Girls Soccer Wins First Round of FAA Playoffs; Dragons lose in Semi-finals against GA
The GFA Girls Soccer team took on Convent of the Sacred Heart on Monday, November 7th in the first round of the FAA playoffs. Both teams played solid soccer in the first forty minutes, but neither was able to put the ball in the back of the net. The GFA defense, led by senior captains Kate Tomlinson, Sam Brown and Emily Caldwell, gave up only two shots in the first half, both of which were saved by sophomore keeper Caroline Kruk. Throughout the second half, juniors Kiki Kauffman and Meighan Grady, sophomore Rachel Cohen, and freshmen Olivia Lennon and Campbell Goldsmith controlled the middle, sending balls up to the GFA offense for looks on goal. At the seventy-fourth minute, the Dragons finally found the back of the net for the lone goal of the game off a corner kick. Junior Blair Pelley sent the ball in from the corner where junior Caroline Vanacore used her head to send the ball past the diving CSH keeper, giving GFA the final 1-0 lead.

 

The Dragons lost 2-0 to Greenwich Academy on Wednesday, November 9th FAA semi-finals. As the #6 seed in New Englands for Class C, GFA will travel to The Wheeler School in RI on November 16th in the first round of the New England Tournament.

 

The Girls Varsity Volleyball team found itself on the road at Masters on Monday, November 7th in the quarterfinals of the FAA Tournament and came home victorious. The Dragons upset Masters with a hard fought 3-1 victory. The match started off rocky for the Dragons with nerves setting in as they dropped the first set. In the second set, GFA settled down and found a rhythm, winning convincingly. Then in the last two sets, it was tournament volleyball; both teams played well but GFA prevailed in both sets (26-24 / 25-21). The Dragons relied on their aggressive net attacks led by Kiera Wood, who pounded out 12 kills with great support from Sarah Young, Laura Reul and Sarah MacDonell, who combined for 16 kills; MacDonell also put up 18 assists. GFA's defense was also instrumental in the victory as they turned back a strong hitting attack led by Lucy Hoffman and Rachel Schwimmer, each with 10 digs, with Brooke Cirillo and Sarah Young picking another 13 digs combined. The team effort didn't stop there because late in the fourth set, coming off the bench were Mickaela Fouad and Annie Flecha-Hirsch, giving the team a much-needed serving boost that helped turn the game GFA's way.

On November 9th, GFA upset #2 seed Greenwich Academy 3-0 in the semi-finals. Coming into the FAA semifinal, the Dragons have won nine of their last 10 games, with its lone loss coming to Greenwich Academy. GFA came out on fire and swept a stunned Greenwich Academy squad 25-14, 27-25 and 26-24 to advance to the FAA championship game against Convent of the Sacred Heart Friday. MacDonell led the Dragons with 17 assists and seven kills while Rachel Schwimmer had 15 digs and SarahYoung had nine kills and seven digs. For more details on the game, click HERE.

 

As the #2 seed in New Englands for Class C, GFA will host Wooster on November 16th in the first round of the New England Tournament.

 

Boys Soccer loses 1-0 in FAA Semi-Finals to King
Despite a decided advantage in time of possession, corners, and scoring opportunities, the boys lost 1-0 in their FAA Semi-Final to King on November 9. GFA's best chance came in the second half when junior, Ryan Eckert drove a shot toward the upper corner that the King goalie was able to parry. King's goal came on a seemingly harmless kick that deflected past junior goalkeeper Ryan Friend late in the first half.

Eckert and Friend both played well as did fellow juniors Spencer Hartig, Van Barnet, Anders Forfang, Clay Garner, John Lawrence, Munir Qaddourah, and Charlie Salmans. Senior captain Harry Garland and sophomore Brendan Bieder (Southport) both had fine games in the midfield. GFA finished their regular season fourth in the FAA and fifth in WNEPSSA with a 6-7-3 record.

Boys Cross Country 3rd, Girls 5th in FAA Championship Race
The Boys and Girls Cross Country teams faced off against Fairchester League competitors on Monday, November 7 at Sherwood Island State Park after the traditional venue of New Canaan's Waveny Park was determined unfit for a race following recent rain and snow.

The boys varsity team, dealing with injuries, took third place, with senior captain Peter Maturo and sophomore Andrew McCarthy both finishing at 17:21 for fifth and sixth place finishes, respectively. Junior Kenner Clark followed them by one second at 17:22, finishing seventh overall. Senior captain Charlie Ross (18:27) and classmate Chris Tarika (18:50) also finished in the top 20 of the boys varsity race.

GFA's girls team took to the starting line also missing some runners due to injury. However, the team powered through the windy 5K course to take fifth place overall, defeating Rye Country Day School, Masters and King. Finishing first for the Dragons was junior captain Kate Mohr (22:20) in 19th place overall. She was followed by sophomore Joanna Moley (24:07) and junior Olivia Kjorlien (24:27)

 

The Cross Country teams returned to action at the Canterbury School on Saturday, November 12 in the NEPSTA Division III New England Championship. Still missing some key runners due to injury, the boys varsity team still put in an impressive effort and earned a second place finish, led by junior Kenner Clark, sophomore Andrew McCarthy and senior captain Peter Maturo. The girls varsity team finished 15th overall in a field of 21 teams. Varsity girls runners who set their personal best times on this difficult Canterbury course included freshman Georgia Grellier, sophomore Joanna Moley and freshman Crosbie Marine. Freshman Kourosh Saghri  took the top spot for GFA in the boys JV race, finishing in 14th place overall at 20:00 and propelling the team to a fourth place finish..