Girls’ Lacrosse Heads to Semi-Finals in State Tournament

The Branford girls’ lacrosse team emerged victorious in the first two games in the Class M State Tournament last week, defeating the Foran Lions 15 – 3 last Tuesday and the Farmington team in a home game on Thursday. Next is the semi-finals against top rated East Lyme on Wednesday, June 7 at Guilford High School at 7 p.m. Here Morgan Gillman has an intense look getting in position to score.

Before the lacrosse team, coached by Jackie Ceccolini entered the state tournament, they were up against a series of strong teams, including Lauralton Hall, Cheshire, and Daniel Hand. These are the teams that made up the SCC final four and they played last week. Based on team records for the season Branford was the no. 4 ranked team and drew Cheshire, which was ranked no. 1. Here Sophie Spencer celebrates after getting a big goal.

The Cheshire contest turned out to be one of the more exciting games of the year with the Rams eeking out a thrilling 13 – 12 win over the Hornets in a game that went down to the wire. The Eagle was there. Here the Hornets defense swarms a Cheshire player taking a shot.

“We lost to a very good Cheshire team,” said coach Ceccolini. ​“We gave it a valiant effort. We were down four goals in the first half and came back to tie the game.” Here Coach Ceccolini listens to her brother Billy Alessi’s comments during a time out.

The Hornets trailed 9 – 5 late in the first half but rallied to score four goals to tie the game at 9 – 9 at halftime. The Hornets’ aggressive rally was headed by juniors Sophie Spencer and Autumn McHenry. Spencer led the team with six goals and an assist, and McHenry added three goals and an assist. Here McHenry works her way into position. She had three goals and two assists.

Here LanLe Crotty gets in position to shoot. She scored one goal in the game.

Sophomore Grace Paleski likes what she sees after a Hornet score.

The second half was a low-scoring defensive battle compared to the first half. Here Goalie Jill Ciarleglio kicks away a shot on goal as Morgan Gillman (no. 22) and Caroline Erickson (no. 3) come in to assist

Both teams played aggressively, covering opponents near the net and reducing the number of shots on goal. Branford goalie Jill Ciarleglio had seven stops in the game, and Cheshire goalie Carolynn Pechmann had 11. Here Sabrina Torcellini scored a goal in the game.

Also scoring for Branford were Ashlee Smestad, Sabrina Torcellini, and LeLan Crotty with one goal each. Here Smestad, a senior. chases down a Cheshire player

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