Girls’ Soccer

The Hand girls’ soccer team traveled to Middletown to face Mercy in the semifinals of the SCC Tournament last week. The Tigers took a loss to Mercy in the conference semis to put their overall record at 14-3-1 entering the Class L State Tournament this week.

After posting a 2-0 win over Guilford in the quarterfinal round, No. 3 seed Hand hit the road to face No. 2 Mercy for an SCC Tournament semifinal game on Nov. 1. Hand dropped a 2-0 decision to Mercy, which went on to take a 2-1 loss versus Cheshire in the championship game.

Hand is the No. 6 seed in the Class L State Tournament and will be hosting No. 27 Rockville for a first-round contest on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 5 p.m. If the Tigers win, they will host the winner of No. 11 Woodstock and No. 22 for a second-round game on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m.

The Class L quarterfinals are on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m.; and the semis are being held from Tuesday, Nov. 15 to Thursday, Nov. 17. The Class L state final takes place at Trinity Health Stadium in Hartford on either Saturday, Nov. 19 or Sunday, Nov. 20.

Boys’ Soccer

The Hand boys’ soccer team will be participating in the Class L State Tournament starting this week.

With their overall record of 7-7-2, the 21st-seeded Tigers will open the state draw by playing a road game versus No. 12 seed Bassick in the first round on Monday, Nov. 7 at 5 p.m. With a win, the Tigers would move on to play the winner of No. 5 seed Berlin and No. 28 Stratford in the second round on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m.

The Class L state quarterfinals will be held on Friday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. The semis are taking place from Tuesday, Nov. 15 to Thursday, Nov. 17; and the Class L championship game is being played at Trinity Health Stadium in Hartford on either Saturday, Nov. 19 or Sunday, Nov. 20.

Field Hockey

The Hand field hockey team was on the road to take on Cheshire for an SCC Tournament semifinal showdown last week. The Tigers lost a 1-0 decision against Cheshire in the SCC semifinals and are now sporting an overall record of 12-5-1 as they open play in states this week.

On the heels of a 5-0 win versus Sacred Heart Academy in the quarterfinal round, the 3rd-seeded Tigers played a road game versus No. 2 seed Cheshire in the semifinals of the SCC Tournament on Nov. 1. Cheshire won the contest by a 1-0 score to move on the championship game, where the Rams claimed a 2-1 victory over Branford to claim their first conference title since 2013.

Hand has the No. 5 seed in the Class L State Tournament and is hosting Avon for a first-round game on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. If the Tigers win that game, they will face the winner of No. 4 seed Simsbury and No. 13 Pomperaug in the quarterfinals on Thursday, Nov. 10.

The Class M semifinals are being played on Tuesday, Nov. 15 and Wednesday, Nov. 16. The state final is being hosted at Wethersfield High School on Saturday, Nov. 19.

Girls’ Swimming and Diving

The Hand girls’ swimming and diving team hit the water to participate in the SCC Championship that took place at Southern Connecticut State University on Nov. 3. The Tigers finished in fourth place by posting a team score of 697 points at the SCC meet. Cheshire took the title by scoring a total of 1,226 points.

Sophomore Sami Chemacki finished in second place in the 500 freestyle for the Tigers at the SCC Championship. Chemacki finished with a time of 5:15.80 en route to earning runner-up honors for the 500. Chemacki also finished fifth in the 200 freestyle by swimming a time of 2:00.91 in the event.

Hand’s 400 freestyle relay of Chemacki, sophomore Lillian Miller, sophomore Seorin Kim, and sophomore Ariana Potter claimed third place (3:52.64) at SCCs. The Tigers’ 200 freestyle relay featuring Kim, Potter, Miller, and Chemacki finished in fifth place (1:45.74). The 200 medley relay of junior Norah Stotz, sophomore Aniella Lesnik, freshman Sofia Rastelli, and sophomore Lily Vest came in 10th place (2:06.22) for Hand.

Potter also finished fifth in the 100 freestyle (56.14) and sixth in the 100 breaststroke (1:14.41) at the SCC meet. Miller took seventh place in the 500 freestyle (5:33.16) and finished eighth for the 200 freestyle (2:01.60).

