Girls’ Volleyball

The Branford girls’ volleyball gained a split of its last two regular-season matches before earning a win versus North Haven in the Southern Connecticut Conference Tournament last week. With their overall record of 11-9, the Hornets will get ready to face Amity in the conference quarterfinals this week.

Branford began last week by taking a 3-0 home loss to Cheshire on Oct. 24. The Rams swept the match with set scores of 25-5, 25-16, 25-17.

Two days later, the Hornets hosted Coginchaug for their regular-season finale and triumphed by a 3-1 score against the Blue Devils. Branford took the contest by the final tally of 24-26, 25-15, 25-19, 25-21.

Senior Allie Bietz dished out 35 assists to go with 9 digs and 8 aces for the Hornets in the victory. Junior Madigan Lawler finished the match with 13 kills, 4 blocks, 3 aces, and 3 digs.

Senior Paige Kelly posted 16 kills and had 13 digs, while junior Jenna DeFrancesco had 13 kills with 12 digs versus Coginchaug. Sophomore Riley O’Brien punched up 12 digs, senior Caroline Johnson had 7 digs, senior Sophia Warfield finished with 5 digs, and junior McKenzie McCall added 3 kills in the win.

Then on Oct. 28, the 11th-seeded Hornets hit the road to face No. 6 seed North Haven in the first round of the SCC Tournament and claimed a 3-0 victory in the matchup. Branford swept the Nighthawks with scores of 25-16, 25-19, 25-20 to get the win and advance in the tourney.

Branford is playing at No. 3 seed Amity in the SCC quarterfinals on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. With a win, the Hornets would play the winner of No. 2 seed Shelton and No. 7 Mercy in the semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 3. The SCC final takes place at West Haven High School at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5. After SCCs, Branford will participate in the Class M State Tournament that begins on Monday, Nov. 7.

Field Hockey

The Branford field hockey team split a pair of matchups to finish its regular season and then defeated Amity in an SCC Tournament quarterfinal game last week. The Hornets are sporting an overall record of 11-4-1-1 as they get ready to face Guilford in the conference semifinals this week.

In its first game of the week, Branford played a home game against non-conference opponent Wilton and took a 3-0 loss in the contest on Oct. 25. Junior goalkeeper Julia Bozzi made 5 saves for Branford. Head Coach Pete Frye said that the Hornets played a solid game defensively and received great performances from senior Aryana Wilson, senior Gianna Bozzi, senior Lauren McCarthy, junior Reanna Sachs, junior Ellie Wieland, junior Mia d'Amuri, and sophomore Eliza Burgess in the game.

Two days later, the Hornets traveled to Wallingford to face Lyman Hall for their regular-season finale and won the matchup by an 8-0 score. Senior Scout Engstrom scored 3 goals for Branford in the victory. Freshman Aliza Giordano had 2 goals with 2 assists for the Hornets.

Senior Gianna Bonanno netted 2 goals in the win. Senior Lauren Kendrick scored 1 goal and had 2 assists, while d’Amuri chipped in with an assist for Branford.

Julia Bozzi made 1 save in the cage to get the shutout. Coach Frye said that the Hornets were bolstered by outstanding games from Sachs, Wieland, Wilson, Gianna Bozzi, and senior Gabby Morrotti.

Then on Oct. 29, No. 4 seed Branford hosted No. 5 Amity in the first round of the SCC Tournament and posted a 1-0 victory over the Spartans. Kendrick scored the lone goal of the game on assists from fellow McCarthy and Gianna Bozzi. Coach Frye credited Wilson, Sachs, Wieland, d’Amuri, and Engstrom for playing great games to help the Hornets prevail.

Branford is playing at top-seeded Guilford in the SCC Tournament semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. With a win, the Hornets would advance to the championship game to face the winner of No. 2 seed Cheshire and No. 3 Hand at Amity High School on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7:15 p.m.

Girls’ Soccer

The Branford girls’ soccer team took a loss to Guilford in its regular-season finale before earning an overtime victory versus Sheehan in its opening game of the SCC Tournament last week. The Hornets have an overall record of 13-3 as they get ready to play Cheshire in the conference semifinals.

