Field Hockey Dream of Title Falls Short

Dreams to win a state championship in field hockey this year came up short on Wednesday night when the Branford Lady Hornets fell to the defending Class M State Champion New Canaan Rams 1 – 0 at the James L. McDougall Stadium at Trumbull High School.

Branford entered the game ranked third in the division with a 19 – 2 record to play the number seven Rams, who entered the game with a 13 – 5‑1 record. New Canaan was the defending Class M champions from last year, and defeated the Hornets in the first round on route to the 2015 title.

It didn’t take New Canaan long to get the only goal they would need to win the game.

Tigger Nesbett scored on an assist from Elizabeth McCarthy at 5:41 of the first half. That was all the scoring in the game although Branford had a number of opportunities in the second half.

Here goalkeeper Keira Integlia has a Rams shot bounce off her pads.

Here senior Carol Frye slaps the ball away for a New Canaan player.

And here freshman Briana Shaw hustles after a loose ball.

Coach Cathy McGurik is always very cool and calm at her games. She is not one to wear her emotions on her sleeve as they say.

After the game ended she spoke to her team in a huddle in the middle of the field. ​“I am very proud of you tonight,” said the coach. ​“You played very hard in the second half, and we were very close to scoring several times. That was a very good team we played tonight, and this game could have gone either way. Don’t hang your head.”

New Canaan took 11 shots on goal with Branford goaltender Keira Integlia stopping all but one. Branford had seven shots, most of which were in the second period, with Emily Gaeta stopping all of them for the Rams.

The scoreboard tells the story as the game ends.

Branford came up short shooting for their 11th state title, and will be losing a number of players through graduation in the spring, but they have a good nucleus of young players returning.

The team has a good chance to be back in the hunt again next fall. 

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