Printer Friendly Version - Girls’ Ice Hockey, Boys’ Basketball Both Win a Trio

Faith Minickene has helped contribute in many different ways to the Hand girls’ ice hockey co-op team, including scoring three goals and recording an assist in the team’s 6-2 win over Amity/Cheshire/North Haven on Jan. 10. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Source

The Hand girls’ ice hockey co-op team hosted Amity/Cheshire/North Haven on Jan. 10 and won 6-2. Faith Minickene had three goals and one assist, while Kendall Dobratz had one goal and one assist. Jaime DiNapoli contributed with two goals and one assist, and Taylor Manchanda had one goal and one assist. Raegan Wyrebek-Brasky also added one assist.

The team then played host to Woodstock Academy Co-op on Jan. 12 and won 7-3. Minickene had four goals and one assist, and Dobratz had two goals. DiNapoli had one goal and one assist, while Alexa Spaniotis added two assists.

The next day, the team rounded out the week with a 3-2 overtime win at home vs. Southington. Wyrebek-Brasky scored two goals, including the overtime goal. Dobratz added one goal and one assist, and Minickene had two assists.

On Jan. 17, the Hand boys’ ice hockey team traveled to East Haven Co-op and took a 7-2 loss. Matt Gervais got the Tigers on the board in the first period, assisted by Charlie Wood and Ryan Mason. Gervais scored again in the third period, this time assisted by Anthony Albino and Gavin Scarice. William McGuire manned the net for Hand, allowing seven goals on 32 saves.

The next day, the Tigers played host to Jonathan Law and won 72-44. Elijah Avery-Turned led the way with 28 points, followed by Aidan Doyle with 16. Other point scorers for Hand included Kyle Hoffman (three points), Thomas McCullough (seven points), Sam Markovitz (five points), Jack Tompkins (three points), Stone Leckey (seven points), Chase Docker (two points), and Zeke Williams (three points).

The Tigers rounded out the week at Fitch on Jan. 20, where they grabbed a 58-56 victory.

The Hand gymnastics team hosted Hamden on Jan. 17 and won 138.95-108.9 Head Coach Kelly Smith was very impressed with her team after the meet.

“Morgan Flickinger continues to score about a 37 in the All-Around, showing that she is not only doing difficult routines, but she is doing them consistently,” Smith said. “She has made some slight changes in the offseason, but most of all, she's entered this season as an upperclassman with confidence in her leadership on and off the events, and she's cleaned up her form on many of her most difficult skills. Brooke Anderson and Hadley Reiss are also scoring big for us in the All-Around, and with 9+ on multiple events. They have made significant upgrades in their routines, and they are working on their consistency and confidence in those new skills. Other highlights included some high school gymnastics debuts: freshman Emma Kuja competed on bars and floor, and sophomore Angie Egidio competed on vault.”

The team then traveled to Stonington on Jan. 20 and won 140.3-130.0. Smith is happy to see the girls continue to impress and improve every meet.

“We love anytime we break that 140 point mark as a team, that’s a great score,” explained Smith. “We are struggling a little bit with consistency - we are doing some pretty difficult gymnastics, and it’s high-risk high reward. Those rewards are only somewhat shining through right now. We’re a great team with great scoring potential, and once we can get everyone hitting their routines at the same time, we’ve got a really good shot at being one of the best teams in the state. One particular highlight today was sophomore Kelly Kelly hitting both her bars and beam routines for season highs, as she works her way back into the lineup after an illness. Morgan and Brooke continue to lead the way, with 36+ scores in the All-Around today.”