On Oct. 24, the Hornets hosted Guilford for their last match of the regular season and took a 3-2 defeat to the Grizzlies at Branford High School. Branford trailed 2-0 at halftime, but responded with a pair of goals in the second half to tie the score. Senior Ava Ferrie made it 2-1 when she scored in the 62nd minute of the contest. Then in the 73rd minute, Ferrie converted a penalty kick to knot the score at 2-2. However, Guilford netted the go-ahead goal in the 76th minute of the game went on to get the 3-2 victory.

Then on Oct. 29, No. 4 Branford opened the SCC Tournament by hosting No. 5 Sheehan for a quarterfinal game and claimed a 3-2 overtime win versus the Titans. Junior Tess Ferrie netted the game-winning goal for the Hornets during the OT period.

Branford will play at top-seeded Cheshire in the SCC semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 4 p.m. If the Hornets win that game, they will play the winner of No. 2 seed Mercy and No. 3 Hand for the championship at West Haven High School on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 5:30 p.m.

Boys’ Soccer

The Branford boys’ soccer squad wrapped up its regular season by battling Amity to a 1-1 tie in a home game last week. On Oct. 26, the Hornets hosted Amity and played the Spartans to a 1-1 draw to finish the regular season with an overall record of 7-8-1.

Following a scoreless first half, senior Kevin Zuniga gave the Hornets a 1-0 lead when he scored on an assist from junior Sebastian Zuniga-Cordova in the 45th minute of the game. Amity scored the tying goal in the 67th minute, and the game ultimately ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

Branford will be competing in the Class M State Tournament that gets underway on Saturday, Nov. 5.

Boys’ Cross Country

The Branford boys’ cross country team finished in seventh place as a squad when the Hornets competed at the Class M State Championship meet hosted at Wickham Park in Manchester on Oct. 29. The Hornets tallied a team score of 178 points on their way to taking seventh place in states last week.

Senior Massimo Corrick finished in 26th place, while junior Dom Zdunek was right behind in 27th place to lead Branford at the Class M State Championship. Corrick ran a time of 18:29, and Zdunek finished with a mark of 18:31 for the Hornets.

Senior Colin Donahoe recorded a time of 18:42 to come in 32nd place at states. Junior Sam Coppola finished in 42nd place with a time of 19:12. Sophomore Noah Hausworth finished in 51st place (19:25), and senior Carter Burgess finished in 80th place (20:24) on behalf of Branford.

Girls’ Cross Country

The Branford girls’ cross country team hit the course to participate in the Class M State Championship meet that took place last week. The Hornets finished in eighth place by recording a team score of 227 points at the state meet on Oct. 29 at Wickham Park.

Senior Violet Marrandino posted a 12th-place performance for Branford at the Class M State Championship. Marrandino ran a time of 21:20 to finish in 12th place on behalf of the Hornets.

Senior Hannah Jackson claimed 35th place by recording a time of 23:10 at states. Sophomore Peyton Gaudreau finished in 55th place with a time of 24:19.

Senior Lila Wasiolek finished in 63rd place (24:36) for the Hornets, while sophomore Ella Stone took 73rd place (25:06) at the state meet. Senior Marina Smiarowski placed 108th (27:16), and senior Taylor Tracy finished in 125th place (29:01) for Branford.

Football

The Branford football team hosted undefeated SCC opponent Hamden for a Friday night matchup on Oct. 28. The Hornets took a 27-0 defeat against the Green Dragons at Branford High School to put their overall record at 2-5 on the year. Hamden improved to 7-0 with the win.

Following a scoreless first quarter, Hamden got on the board with a 45-yard touchdown run with 1:55 to play in the second quarter and took a 7-0 lead into halftime. Just 12 seconds into the third quarter, the Green Dragons scored on a 63-yard TD rush to make it 14-0, which held up as the score entering the fourth.

Hamden used a 46-yard touchdown run to increase its lead to 21-0 with 9:13 remaining in game. The Green Dragons added a 19-yard touchdown run to go up 27-0 with 2:46 on the clock.

Junior Nate Florio rushed 22 times for 91 yards for Branford in the game. As a team, the Hornets had 37 carries for 155 yards on the night. Senior Zach Turbert completed 14 passes for 69 yards in the game.

Branford is on the bye week for this upcoming week. The Hornets will return to action to play a road game versus Lyman Hall on Friday, Nov. 11 at 6:30 p.m. After that, Branford will be back on the road to face Bassick on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 6 p.m., followed by the team’s annual Thanksgiving game against East Haven on Thursday, Nov. 24 at 10 a.m.