Kim finished 11th in the 100 backstroke (1:04.64) and also swam to a 14th-place performance in the 200 freestyle (2:07.45) for the Tigers. Rastelli claimed 13th place in the 100 butterfly (1:06.42) and also finished 18th in the 500 freestyle (5:59.18).

Junior Haley Wines finished 17th in the 200 freestyle (2:08.84) and placed 21st for the 100 freestyle (1:00.99) at SCCs. Stotz took 19th place in the 100 freestyle (1:00.37) and also finished 20th in the 100 backstroke (1:08.20).

Junior Lucy Schwarz finished in 21st place for both the 500 freestyle (6:05.01) and the 100 breaststroke (1:20.31) for the Tigers. Vest claimed 23rd place in both the 50 freestyle (28.21) and the 100 freestyle (1:01.25).

Lesnik finished 22nd in the 100 breaststroke (1:20.74) at the SCC meet. Freshman Ella Speerli placed 25th in the 50 freestyle (28.38), and sophomore Emily Butler finished 26th in the 500 freestyle (6:13.11) on behalf of Hand.

A few days prior to the swimming portion of the SCC competition, the Tigers sent three athletes to competed in the SCC Diving Championship at Sheehan High School on Oct. 29. Speerli finished in 15th place with a score of 310.10 points for the Tigers. Junior Hadley Reiss finished in 19th (283.30), while sophomore Georgia Cohen placed 23rd (267.15) at the meet.

Hand is competing in the Class S State Championship this week. The Class S Diving Championship will take place at Sheehan High School at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 9; the Swimming Trials are on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. at the Cheshire Community Pool; and the Class S Swimming Championship is being hosted at Southern Connecticut State University on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 6 p.m.

Girls’ Cross Country

Freshman Annecy Vleiks represented the Hand girls’ cross country team by competing at the State Open Championship last week. The meet took place at Wickham Park on Nov. 3.

Vlieks finished in 29th place on behalf of the Tigers in the State Open Championship. Vlieks recorded a time of 20:36 to claim 29th place in the competition.

Boys’ Cross Country

The Hand boys’ cross country team sent two athletes to take part in the State Open Championship that was held at Wickham Park in Manchester on Nov. 3. Senior Harry Grenier and fellow senior Nicholas Montana represented the Tigers at the Open.

Grenier finished in 37th place for Hand at the State Open Championship. Grenier hit the finish line with a time of 17:01 to take 37th place in the meet.

Montana posted a 79th-place performance in the Open. Montana ran a time of 17:41 to finish in 79th place for the Tigers.

Football

The Hand football team hit the road to face North Haven for an SCC Tier 1 matchup on Nov. 4. The Tigers took a 35-14 defeat versus the Nighthawks at North Haven Middle School to move to 2-6 overall with a record of 1-5 in the division this year. North Haven improved its overall record to 7-1 and is now 4-1 in SCC Tier with the victory.

Junior Aidan Dolan recorded the first score of the game when he rushed for a 75-yard touchdown run just 59 seconds into Hand’s matchup against North Haven. Sophomore Jack Healy made the extra point for a 7-0 Tigers’ advantage.

Later in the first quarter, North Haven tied the game by scoring on a 35-yard touchdown run to make it 7-7 after one. The Nighthawks then used a 47-yard touchdown rush and a 13-yard TD run in the second quarter to take a 21-7 lead into the halftime break.

North Haven scored on a 56-yard touchdown run and a 6-yard TD rush during the third quarter to increase its lead to 35-7 entering the fourth. Sophomore Paul Calandrelli ran for a 3-yard touchdown for Hand just 7 seconds into the final frame. Healy’s extra point accounted the final points of the night in a 35-14 win for North Haven.

Calandrelli went 12-for-23 passing with 98 yards to go with his rushing touchdown for the Tigers against North Haven. Dolan ran the ball 12 times for 124 yards and a TD on the night. Junior Gavin Wagner had 9 carries for 43 yards, while sophomore Tyler Narracci rushed 12 times for 32 yards.

Senior Sam Sisk had 6 receptions for 66 yards in the contest. Junior Owen Preskar had 3 catches for 16 yards for Hand.

Hand is hosting Sheehan (3-5) for its next game at the Surf Club on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. The Tigers will then be on the road to face Guilford in their annual Thanksgiving week game on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m.