shutout at West Haven on Oct. 11. Junior Tess Ferrie scored on an assist by senior Ava Ferrie in the opening minutes of the game to give the Hornets they only goal they’d need to get the victory. Senior goalie Molly Pombo made 4 saves to earn the shutout in goal for Branford.

Then on Oct. 14, the Hornets hosted Shelton and blanked the Gaels by the final score of 6-0 on the Branford High School turf. Ava Ferrie converted three-straight penalty kicks to give Branford a 3-0 lead over Shelton at halftime.

In the second half, Tess Ferrie scored from Ava Ferrie, who later scored on an assist by sophomore Bryce Infantino to make it 5-0. Freshman Clara d’Amuri then scored goal on a helper from junior Brenna Murphy to finish off the 6-0 victory. Pombo stopped 4 shots to secure another shutout in net.

Branford is playing a home game versus Amity on Friday, Oct. 21 at 3:45 p.m. The Hornets will then host Guilford for their final game of the regular season on Monday, Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m.

The Branford boys’ soccer team moved to 6-7 on the season after taking three recent defeats. The Hornets lost decisions against Fairfield Prep, Career-Hillhouse, and Cheshire in last week’s contests.

On Oct. 11, Branford took a 5-3 home loss against Fairfield Prep. Sophomore Ernad Spreco scored goals for the Hornets in the game. Senior Kevin Zuniga had 1 goal and 1 assist, while sophomore Antonio Esperti contributed an assist for Branford.

Then on Oct. 13, the Hornets faced Career-Hillhouse on the road and lost the contest by a 2-1 score. Branford went on to take an 8-0 defeat to Cheshire in another road game on Oct. 14.

Branford will be on the road to face Shelton in its regular-season finale on Friday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m.

The Branford girls’ volleyball squad enjoyed a big week on the court that saw the Hornets claim victory in all four of their matchups. The Hornets scored recent wins over West Haven, North Branford, Hillhouse, and Foran to improve their overall record to 9-6 on the year.

Branford began last week by earning a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-22) home victory versus West Haven on Oct. 10. Senior Allie Bietz dished out 29 assists to go with 7 digs and 5 aces for the Hornets. Fellow senior Paige Kelly had 15 kills and 12 digs in the win.

Junior Jenna DeFrancesco recorded 9 kills with 7 digs and 3 aces for Branford. Sophomore Riley O’Brien had 7 digs and 6 aces, senior Caroline Johnson posted 9 digs, and junior Madigan Lawler added 4 digs in the victory.

The very next day, the Hornets claimed a 3-1 (26-24, 20-25, 25-22, 25-19) victory against North Branford in a road match.

The day after that, Branford returned home to host Hillhouse and won the contest by a 3-0 (25-10, 25-21, 25-16) score. The Hornets wrapped up their week by notching a 3-1 win over Foran in a home match on Oct. 15.

Branford has a match at Guilford on Friday, Oct. 21 at 5:15 p.m. The Hornets will then host Cheshire on Monday, Oct. 24 at 5:30 p.m., followed by a home match with Coginchaug in their regular-season finale on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 5:30 p.m.

The Branford field hockey team posted a shutout victory over Amity in its lone matchup on last week’s schedule. On Oct. 11, the Hornets traveled to Woodbridge to play Amity and blanked the Spartans by a 4-0 score to improve to 8-2-1 with five-straight victories under their belt.

Senior Lauren Kendrick netted 2 goals to go with 1 assist for Branford in last week’s win versus Amity. Freshman Aliza Giordano had 1 goal with 1 assist in the victory. Junior Mia d’Amuri scored a goal, and senior Scout Engstrom had an assist for the Hornets.

Junior Julia Bozzi made 1 save to get the shutout in net. Head Coach Pete Frye said that Branford was spurred by outstanding games from senior Lauren McCarthy, senior Aryana Wilson, senior Gianna Bozzi, and junior Reanna Sachs in the win.

Branford is playing a home game against Guilford on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 6:30 p.m. After that, the Hornets will be on the road to face Mercy at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22; are hosting Wilton on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 6:45 p.m.; and then have a road game versus Lyman Hall for their regular-season finale on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 3:45 p.m.

The Branford girls’ cross country squad picked up a victory when the Hornets went up against three teams in a meet at Cheshire Park on Oct. 11. The Hornets scored

71 points to earn a win versus Jonathan Law (100) while also taking defeats versus Cheshire (25) and Mercy (45) in the contest, posting an overall mark of 3-6 for the regular season.

Head Coach Kevin Connell noted that junior Violet Marrandino ran an outstanding race for the Hornets while taking on some strong competition in last week’s meet. Connell also said that senior Lila Wasiolek is on pace to have a strong finish to the 2022 season.

The Branford boys’ cross country team competed against three opponents in a quad-meet at Cheshire Park last week. The Hornets recorded a team score of 90 points and took losses to Xavier (24), Cheshire (51), and Jonathan Law (86) on Oct. 11, finishing the regular season with a record of 4-5.

Head Coach Kevin Connell noted that seniors Dom Zdunek and Massimo Corrick ran competitive races while competing against a couple of the top teams in the SCC at the meet. Coach Connell added that junior Sam Coppola has been working hard and is starting to close the gap with Branford’s top runners.

The Branford girls’ swimming and diving team hosted West Haven for a matchup at the Walsh Intermediate School last week. The Hornets took an 88-78 defeat against the Blue Devils in the contest on Oct. 13.

Branford will finish up its regular season by hosting Guilford for a meet on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 4 p.m.

The Branford football team hosted Foran for an SCC Tier 3 showdown on Oct. 14. The Hornets took a 35-14 loss to the Lions at Branford High School to put their overall record at 2-3 with a mark of 0-3 in the division. Foran improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in SCC Tier 3 with the victory.

Branford held a 7-0 lead over Foran after the first quarter before the Lions scored twice in the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead into halftime. The Hornets tied the game with a touchdown early in the third quarter, but Foran scored the last three TDs of the night to come away with the 21-point win.

Branford got on the board when senior Zach Turbert threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to junior Cole Snider with 2:16 left in the opening quarter. Junior Joe Robinson kicked the extra point to put the Hornets up 7-0 after one.

Foran used a 22-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7 with 11:15 remaining in the second quarter. The Lions then struck for a 52-yard TD pass with 3:07 to take a 14-7 halftime advantage over Branford.

Turbert found Snider on a 16-yard touchdown strike with 9:25 to play in the third quarter. Robinson’s extra point knotted the score at 14-14.

Foran took a 20-14 lead on 58-yard TD pass with 9:25 remaining in the third. About 3 minutes later, the Lions connected for a 19-yard touchdown pass and then converted the 2-point try to increase their lead to 28-14.

Foran scored on a 40-yard touchdown pass with 34 seconds left in the third quarter. The extra point accounted for the final score of the night in a 35-14 Lions’ victory.

Turbert completed 13 passes for 156 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Hornets in the contest. Snider had 6 receptions for 76 yards and 2 TDs to go with 23 yards on the ground. Junior Nate Florio had 42 rushing yards for Branford.

Branford’s next contest is a non-conference versus Killingly on Friday, Oct. 21. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. under the lights at Branford High School. Killingly enters the contest with an overall record of 4-1 on the year.