Sports Highlights 01.19.2015

The Martlets' First Girls' Hockey team made a convincing statement on Wednesday afternoon, as they defeated a strong and talented Choate squad 4-1 with great team play. The girls got off to a hot start, taking an early 2-0 lead when Catherine Crawley '16 scored off of a combo pass from Lilly Holmes '18 and Ashley Carbone '16, followed by a goal from Holmes, assisted by Crawley and Sarah Melanson '16. The lead extended to 3-0 in the second period after Holmes and Crawley hooked up again, with an added assist from Erin Ozturk '15. The Wild Boars grabbed a goal back in the final frame, but Crawley scored once more, assisted by Ozturk and Melanson, to secure the 4-1 win. The team benefitted from fantastic leadership from Ozturk and Katie Savage '15 and, despite battling through injuries to key players, the girls were able to band together to get a big Founders League victory. Leah Klassen '16 continues to stand strong in net and keep the girls in games with confidence and well-timed saves.

 

The shorthanded Girls’ Swimming/Diving team came up big to earn their first win of the season against a small but talented Kent squad. The girls kicked off the meet with a win in the 200 Medley Relay, swum by Elizabeth Brewer '17, Charlotte Lennox '16, Alex Kavle '15 and Nornia Xu '17. Leta Giordano '17 won the 200 Freestyle with her best in-season time, followed by Claire Hotaling '16 in second place. Lennox also won the 200 IM with her best time yet this season, and Xu was second in the 50 Freestyle. The Martlets had a 1-point lead after Kent placed 1-2 in Diving, and the second half of the meet was all black. Giordano won the 100 Fly, with Xu third, Kavle was second in the 100 Free with her best time as a Martlet, and Brewer teamed up with co-captain Phebe Huth '15 for a 1-2 finish in the 500 Freestyle. Kent attempted to stage a late rally after touching out Westminster in the 200 Free Relay, but a win by Brewer in the 100 Back and a 1-2 finish from Kavle and Lennox in the 100 Breaststroke closed the door. The 400 Free Relay team of Brewer, Brecky Huth '16, Kavle, and Giordano won the meet's final event, capping off the girls' first win of the season. Others notable swims were turned in by Ally Marenco '17 (50 and 100 Freestlye), Mia Poling '17 (100 Free), and Aubrey Moulton '15 (50 and 100 Free).

 

After losing to K.O. in the WALKS scrimmage back in December, the Westminster boys turned the tables on the Wyverns on Wednesday afternoon. It was a slow start for the Martlets, as the challengers won the first two games at #4 and #6 and were up 2-1 at #2. While Sam Worcester '16 wasn't able to squeak out a game at #4, both Declan Horrigan '16 and Wonjune Kang '16 fought back to win in five games, turning what might have been a 0-3 team deficit into a 2-1 lead. Horrigan played to a tie-breaker in each of his first three games, before settling down and easily taking the fourth and fifth games. Kang found himself in a dogfight the whole way. Down 1-2 in games, and 6-9 in the fourth game, he reeled of five straight points to tie his match at 2-2. Then, in the fifth game, he stayed mentally tough and pulled out another 11-9 victory. Meanwhile at #3 and #7, Henry Amory '18 and Bryan Yekelchik '16 played clean, controlling squash for 3-0 victories. Cal Perkins '15 mixed his speeds and kept the ball very tight for another 3-0 win, and Addison Cilmi '16 took a game off his opponent at #5, but was unable to get more, succumbing 1-3. The final team score of 5-2 was ultimately swayed in the Martlet's favor due to the strong play of Kang and Horrigan. 

 

The Martlets were in a bit of a funk following a win in their first game of the season, but the girls had a great showing on Saturday to take a 5-2 win over Kent. Abby LeBlanc ‘17, Wells Poler ‘16 and Margot Frank ‘15 earned particularly decisive victories, never letting their opponents a moment of comfort as a result of relentless pressure. Sophie Skinner ‘15 maintained her poise in a tough battle, shrugging off a third game defeat to take the win. Katie Deveaux ‘16 won on the strength of smart, patient squash in her first outing in the top seven, and Julia Cooper ‘15 competed well in defeat, playing at #5, her highest-ever position on the ladder. Ginnie Durfee ‘15 played in the tightest match of the day, alternating four seesaw games before running out of steam in the fifth.

