Guilford High hockey game will benefit girl with cancer

By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff
March 14, 2008

GUILFORD — The high school boys’ and girls’ hockey teams will square off against each other tonight in an exhibition game to benefit a student battling cancer.

Guilford High School junior Laura Kennel, 17, was diagnosed with a chordoma, a rare type of bone cancer, in October. Since then, students at the school have been rallying around her.

Keith Kennel, Laura’s father and a town firefighter, said school officials suggested the hockey game as a fundraiser. Laura has some friends on the girls’ team, he added, but she is not a member.

“They’ve been very supportive,” he said of the high school.

Advertisement
Other benefits for Laura, organized outside of the school, took place in January and February at the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Knights of Columbus halls.

And some of the proceeds from another hockey game March 29, the annual Chief’s Cup game between the New Haven Fire and Police departments, will also go to a fund for Laura. That game starts at 1:30 p.m. at Yale University’s Ingalls Rink in New Haven.

“People want to do different stuff — I’m not objecting to any of it,” Kennel said. “I’m concentrating my efforts on finding a cure for her.”

Kennel said his daughter is undergoing treatment at Yale-New Haven Hospital and continuing her schoolwork with tutors at home. The family is hoping that she may be able to go back to school next month.

The Guilford High School game is scheduled for 6 tonight at the Veterans Memorial Ice Rink in East Haven. Tickets are $5, and all of the proceeds will go toward the Laura Kennel Fund.