It's Tourney Time for the North Branford T-Birds

The 2011 athletic season is at its peak for the North Branford field hockey and girls' soccer teams. The cross-country teams competed in the state championship on Nov. 8.

Girls' Soccer

Rick Geremia's squad is looking to bounce back after a 2-0 loss to Coginchaug in the Shoreline Conference Tournament finals as the T-Birds enter the Class M State Tournament today.

The T-Birds' 10-4-2 regular-season record earned them the No. 15 seed in the tournament and they will host 18th-seeded Enfield (9-5-2) in the first round today, Nov. 10, at 2 p.m.

The winner of the first-round game advances to the second round where it will face Granby Memorial (14-0-1), the No. 2 seed, which earned a bye in the first round. 

Field Hockey

It's no surprise that the 16-0 T-Birds took the No. 1 seed in the Class S State Tournament. In the T-Birds' stellar regular season, they outscored opponents 67-3 and earned their second straight Shoreline Conference title. 

North Branford shut out 13 of its 16 opponents, allowing just three one-goal games–a 2-1 win over Haddam-Killingworth on Sept. 27, a 7-1 victory over Westbrook on Oct. 4 and a 7-1 win over Morgan on Oct. 8.

Now it's on to take on the best of Class S. North Branford took a bye in the first round, which is being played today. The T-Birds next compete in the quarterfinals on Saturday, Nov. 12.

The quarterfinals could pit North Branford against a familiar opponent as eighth-seeded Haddam-Killingworth (10-4-1-1) takes on ninth-seeded Thomaston (9-4-0-1) on the other side of the bracket. After beating HK 2-1 early in the season, the T-Birds took a 5-0 win on Oct. 20.