 

The Martlet girls stepped up and played a great game against Canterbury on Saturday afternoon, taking the 51-34 victory over the Saints. The squad started strong, building a 30-14 lead by halftime. A high-pressure Martlet defense created turnovers and scoring opportunities in the second to put the lead to 39-14. Devin Selvala '16 and tri-captains Meg '15 and Jacqui Richard '16 combined for 39 points, and tri-captain Emma Merlin '16 led the team in steals and rebounds. It was a gutsy, gritty performance by the Martlet squad, who put together their best game of the season so far.

 

The Seconds hit the road on Saturday to compete against Salisbury School and returned home with a 3-2 victory. After the Martlets had a goal called back early on in the game, Salisbury scored on a second chance opportunity in the Westminster crease. A minute later, Fred Baker '15 sent a pass from the far corner to a hard-driving Austin Pope '15, who buried his first goal of the season. Just before the end of the first period Salisbury regained the lead off a lost face-off and poor Martlet defensive coverage. However, the visitors came out very determined in the second period and scored twice to take the lead for good. Owen Johnson '17 collected a puck in the offensive corner and on his backhand threw the puck towards the Salisbury crease, which got redirected into the net. Shortly after, Max Torrez '18 corralled the puck behind the Salisbury net and fed line mate Mac McCormick '16 in the high slot. McCormick made no mistake with a wrist shot and produced what turned out to be the game winner. No goals were scored in the final frame despite Salisbury pulling their goalie in the last two minutes. Spencer Rellinger '17 made 24 saves in the win.

 

Second Girls' Hockey continued to roll over the competition, taking down the Wild Boars from Choate 8-0. The girls came out roaring, taking a 7-0 lead in the first period(!) off of goals from Susanna Baker '15 (assisted by Katie Simeon '16 and Katie Neilson '18), Maggie Kelly '18 (assisted by Jade Marlowe '15 and Kendall Brown '17), Simeon (assisted by Fraser Allen '17 and Elizabeth Casey '18), Neilson (assisted by Eliza Christman '15 and Suzanna Baker '15), Brown (assisted by Allen and Cynnie White '17), Ana Wigmore '16 (assisted by Baker and White) and Julia Carter '16 (assisted by Baker and Wigmore). Elizabeth Casey '18 scored her first goal of the season in the second, assisted by Allen and Brown, to finish the scoring line for the day and give the Martlets an 8-0 victory.

 

A depleted Martlet squad (only seven boys) made the trip to Salisbury on a cold but clear Wednesday afternoon to play the Crimson Knights, where the Black and Gold won a workmanlike 5-2 victory.

In the first round, Chanler Miller '18 at #4 and Luke Tressy '16 at #2 faced game opponents but proved to be too accomplished, winning in straight games (Miller at 7, 7, 9, and Tressy at 8, 10, 3). With the match knotted at two games apiece, all attention turned to Jack Sargent '17 at #5, George Doolan '15 at #3, and George Knight '15 at #1. Doolan was able to use his length (body length and also good length in shots) to win 5, 5, 8, while Knight outsmarted a small but good player, mixing up his serves and his shots to win 6, 9, 9. After splitting the first two games, Sargent attacked his left-handed opponent's backhand repeatedly to close out the match with 11-9 and 11-4 wins.

 

Next, the Martlets faced a Kent squad on Saturday afternoon that was considerably stronger than the final match score would indicate. The Black and Gold won 7-1, but three of them went to five games and three of them went to four games, an indication of how close the match actually was. 

