Girls’ Swimming and Diving

Sophomore Jordyn Gould put forth a first-place performance when she represented Guilford at the Class M Diving State Championship last week. Senior Ella Esposito and sophomore Ava Seseske also competed on behalf of the Guilford girls’ swimming and diving team when the Class M diving meet was hosted at Middletown High School on Nov. 10.

Gould recorded an overall score of 399.95 points on her way to finishing first among the 22 divers that qualified for the Class M State Championship, breaking her own school record for an 11-dive performance. Ava Gravgaard of Brookfield finished in second place with a score of 383.70 points. Gould had recently set the school record with a score of 377.20 points in her third-place finish at the SCC Championship on Oct. 29.

Esposito claimed seventh place for the Grizzlies in the Class M diving meet. Esposito posted a score of 321.00 points on her way to finishing in seventh place at states.

Seseske finished in 15th place at the Class M Diving Championship. Seseske recorded a score of 259.25 points en route to the 15th-place performance.

Gould, Esposito, and Seseske all scored points that will count toward Guilford’s overall total when the Grizzlies compete in the swimming portion of the Class M State Championship this week. Additionally, Gould qualified to compete in the State Open Diving Championship that will take place on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 5:30 p.m. at Middletown High School. The State Open Swimming Championship is at Yale University on Saturday, Nov. 19 at noon.

Boys’ Soccer

The Guilford boys’ soccer team won its first two games in the Class L State Tournament to make it to semifinal round of the bracket last week. The Grizzlies notched a victory over Masuk and then defeated Hand on penalty kicks to advance to a semifinal showdown against Cheshire with an overall record of 13-4-2 on the year.

As the No. 4 seed in the Class L State Tournament, Guilford had a bye through the first round of the bracket. On Nov. 9, the Grizzlies hosted No. 20 seed Masuk in the second round and won the game by a 3-0 score to reach the quarterfinals.

Then on Nov. 12, the Grizzlies faced SCC rival and No. 21 seed Hand in the state quarterfinals and claimed a 1-0 victory in a game that came down to penalty kicks. Guilford outscored the Tigers by a 5-3 margin in PKs to win the game and move on to the semis. Senior Sami AbuGhazaleh scored the decisive goal during the PK session to secure the victory for the Grizzlies.

Guilford is facing top-seeded Cheshire in the Class L semifinals at Jonathan Law High School on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. With a win, the Grizzlies would advance to play the winner of No. 2 seed Xavier and No. 6 Middletown for the title at Trinity Health Stadium in Hartford on either Saturday, Nov. 19 or Sunday, Nov. 20.

Girls’ Soccer

The Guilford girls’ soccer team claimed a victory over Ledyard in its opening game of the Class L State Tournament and then took a defeat to Wethersfield in a second-round contest last week. The Grizzlies posted an overall record of 10-7-1 for the fall campaign.

On Nov. 8, the 19th-seeded Grizzlies hit the road to face No. 14 seed Ledyard in the first round of states and edged out the Colonels by a 2-1 score. Then on Nov. 10, Guilford played a second-round road game against No. 3 seed Wethersfield and lost a 1-0 decision versus the Eagles.

Field Hockey

The Guilford field hockey team defeated Suffield in its first game of the Class M State Tournament before taking a quarterfinal loss against Guilford last week. The Grizzlies finished with an overall record of 16-3-0-1 for the 2022 season.

Top-seeded Guilford opened the Class M State Tournament by posting a 6-1 home win over No. 16 seed Suffield in a first-round game on Nov. 8. The Grizzlies started the game strong by scoring 2 goals during the first quarter. Senior Ella Clarke scored the opening goal of the day after tipping home the rebound of a shot from junior Payton Root, who had taken a pass from senior Grace Barlage. Five minutes later, senior Scout Climie scored off of her own rebound to put Guilford up 2-0, which held up as the score at halftime.

Suffield cut the deficit to 2-1 by scoring a goal during the third quarter. However, the Grizzlies responded by scoring 4 goals in the fourth quarter, netting 3 of those goals off of corners. Root, senior Kim Evans, Barlage, and senior MJ Santa Barbara all scored a goal to help Guilford pull away for the 6-1 victory. Freshman goalie Addie Oakes had 5 saves in net for the Grizzlies.

Two days later, the Grizzlies hosted No. 9 seed Branford in the Class M quarterfinals and lost to the Hornets by a 1-0 score. Guilford had recently taken a 3-2 defeat versus Branford in the semifinals of the SCC Tournament the previous week. In the rematch, the Hornets scored the lone goal of the game with 8 minutes to play in the third quarter and then hung on for the 1-0 win.

Girls’ Volleyball

The Guilford girls’ volleyball team saw its season come to a close with a loss against Woodstock Academy in the second round of the Class L State Tournament last week. The Grizzlies finished with an overall record of 16-6 on the year.

As the No. 5 seed, the Guilford had a bye through the first round of the Class L State Tournament. On Nov. 10, the Grizzlies hosted No. 12 Woodstock Academy for a second-round match and lost to the Centaurs by a 3-1 score. Woodstock Academy won the match with set scores of 25-19, 24-26, 25-17, 25-21.

Senior Halle Krause recorded 14 kills to go with 9 digs, 8 assists, and 1 ace for Guilford in the matchup. Senior Riley Mullet finished the contest with 13 assists, 8 digs, and 2 aces. Fellow senior Corrine Puchalski had 10 digs, 5 kills, and 1 ace for the Grizzlies.

Football

The Guilford football team was on the bye week last week. With their overall record of 5-3, the Grizzlies will return to the gridiron to play a road game against divisional opponent East Haven on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. East Haven has an overall record of 2-6 and is 1-3 in SCC Tier 3 this year. The Grizzlies have a record of 4-1 in the SCC Tier 3 contests.

After playing East Haven, Guilford will host Hand in the annual Thanksgiving week game between the two rivals. The matchup kicks off at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at Kavanaugh Field.

Guilford is currently in the No. 10 spot for the Class M State Playoff rankings in which the top eight squads qualify.