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11/28/2023 11:15 AMThe Guilford field hockey team has always been known for housing a group of girls dedicated to their craft, ready to succeed, and willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. The 2023 season proved to be no different, as the collective hard work of the squad landed the Grizzlies a spot in the semifinals of the Class M State Tournament.
On the campaign, the Grizzlies boasted a 13-3 regular season record before making a statement in state tournament play. They outscored their opponents 61-26 on the season and recorded six shutouts, including in each of their last three games of the regular season slate.
As Guilford’s head coach, Kitty Palmer reflected on the run the Grizzlies put together this season, proud of the way the team showed resiliency and fight to exceed expectations and dominate in-conference rivals.
“I’m very proud of the team, as they exceeded our season expectations,” said Palmer. “We only lost one SCC game to undefeated Hand at the start of the season. We wished we had another shot at them.”
Leading the charge in the captain’s chair were seniors Payton Root and Tania Evans. Both earned All-Conference and All-State honors, while leading the team in goals with 20 and 11, respectively. Freshman Zoe Tsoukanelis was third in goals on the team, with 10 scored on the season.
After a 1-0 start to the fall in which Guilford picked up a 2-1 victory over Stonington, the Grizzlies lost to Hand, 1-0, to break even at 1-1. Upon suffering their first defeat of the season, Palmer explained that the team missed a bunch of opportunities to score in the game when their shots weren’t hitting the target.
“Losing to Hand in game two forced us to really concentrate on shots on the goal this season,” said Palmer. “We had so many shots at Hand's goal that went wide. Losing 1-0 taught us that we were close.”
The Grizzlies bounced back pretty easily from the loss to the Tigers, winning five out of their next six games. They collected victories over Amity, Hamden, Shelton, Mercy, and Cheshire before suffering two mid-season losses to Glastonbury (1-0) and Norwalk (2-1.) The close defeats showed Palmer that Guilford was right in the mix with the most competitive teams, even further growing the squad’s collective confidence.
“Again after Glastonbury and Norwalk, losing by a goal in each game, it showed us we were close to competing with some of the best out-of-league teams in the state,” said Palmer.
After the loss to Norwalk on Oct. 7, Guilford didn’t suffer another defeat for the rest of the regular season. They went on a tear and won their last seven games, earning victories over Branford, East Lyme, Sacred Heart Academy, Hall, North Haven, Lyman Hall, and Sheehan.
Branford, Sacred Heart, and Hall were close games, with Guilford winning by one point in each of the three contests. In the Hall victory, the Grizzlies won in an overtime thriller, by a score of 6-5.
“The Hall game was a crazy offensive game,” said Palmer. “We won three games this season in the last few minutes, and we were confident that our stamina would prevail in overtime. Very excited after that game, but defensively, we had a lot to work on.”
Guilford went on to record three-straight shutouts, while outscoring North Haven, Lyman Hall, and Sheehan by a combined score of 15-0 to close out the regular season and refocus for the playoffs.
Heading into postseason play, Guilford entered the Class M State Tournament as the No. 2 seed. The girls faced No. 15 E.O. Smith in the first round and won 5-0.
In the quarterfinals, the Grizzlies faced Farmington and narrowly escaped with a 2-1 victory. The win happened to be the last game the seniors would play at Guilford High School, and Palmer knew it was an extra special victory because of that.
“It was great for our seniors to play their last game at Guilford, and win such an exciting game,” said Palmer.
With a chance to make a state finals appearance, Guilford’s quest to win the title came to an end, as the No. 6 seed New Canaan Rams handed the Grizzlies a 6-2 loss in the semifinal round to close out what had been a fun season for everyone involved.
“We played a great quarter-and-a-half against New Canaan, but unfortunately couldn't maintain our good play for two more quarters,” said Palmer. “The goal to put New Canaan ahead four seconds before the half took a toll on our psyches. We played well, but we were losing at the half. We were chasing a goal in the second half, but didn't produce enough offense. New Canaan was fast and stopped the ball very well.”
The Grizzlies graduated 10 seniors from this season. Those players included goalie Eliza Chamberlain, forwards Evans, Sadie Iozzia and Lila Garuti, midfielder Root, and defenders Flora Zhang, Karolina Smith, Olivia Pionke, Bella Sweeney, and Reily Thompson. Although she’ll be losing a special group of talented athletes, Palmer is optimistic about the future and excited to see the underclassmen step up next fall, now that they’ve gained a lot of valuable experience on the field in 2023.
“We have a good core group of players that received significant varsity playing time,” said Palmer. “We look forward to playing in 2024.”
The 2023 Guilford field hockey team roster included: freshmen Zoe Tsoukanelis, Erin Randall, Neave Coyne, Maddie Welch, Lilly Peck, Olivia Cavallaro, and Gabrielle Chen; sophomores Colby Atwater, Hailey Farace, Mackenzie Savage, Emma Clifford, Camila Munroe, and Addison Oakes; juniors Cambelle Jacobson, Caroline Hergan, Cassandra Ward, Madelyn White, and Leanne Petonito; and seniors Chamberlain, Evans, Zhang, Iozzia, Garuti, Pionke, Thompson, Root, Sweeney, and Smith.