 

At #2, Knight struggled to find his rhythm in the opening game, losing 7-11, but he hit his stride and closed out the match 3, 2, 9. Connor Seeley '18 romped to victory in his match at #8, holding his opponent to a total of only eight points! Niles Nicholas '17 at #5 and Chris Hark ‘17 at #7 found themselves heading into fourth games with slim 2-1 leads, but both boys turned on the afterburners, with Nicholas winning 11-5 and Hark winning 11-3 to give the Black and Gold a 4-1 lead heading into the second round. Miller faced a strong opponent at #3 and the two of them went toe to toe in a very entertaining match that he ended up winning in three hard-fought games, 9, 9, 7. Doolan and Sargent split their first four games, but both players dug deep in decisive fifth games to dominate their opponents (Doolan winning 11-3 and Sargent winning 11-5). Finally, Minh Nguyen '16 played an exhibition match against Kent's #8 player and won in four well-played games.

 

The Second Girls squash team had a great week, earning a decisive 7-0 victory over Kent on Wednesday and then taking a closer match against Deerfield 5-2 on Saturday.

 

Dora Mitchel '17, Katherine Ogden '16 and Rachel Halfon '16 got the girls off to a strong start against Kent, with Halfon and Ogden winning in three straight games, while Mitchel lost the first game but came back to win the next three. Abby Newman '16, Isabel Tibbetts '15 and Annie Hicks '17 next took to the courts and were victorious in their matches, with Hicks winning three straight, Newman winning in four and Tibbets coming back from being down 2-1 to win the last two games. Sarah Poling '16 finished the scoring by prevailing in four tight games, while Lucy Noel '18 and Emma Filler '15 were victorious in their exhibition matches.

 

On Saturday, Ogden and Halfon put the girls up 2-1 after the even number matches. Poling, Mitchel and Tibbetts completed the scoring in the odd number matches. Mitchel was especially impressive when she lost the first game and then rallied to win the next three games in a highly competitive match. Noel won another exhibition match in five tight games winning 12-10 in the fifth game.

 

After going down 19-36 to open their game on Wednesday afternoon, Westminster’s Second Boys’ Basketball team battled back against an aggressive Choate squad, going on a 16-2 run to win the game 35-34. Ted Sirbaugh '16 hit a few crucial threes late in the game and created an important turnover, while Ken Barnes '16 made a smart adjustment on defense to prevent Choate from getting a clean shot at the end of the game. Paul McNamara '18 struggled in the first half but, in gritty fashion, came out and played great basketball in the second, creating a key turnover during Westminster’s run. The Martlet defense was outstanding in the second half of the game, stifling Choate’s offense and giving their own a chance to take the lead in the final minutes. It was a thrilling win for the Seconds team.

 

Westminster’s Third Boys’ Squash team hosted the Wyverns from Kingswood-Oxford on Wednesday afternoon and came away with a 10-3 victory. The visitors, however, proved quite resilient at the top of the ladder. Minh Nguyen ’16, Dylan Murphy ’17, and John Pfister ’17, playing at #1, #2, and #3, each went up two games to one, only to have their opponent come back to win the last two games for the match. Meanwhile, Max Grout ’17, Hayden Cathcart ’18, Alex Londal ’17, Joe Patrina ‘18 and Spencer Organ ’18 played steady and smart squash—making few unforced errors—to win each of their matches in straight sets. The ever-improving Matthew Swenson ’17 also swept his match, although each game was close. Both Ryan Lee ’18 and Chris Zheng ’17 lost the first game and then made the necessary adjustments to win the next three, with Zheng eking out a 13-11 win in his final game. Sean Ryan ’18 and Andrew Doucette ’18 moved their opponent around the court with some nice combinations of tight rails, drops, and boasts, and were each rewarded with a well-deserved 3-1 victory.

 

The young Martlet squad took to Salisbury's Olympic-sized sheet of ice and played to a 4-1 win over the Knights on Saturday afternoon. The game featured great back and forth action, but Westminster took the edge with tight passing and aggressive defense. After a scoreless first, Westminster put itself at a disadvantage with an undisciplined second period. Still, Josh Cosentino ‘18 was able to find the back of the net with only two minutes left in the period, and Alex Biedron ‘18 put the squad up 2-0 with a goal less then a minute later. The Martlets controlled play and skated to a 4-1 victory after power-play goals from Tim Harris ‘16 and Brendan Jacobs '17 at the end of the third period. The game felt much closer than the score indicates, and it promises to be a great rematch when Salisbury comes to Williams Hill in February.