Greens Farms Academy had a solid week of athletics and several Greenwich residents helped the Dragons succeed.
In girls lacrosse, both Molly Cunningham and Isabelle Jackson came up strong to help the Dragons pick up two wins on the week. Against Wooster, GFA came away with the 14-5 victory and two days later the Dragons upended Hamden Hall 15-1.
Agains Wooster, freshman goalie Kelly Van Hoesen had 11 saves. Fellow freshman Alex Nesi (Fairfield) led with three goals, followed by freshman Nicole Humphrey (Darien), Sarah Logan (Darien), Sarah Peltier (Stamford) and eighth-grader Ashley Humphrey (Darien) all scoring two goals each.
Sophomore Molly Mitchell (Southport) had one goal, along with freshman Lucy Holzinger (Norwalk) and Ella Murphy (Darien). Bella Nixon (Darien) had an assist. The defense was led by sophomores Sophie Lewis (Fairfield), Ryan Morris (Stamford) and Cunningham (Greenwich), as well as freshmen Eva Ebbesen (Westport) and Whitney Rintoul (Darien).
On Thursday, the team wrapped up their regular season with a 13-2 record after beating Hamden Hall 15-1. Nicole Humphrey led with three goals, followed by Nesi, Logan and Ashley Humphrey (Darien) with two goals apiece. Senior captain Ingrid Backe (Fairfield) had one goal, along with Ebbesen, Nixon, Sarah Peltier (Stamford), and eighth-grader CC Poli (Fairfield). Van Hoesen almost had a shut out thanks to a strong defensive unit led by junior captain Caroline Rintoul (Darien), Lewis, Morris, Cunningham, Ebbesen, Jackson (Greenwich) and Whitney Rintoul.
In addition to the girls lacrosse team, the GFA boys laxmen were also in action twice last week. They played its final week of competition, starting against Brunswick School on May 11. GFA was unable to keep up with Brunswick’s midfield attacks and lost 16-6. Freshman Zach Liston (Wilton) scored four goals.
On Saturday, the Dragons played King and were defeated 15-10. Greens Farms came out strong, at one point leading by four, but King was able to battle back. Freshman Will Byrne (Darien) put in four goals. Also scoring was freshman Ian Epps (Darien), senior Jack Mackle (New Canaan), senior Isaac Manton (Greenwich) and Liston. Freshman goalkeeper Thomas Babcock (Westport) put up one of his best performances of the season.
On the diamond, Greens Farms was paced by several athletes, including two from Greenwich.
GFA began the week with a home game against Hopkins School on May 10. They got off to a rough start falling behind 5-0 after two innings, eventually losing to Hopkins 12-0.
On Friday GFA faced Brunswick School, the No. 2 ranked team in the tri-state area. After falling behind 3-0 after three innings, the Dragons came to life in the fourth. Junior Mack Muller (Westport) led off the inning with a hard hit double to right center field. Then Senior Paul Bozzella (Westport) stepped up and launched a two-run home run to left field, pulling GFA to within one run. Brunswick eventually pulled away winning 9-2. Junior Peter Donovan (Greenwich) started the game, striking out three batters and pitched his way out of many tough situations.
A day later, GFA played Rye Country Day School. After leadoff double by Junior Tim Mira (Stamford), and a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Jackson Boolbol (Greenwich), Mira was brought home on a sacrifice fly to right field by junior Mack Muller. After being down 5-1, GFA stormed back into the game with a four-run inning. The offensive charge was led by senior Cristian Rivera who had a two-run single to cap the inning and tie the score at 5-5. In the next inning, after outstanding plays in the outfield by sophomore center fielder James Velgot (Weston) and Boolbol, junior left fielder Chris Glynn (Stamford) made a sliding catch toward the foul line to save two runs from being scored. RCDS scored two runs in the sixth inning to take a 7-5 win.
The Greens Farms ultimate frisbee was also quite busy last week.
On May 11, the GFA team put together its strongest performance of the season, beating Newtown High School 15-5. The Dragons took an early lead and never looked back. Senior Alex McCall (Westport) had several long receptions and shut down his man throughout the game. Junior Gabe Dumoulin’s (Southport) performance was highlighted by a diving defensive block.
Three days later, the Dragons traveled to The Hotchkiss School for the State Championship tournament. In GFA’s first-ever appearance in this tournament, GFA went 2-2, finishing 10th overall in Connecticut and fourth in the Division II competition.
In the first game, GFA battled Wooster, winning 9-8. Senior Chile Larraguibel (Greenwich) had several diving catches in the second half that helped the Dragons put the game away.
In the second game, GFA took on North Branford High School, winning 11-6. Led by senior captain Bryan Matte (Stratford), GFA had its most complete offensive performance of the season and sophomore Jack Soper (Southport) was a force on defense, in shutting down North Branford’s star receiver.
In the third game, GFA faced the Forman School falling 11-4. In the final game, GFA took on Avon High School, holding a late lead, but losing by a score of 12-10.
