Girls' Soccer

The Hornets earned a 3-0 home win against North Haven on Oct. 17 to finish 5-1 in Oronoque play and claim their third straight division title, their fourth in the last five years, and fifth since 2007. Jen Kohut's squad also dropped a 3-0 home decision to Guilford and then beat Lauralton Hall 1-0 at home to stand at 5-9 overall, needing a tie in one of its last two games to make states.

Against North Haven, Cassidy McCarns had a goal and an assist with Sara Consolo and Rachel Cholewinski also scoring goals for Branford, which saw Jenna Vitale get the win in net. Along with winning the Oronoque, Branford also made the SCC Tournament with the victory.

"Getting back into the SCC tourney was one of our goals. The girls knew we had to win Friday to do that and they went out and took care of business," said Kohut.

Against Lauralton, Issy Bysiewicz put home a shot by Consolo that hit off the crossbar for the game's lone goal. Vitale stopped everything that came her way for the shutout.

Boys' Soccer

Branford played to a 1-1 tie at North Haven on Oct. 19 and in doing so clinched a share of its fourth straight SCC Oronoque title. The Hornets, who went 4-1-1 in division play, have won or shared the Oronoque crown in five of the last six seasons and six times since 2006. Paul Hunter's club also took a 3-0 loss at Hand to stand at 8-5-1 overall.

"Winning the Oronoque Division is our first and foremost objective heading into the season and the boys worked extremely hard to accomplish this," Coach Hunter said.

Against North Haven, Branford scored the first goal in the 23rd minute when Michael Caminear floated a long free kick that was flicked on by Aaron Radulski, after which Max Condon jumped on the loose ball and hammered it into the back of the net. The Hornets held their 1-0 lead before the Indians tied it in the 68th minute.

Against Hand, the Hornets gave up two goals in the first half and one in the second in the loss.

Volleyball

The Hornets won two of their three matches to make the SCC and state tournaments for the fourth straight season. Branford lost at Cross 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-18), but then bounced back to win at home against Career 3-1 (25-10, 25-16, 21-25, 25-15) and 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-13) in the clincher against North Haven. Eva Esposito's squad is 8-8 overall, 5-2 in the Oronoque, and is still in the mix for the division title.

Against Cross, Adrienne DiGioia served 10-for-10 with six kills and six digs, Marisa Minore had three kills and four digs, Alyssa Sachs notched seven digs with four aces, Ellery Riccio had four digs, and Jennifer Hwang served 12-for-12.

Versus Career, Hwang went 10-for-10 serving, Lauren Elamsry went 5-for-5 and had two kills, Minore recorded seven kills, Abby Atkinson had 12 kills with three blocks, Sarah Wirtz served 6-for-6 with seven kills, and DiGioia had seven kills with three aces.

Facing NH, DiGioia served 12-for-12 with two aces, Atkinson went 17-for-17 with eight kills and two aces, Riccio was 15-for-15 with 17 assists, and Minore had four kills.

Girls' Cross Country

Junior Cyrene Nicholas earned All-SCC First Team honors by posting a fifth-place finish with a mark of 19:51 as the Hornets finished fifth in the SCC Championship. Jess Lohret took 16th (20:28) and Courtney Cosgrove was 17th (20:34) with both gaining All-SCC Second Team distinction. Anneliese Troidle finished 44th (22:17), Sophie Angelo placed 45th (22:21), Kendall Simmons took 54th (22:45), and Claira Janover was 80th (24:00).

"Cyrene did not have the race she hoped for, but still finished in the top five. Jess and Courtney have battled all year and had another good one today, going right down to the finish. I'm so glad they finished well in the meet," said Coach Kevin Connell. "We need to have a big performance at states from everyone."

Boys' Cross Country

Senior captain Luke Arsenault ran a time of 16:18 to finish in fourth place, make All-SCC First Team, and help Branford place sixth at the SCC Championship. Ryan Connell finished 21st at 17:12 and gained a spot on the All-SCC Second Team. Alec Janis was 25th (17:30), Nathan D'Amico took 52nd (18:11), Jackson Mariotti was 55th (18:21), Spencer Mariotti ran to 70th (18:45), and Aodhan Dunn was 71st at 18:46.

"Luke ran a very focused race. He put it all out there against some great talent and I'm proud of the race he ran. Ryan was consistent all season and had another strong race," Coach Kevin Connell said. "The boys will need to put together a memorable effort to achieve their goal for this year."

Field Hockey

Branford stands at 10-4 overall and 6-3 in the SCC following a 5-1 win at Mercy and a 4-0 loss at Lauralton Hall.

Against Mercy, Karlee Kessler scored from Megan Shea on a corner play, Shea scored on a penalty stroke, Kessler scored from Cara Broughal, and then Shea scored again in the first half. The second half saw Broughal score on a corner on an assist by Caroline Murphy. Keira Integlia made two saves for the Hornets, who outshot Mercy 12-2 and had 10 corners to the Tigers' three.

Integlia then made eight saves versus Lauralton, which outshot Branford 7-3 and earned eight corners to the Hornets' three. Along with everyone mentioned, Coach Cathy McGuirk also complimented the play of Kenya Claude, Carol Frye, LanLe Crotty, Jackie DaRos, Autumn McHenry, Alanna Grimm, and Sabrina Torcellini.

McGuirk also thanked everyone who was involved in the Hornets' Pink Game against Sheehan on Oct. 7. Proceeds from the game will toward support of breast cancer awareness, along with research and patient assistance in Connecticut.

Girls' Swimming and Diving

Branford took a 93-82 loss at Amity and a 95-86 home defeat to Cheshire to stand at 5-8. Against Cheshire, winning for the Hornets were the 200 medley relay of Julia Dietz, Erika Maercklein, Paige MacNeil, and Caitlin Daley (1:54.21); as well as Maercklein in the 50 freestyle (25.41); the 200 freestyle relay of Daley, MacNeil, Dietz, and Maercklein (1:44.85); Gabija Karosas in the 100 backstroke (1:04.58), Maddie Paleski in the 100 breaststroke (1:26.42); and the 400 freestyle relay of Maercklein, MacNeil, Dietz, and Daley (3:49.22).