Printer Friendly Version - Hand Field Hockey Wins SCC Championship, Girls’ Swimming Places Fourth

Goalkeeper Faith Minickene earned SCC Tournament MVP after allowing zero goals in three games in Hand field hockey’s conference championship run. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Source Photo courtesy of Wesley Bunnell

Pictured is the Hand girls’ swimming team after taking fourth place as a squad at the SCC Championship meet in (back) Matt Gentil (manager,), Alex Muenker (manager), Head Coach Coach Scott Butler; (middle) Lily Muenker, Aniella Lesnik, Molly Hoban, Lucy Schwartz, Emily Butler, Seorin Kim, Haley Wines, Lauren Dodge (north Branford), Lillian Miller, Arianna Potter, Norah Stotz, Samantha Chemacki; (front) Rachel Gentil, Alyssa Gentil, Mariela Potter, Colleen Hoban, Meghan Hoban, Anna Jacob, and Sofia Rastelli. Photo courtesy of Kimberly Chemacki

The Hand boys’ soccer team earned the No. 3 seed in the SCC Tournament, facing No. 6 Fairfield Prep in the quarterfinals on Oct. 28 and winning 2-1.

In the semifinals on Oct. 30, the Tigers took down No. 7 Shelton by a score of 2-0.

Hand girls’ soccer played a very competitive quarterfinal matchup in the SCC Tournament on

Oct. 28 as the No. 6 seed, ending the game in a 0-0 tie but falling to No. 3 Cheshire in penalty kicks (6-5).

The Hand girls’ swimming and diving team competed in the SCC Championship on Nov. 1, placing fourth overall as a squad with

807 points. The 200-yard medley relay team, consisting of Anna Jacob, Samantha Chemacki, Lillian Miller, and Ariana Potter, claimed fourth place with a time of 1:57.81. In the 200 freestyle, Lucy Schwarz took 19th (2:16.47). Chemacki placed third in the 200 IM with a time of 2:13.16. Molly Hoban (2:29.12) placed 21st in that event.

In the 50 freestyle, Potter and Haley Wines both placed 10th, finishing with the same time of 27.14, while Hadley Reiss took ninth in the 1 meter dive (339.30). Abigail Simpson was 12th in the dive (321.20) and Georgia Cohen followed in 19th (290.75). Miller (1:02.86) took eighth in the 100 butterfly. Sofia Rastelli (1:07.68) claimed 17th in that event. Emily Butler rounded out the Hand squad with a time of 1:12.09 for 25th place. Jacob took seventh place in the 100 freestyle (56.81) and Norah Stotz took 17th (59.63).

Chemacki earned a first place finish in the 500 freestyle (5:14.66) and Miller (5:33.41) took fifth. Wines earned 10th place in the event (5:45.22). Rastelli (5:58.28) and Schwarz (6:02.42) took 20th and 21st place, respectively. Wines, Rastelli, Stotz, and Potter finished in seventh place in the 200 freestyle relay (1:49.53). Seorin Kim was sixth in the 100 backstroke (1:04.19). In that event, Jacob (1:09.00) earned 21st place and Stotz (1:09.69) earned 22nd. Emily Butler took 31st place (1:12.73). Potter (1:16.64) took 11th place in the 100 breaststroke, and Hoban (1:17.77) took 16th. Aniella Lesnik raced to 21st place (1:21.40). In the 400 freestyle relay, Jacob, Stotz, Miller, and Chemacki finished in fourth place (3:51.89).

Hand football traveled to Amity on Nov. 3 and won 46-0. Jack Shay went 9/13 on 150 passing yards and threw four touchdown passes. Stone Leckey went 3/4 with one touchdown pass. Aidan Dolan led the team in rushing yards with 96, followed by Gavin Wagner with 30 and Cameron Oranzo with 20. Receiving touchdowns for the Tigers came from Sam Markovitz (2), Cole Preskar, Wagner, and Owen Preskar (77 receiving yards).

In the first round of the SCC Tournament on Oct. 27, Hand girls’ volleyball (No. 12 seed) fell to No. 5 Sacred Heart Academy 3-1 (25-16, 25-15, 18-25, 25-8).

Tigers field hockey entered the SCC Tournament as the No. 1 seed. In the quarterfinal round on

Oct. 28, Hand defeated No. 8 Hamden 5-0. Scorers for the Tigers were Jordan Kells (2), Katie Flanagan (from Kells), Morgan Mastrobattisto (from Kells), and Bridget Waters (from Kells and Flanagan). Faith Minickene had six saves in net.

On Oct. 30, the Tigers faced No. 5 Amity Regional in the semifinals and won 4-0. Getting the Tigers on the board were Kelly Kilbourn (from Kells), Jacqueline Kennedy (from Waters and Kells), Kells (from Mastrobattisto and Flanagan), and Flanagan. Minickene had 11 saves in goal.

In the championship game on Nov. 1, Hand faced No. 7 Sacred Heart Academy and won 1-0. Kilbourn scored the goal for the Tigers, and it was assisted by Kennedy and Kells. Minickene recorded nine saves in goal (seven in the second half).

Hand is the 2023 SCC Tournament Champions, and Faith Minickene was the Tournament MVP after allowing zero goals in three games.

The Tigers’ 12-0 record in the SCC also earned them the title of regular season champions. Kells was honored as the Player of the Year in the conference, and Head Coach Sue Leckey was honored as 2023 Coach of the Year in the conference for the successful season for Hand.

Earning All-Conference honors for Hand this season were Jordan Kells (First Team), Morgan Mastrobattisto (First Team), Faith Minickene (First Team), Kelly Kilbourn (Second Team), and Becca Snyder (Second Team).