Lionetti, Branford rolling into playoffs

With two games left in what has become a nice season in a series of nice seasons for Branford, it seemed like the time to ask Jim May what stood out about this group of Hornets.

“We have Robbie Lionetti,” May said, and, yeah, that’s not a bad start whatsoever. “He has done a lot for the program.”

Though May didn’t have the numbers tallied firmly, he’s confident that Lionetti, bound for the Air Force Academy, has become the program’s all-time leading scorer, passing current assistant coach Joe O’Keefe.

The Hornets have also become deeper in goal, boasting three goalies who can play, the coach said, and that combination has helped them to a 10-4 season with two regular-season games and two postseason tournaments remaining.

“Obviously you can’t win with just two guys,” May said. “We’ve played really well as a team.”

They do the small things well, May said, which he credits to the players’ coachability and the work of assistants O’Keefe and Connecticut Hall of Famer Frank Barron.

Having several players who won SCC/SWC Division II and CIAC Division II hockey championships, Lionetti among them, boosts their confidence and helps produce a winning attitude.

Like the hockey team, the lacrosse Hornets lost their first game, 10-6 to Masuk, and got a bit of a wake-up call. They have won six in a row going into Wednesday’s game against Amity.

“Now we’re in the swing of things,” May said. “It’s the first time we’ve made the SCC playoffs in a while. That’s a big thing for the guys. We made states . ... It’s not uncommon, but at the same time, it’s a huge John DeLucia, Guilford:

Andy Demopoulos, Darien: Made 15 saves in a

12-4 win over New Canaan.

Blake Epstein, Fairfield Warde: Scored six goals in a 16-7 win at Stamford.

Jack Feda, Greenwich: Scored seven goals in a 10-8 win over Iona Prep (N.Y.) to end the regular season.

J.J. Ford, Xavier: Scored in overtime to beat East Catholic 14-13.

Christian Hudson, Stonington: Five points, including a hat trick, in a 6-4 win over Canton. Matt Lee, Morgan: Four goals and an assist in a 10-3 win over Old Saybrook.

Patrick McAleavey, Fairfield Prep: Seven goals and two assists as the Jesuits beat North Haven 14-3.

Ethan McVoy, Foran: Had four goals and three assists in a 13-4 win over Hamden.

Nick Pavone, Shelton: The Gaels beat North Haven 12-9 behind his three goals and four assists.

Chris Tillotson, Masuk: Stopped 15 shots in a

12-8 win over Foran.

Ryan Werner, Weston: Second goal, late, proved the winner in a 6-5 victory at Hand.

GAMES TO WATCH

Cheshire at Guilford, Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.:

goal for us as a group.”

COMING BACK: The question wasn’t meant as a laugh line, especially after a 10-7 loss to Ridgefield, but it did get a good chuckle out of first-year Wilton coach Steve Pearsall last week: Have you guys ever been fully healthy?

“That’s a good question,” Pearsall said. “I can’t really talk on any particular injury, but you’re right, we’ve experienced — like other teams as well — but we’ve missed some key players.”

Standout defenders Ryan Schriber and Tyler Previte both missed time earlier this season. Thursday, the Warriors were without top attackman Dean DiNanno.

“We don’t really know (DiNanno’s) return,” Pearsall said. From sideline appearances, it didn’t look like a long-term thing.

And still, the Warriors are 7-8 (with four losses by Cheshire needs this one to qualify for the Class L tournament.

Shelton at Notre Dame-West Haven (Veterans Stadium), Wednesday, 6 p.m.: One of these two teams gets to finish the regular season at 10-6. They've both had nice seasons. Waterford at Somers, Thursday, 5:30 p.m.: The Class-S-leading Spartans host Waterford, a team that could wind up leading Class M. The Lancers had a home game Tuesday night against East Lyme, the team that dealt them their only loss.

Granby at St. Paul, Thursday, 6 p.m.: Granby looked like it had a little roll going, topping Somers in overtime, winning a couple of more, and then it lost to McMahon 9-8 on Friday. After a game Tuesday at Suffield, this won't be an easy one. The Falcons carried a five-game winning streak into Tuesday's game at Northwest Catholic.

Simsbury at Glastonbury, Thursday, 6 p.m.: They're the leading teams in the CCC, and Glastonbury is ranked No. 7, and they've both had some postseason success. They're also among the top four seeds in Class L as Tuesday's play begins.

