Bryanton’s goal lifts Granby past North Branford for Class S title; Bears claim 14th state title

WETHERSFIELD — In the first 12 minutes of the CIAC Class S field hockey championship on Saturday, Granby was being outplayed by North Branford with the Thunderbirds dominating ball possession.

North Branford allowed the Bears inside the 20 yard line once during that time.

Granby coach Sandy Wickman Mason called a time out with 17:51 to go in the first half and urged her team to play more aggressively. The time out paid off.

Possession started evening out, the Bears started producing more scoring opportunities and Avery Bryanton scored with 1:42 left in the first half to lead No. 1 Granby to a 1-0 win over No. 2 North Branford for the Bears’ 14th state title.

2019 CIAC STATE CHAMPIONSHIP SCOREBOARD

“We started off slowly and we needed to turn things around,” Granby coach Wickman Mason said. “We needed that first timeout. We started playing together and produced more chances.

Avery Bryanton. describes scoring the game-winning goal to lead Granby to a 1-0 win over North Branford for the Class S title #ctfh pic.twitter.com/eHn6yHL12X

— Dan Nowak (@NHRDanNowak) November 23, 2019

“It was great to get the goal, but we weren’t going to sit back and just play defense. Babby (North Branford coach Babby Nuhn) has great players and they’re a hard-hitting team. We know how explosive North Branford is, so I didn’t want to just sit back and play defense. I thought it was important to get another goal and take a 2-0 lead.”

The Bears never got that second goal but held off the Thunderbirds the rest of the way.

The Thunderbirds had eight penalty corners to the Bears’ five penalty corners in the first half and outshot the Bears 5-3, but the Bears made one of their penalty corners count for a 1-0 halftime lead.

The Bears picked up the pace as the first half went on and with about two minutes left earned a penalty corner. Julia Olchowski sent a pass to Bryanton near the top of the circle. Bryanton wound up and hit a hard shot that flew inside the left post with 1:42 to go.

As the seconds wind down, Granby celebrates beating North Branford 1-0 for the Class S field hockey title #ctfh pic.twitter.com/qycwrglsaS

— Dan Nowak (@NHRDanNowak) November 23, 2019

“When I took the shot, I knew the left side was open,” Bryanton said. “I wound up and aimed just inside the left post. As soon as I hit it I saw it was going in. It was a huge goal for me. After being runner-ups the last two seasons in this game, we really wanted this championship.

“It feels great to get it, for the team, for the coaches and for the seniors.”

Granby lost to Immaculate in the 2018 Class S final and lost to North Branford in the 2017 Class S final.

One of North Branford’s best chances to score came on a penalty corner with 19:40 to go in the half. Ava Galdenzi took a close-range shot but two defenders blocked it in front of Granby goalie Nina DeGagne and cleared the ball way.

In the second half, North Branford had two solid chances to tie the game. There was a wild scramble for the ball in front of DeGagne and she made two saves off a pair of shots. With the ball still lingering in front of the Granby goal, a defender cleared it away. The Thunderbirds had another chance to score when Bianca D’Onofrio took a wide open shot with 18:10 to go in the second half, but the ball rolled wide right.

“Granby is a very cohesive group out there,” Nuhn said. “We came out strong but after their first time out they played more aggressively. But we didn’t panic and we had our chances. I still believed that tying goal would come even as the last seconds came off the clock. It just never came.

“I’m proud of my kids and they fought hard to the end. Overall it’s been a good season.”

Avery Bryanton, Granby: Scored the game’s only goal to lead the Bears to the Class S title.

“After the loss in last year’s Class S final, we didn’t want to have that feeling again. The seniors dug deep and we played our brand of field hockey today.”

— Granby coach Sandy Wickman Mason