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11/13/2022 02:21 PMField Hockey
On the heels of claiming its sixth-straight Shoreline Conference title, the North Branford field hockey team opened play in the Class S State Tournament as the defending champions last week. The Thunderbirds won their first two games in the state draw to advance to a semifinal matchup against Immaculate with an overall record of 19-1 on the year.
Top-seeded North Branford kicked off the Class S State Tournament by earning a 4-1 home win over No. 17 seed Sheehan in a first-round game on Nov. 8. Junior Lindsey Onofrio scored 2 goals for the T-Birds in the victory. Junior Keana Criscuolo scored 2 goals to go with 1 assist. Junior Sophia Toto netted the other goal for North Branford in the game. Sophomore Lily Ardito and freshman Alivia Schmidt both had an assist.
Onofrio scored her first varsity goal on an assist from Criscuolo off a corner in the opening quarter. North Branford made it 2-0 when Criscuolo scored from Ardito in the second quarter. Toto scored on an assist by Schmidt in the third quarter to put the T-Birds up 3-0. Onofrio scored on a penalty shot during the fourth quarter to make it 4-0 before Sheehan scored its lone goal of the game.
Two days later, the T-Birds hosted No. 8 seed Sacred Heart Academy in the second round of states and won the matchup by a 3-0 score. Criscuolo had 2 goals and 1 assist to lift North Branford to the win. Onofrio scored a goal, and Ardito had an assist. Freshman goalkeeper Madi DiStefano made 5 saves to get the shutout in net for the Thunderbirds.
Onofrio opened the scoring on an assist from Criscuolo in the first quarter. Criscuolo went on to score a pair of goals during the second quarter, one of which of came off an Ardito assist, to give North Branford a 3-0 advantage.
Head Coach Babby Nuhn said that the T-Birds received stellar play on defense from senior Gianna Palma, junior Morgan Lucibello, junior Gianna Gamble, and goalie DiStefano in the victory. Coach Nuhn added that North Branford was also bolstered by strong performances from junior Téa Ferrucci, Schmidt, Ardito, Criscuolo, and Toto at the forward position, along with senior Payton Kamienski, junior Gabi Senerchia, sophomore Riley Cole, and Onofrio in the midfield.
North Branford is playing No. 4 seed Immaculate in the Class S state semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at Trumbull High School at 6:30 p.m. With a victory, the T-Birds would face the winner of No. 2 seed Canton and No. 3 seed Stonington in the championship game at Wethersfield High School on Saturday, Nov. 19.
Football
The North Branford football team was on the bye week last week. North Branford’s next game will be a road tilt versus divisional opponent Morgan at the Peters Complex in Clinton on Friday, Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m.
North Branford comes into its game against Morgan with an overall record of 4-3 and a mark of 2-3 in the Pequot Conference Sassacus Division. Morgan is 2-6 overall and 2-3 in divisional play.
After playing Morgan, the Thunderbirds will finish their regular season by hosting Coginchaug/Hale-Ray/East Hampton for the annual Thanksgiving Week game between the two local rivals. The contest kicks off at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at the Peters Complex.
North Branford is currently in the No. 10 spot in Class S State Playoff rankings in which the top 10 teams qualify.