Granby at East Catholic, Saturday, 2 p.m.: All the above Granby stuff, reiterated; as for the Eagles, they'd lost three out of four against some bigger schools. They got back to Class S on Tuesday, but it was defending Class S champion St. Joseph scheduled to come to town... until the rains came, so they met in Glastonbury instead.

two goals or fewer), will make the FCIAC tournament, are ranked ninth in this week’s GameTimeCT poll, and had a chance Tuesday night to get to .500 in the regular-season finale at Norwalk.

How that FCIAC tournament shakes down was still to be determined on Tuesday afternoon. There was a chance for a tiebreaker mess in the bottom half of the eight-team field, possibly even for the last spot.

ANOTHER MILESTONE: He became Newtown’s all-time assist leader earlier this season, and on Saturday, Nighthawks midfielder Tucker Garrity took over the school’s all-time scoring lead. The mark had belonged to Casey Kirch, at Newtown through 2003, with 312 points. Garrity finished the 11-8 win over Bronxville, N.Y., with 317.

HONOR: Before Berlin’s visit to Rocky Hill on Friday at 5:45 p.m., the teams plan a Military Appreciation Night. Proceeds from the gate will go to the Wounded Warrior Project, Terriers coach Michael Albano said.

PLAYOFF TIME: The SWC begins the postseason Thursday night with an eight-team field. The other leagues around the state will follow over the coming days.

The CIAC tournament follows. Unofficially, it looked going into Tuesday that 20 teams had qualified for the Class L tournament, 18 in Class M and 19 in Class S. Another 18 teams across the board still had a mathematical chance at reaching .400 and qualifying. TEAM 1. Darien (15) 12-3 150 1

Results last week: def. Norwalk 22-2, def. New Canaan 12-4.

Bottom Line: Wilton won the first five FCIAC championships, 1977-81. Darien has won the past five. In between, no one won six in a row. The top-seeded Blue Wave begins the quest for six on Saturday.

2. Ridgefield

13-2

135

2 L

Results last week: def. Trumbull 16-6, def. Wilton 10-7, def. McMahon 20-0.

Bottom Line: So both the Tigers and New Canaan lost to Darien by eight. With no regular-season meetings, maybe we get an FCIAC semifinal to settle second on the field going into the Class L tourney? It’s unanimously Ridgefield right now in the poll. (And then maybe one of them gets a shot at first.)

3. New Canaan

10-5

110

3

L

Results last week: def. Westhill 16-2, lost to Darien 12-4. Bottom Line: Sure, Darien shut the Rams’ offense down on Saturday, the fewest goals they’ve scored in three years. They’ll look forward to up to two more chances. (Hurray, FCIAC powers all in Class L.)

4. Fairfield Prep

11-3

104

4

L

Results last week: def. North Haven 14-3, def. Boston College High (Mass.) 14-6, def. Notre Dame-West Haven 16-3.

Bottom Line: Four handy wins in a row since the loss to New Canaan bring the Jesuits to the end of the season, Wednesday at Hand, Saturday in New Jersey against Salesianum (Del.), and then on to the SCCs.

5. New Fairfield

14-1

95

5

M

Results last week: def. Stratford 20-1, def. Pomperaug 25-1, def. Glastonbury 10-5.

Bottom Line: Some of you will find a Staples-New Fairfield game story elsewhere in your publication, whether print or digital. It’ll tell of the Rebels’ second straight top-10 matchup after they handled Glastonbury on Saturday.

6. Staples

12-3

65

7

Results last week: def. Westhill 22-1, def. Danbury 17-1. Bottom Line: After placing seventh in four consecutive polls, the Wreckers finally break out and move up a spot (which is probably more a factor of Glastonbury’s New Fairfield loss) despite losing a point. #pollmath

7. Glastonbury

12-3

63

6

L L

Results last week: def. Southington 20-5, lost to New Fairfield 10-5, def. Conard 17-5.

Bottom Line: A game Simsbury team completes the Tomahawks’ regular season, both of them unbeaten in CCC play. They’ll both be among the top seeds in Class L, too.

8. Weston

14-2

32

8

M

Results last week: def. Barlow 15-8, def. Hand 6-5, def. Pomperaug 18-1.

Bottom Line: Greenwich was the leader in the clubhouse on Saturday, the first team receiving votes to finish its season, after a game against Chaminade (N.Y.) was canceled. But Weston joined the Cardinals on Monday, the first of these 10 teams to play all 16.

9. Wilton

7-8

31

T9

Results last week: lost to Ridgefield 10-7, def. Fairfield Ludlowe 10-5.

Bottom Line: Had won six out of seven going into Tuesday night’s finale against Norwalk with a chance to get back to .500 after an injury-plagued season.

12-2

20

T9

L

M