Sports Highlights April 13, 2015

The boys got their first win of the young season in exciting fashion on Saturday afternoon, winning 5-4 over Trinity-Pawling in the tenth inning. Nick Rocco ’15 pitched eight spectacular innings to hold a 4-1 lead, but Trinity-Pawling tied the game late to take it into extra innings. The Martlets were victorious on a walk-off single by Carl Doucette ’16, with Luke Tressy ’16 picking up the win. Great errorless play by the Westminster infield highlighted solid defense behind the mound.
 

Softball opened its season with back-to-back wins over the weekend. On Friday, the Martlets took down Williston Northampton 10-1 on the strength of a one-hitter from Brenna Monroe ’17, who struck out 12 in the game. Gabby Brown ’17 had two big hits to spark the offense and Emily Samar ’18 caught a great game behind the plate.
 

The girls went to 2-0 on the season with a 19-4 win on Saturday over Kent. Monroe came up big again with a grand-slam (for those counting, that’s a one-hitter and grand-slam in one weekend!), while Katie Neilsen ’18 had a two-run homer. Jade Marlowe ’15 added three hits for the Martlets, and Ally Marenco ’18 pitched a strong game to keep the opposing team off the scoreboard. On the defensive side, Catherine Crawley ’16 and Brown had solid efforts behind the mound.
 

The Martlets increased their record to 3-1 after winning one of two games last week. The boys defeated Choate 10-4 on Wednesday on the strength of a stingy, aggressive Martlet defensive effort. Kevin O'Leary ’16 got the game ball for his stellar defensive play, and Dylan Moser ’15 made 14 saves in between the pipes. On offense, Jack O'Connell ’15 led the boys in scoring with three goals and an assist, while Drew Simeon ’15 and Adrian Enchill ’17 kept momentum in Westminster’s favor with four GB’s each.
 

First Girls’ Lacrosse
The girls notched their first win of the season on Saturday, taking down Pomfret 14-6. It only took a few minutes for Sarah Migliori ’16 to pop a goal in at 20:50 and put the girls up 1-0. Eliza Christman ’15 scored shortly after, but Pomfret answered back on an unfortunate and slow rebound to cut the lead in half. Westminster went back to work to regain momentum; Migliori scored again at 13:39, and then Susanna Baker ’15 scored two quick goals within minutes of each other, with an assist going to Migliori. The team was feeling a little too comfortable with the 5-1 lead, and let their guard down enough to allow Pomfret to sneak back in and make it 5-4. Westminster went into halftime holding onto a 7-4 lead after Baker converted twice more, with Migliori assisting again. Both of those goals started with Katie Simeon ’16 fighting hard on defense to get the ball back and break it up field.
 

Westminster's second half was much stronger and more consistent, with the offense working more effectively together to create quality opportunities. Baker scored another goal, while Christman notched one more, Migliori netted two more and Micaela Quinn ’17 had her first Westminster goal of her young career. The last goal of the day was a beauty, fed by Nina Wilmerding ’15 to Maddy Paro ’17, who was able to convert on the crease.
 

The Martlet defense played well, with strong games by Olivia Bey ’15, Emma Alpaugh ’18, Paro, Charlotte Lennox ’16 and Devin Selvala ’16. Katie Savage ’15 had five saves in the first half and Leah Klassen ’17 had three in the second half. Both keepers made some beautiful clears in the transition.
 

Westminster has a big game to look ahead to on Wednesday, as the team takes on Williston Northampton.
 

Seconds Golf made the short trip to Wintonbury Hills on a sunny day to compete against Loomis Chaffee. Despite some very windy weather, the team came away with their first victory of the season. Having played just one nine-hole practice round prior to the match, the team was not at its sharpest, but managed to prevail over their opponent 224 to 243. The Martlets' Wonjune Kang ’16 was the match medalist, shooting a 41. Other scores for Westminster: George Crawford ’15 (44); Brett Roenick ’16 (46); MacKenzie Hawkes ’15 (46); Tommy Babington ’16 (50); Jack Griffith ’17 (47). Despite the limited practice and the tough playing conditions, Westminster enjoyed finally getting outside and onto the links again.
 

Second Girls’ Lacrosse
Westminster’s Second Girls’ Lacrosse team won one of two last week, beating Pomfret 14-1 on Saturday. The offense came out strong against the Griffins, winning 10 out of 12 draws in the first half to give Westminster control of the game from the opening whistle. The win was highlighted by a great overall team effort, as 12 different players scored on the day. Lily von Stade ’17 scored the first goal and ended the day with three goals and an assist. Emma Merlin ’16, Emily Burstein ’17 and Emma Lange ’18 each had a goal and an assist as well. The team benefited from solid defensive play in midfield from Cynnie White ’17 and Lexi Organ ’16, keeping the pressure on Pomfret from start to finish.
 

The boys had a great week, winning both of their contests, including a thrilling victory against Taft on Saturday. The Martlets edged out the Rhinos 12-11 in an exciting come-from-behind overtime win. Westminster was down by several goals in the later minutes of play but managed to mount a comeback, scoring the equalizer in the last minute of the game. Chris Swanson ’17 led scoring with five goals, and Andrew Lee ’17 netted the OT winner. Lee and Alex Gadowski ’18 worked hard in the face off game to win key draws in crucial moments. Though penalties late in the game nearly cost the Martlets vital possession and momentum, Austin Pope ’15 had some big stops in the crease to keep the Martlets in the game. It was an excellent team victory with players contributing on all fronts.
 

The Martlets’ Third Boys’ Lacrosse team hosted Eaglebrook on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in what would be a tale of two halves. The boys jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first quarter, and kept the momentum rolling in the second to head into the half with a 4-0 lead. Goal scorers in the first half were Marshall Watts ’18 (2), Spencer Rellinger ’17 and Cooper Bellet ’17, with assists going to Rellinger and Watts. Sloppy play and penalties plagued the home team in the final 20 minutes, giving visiting Eaglebrook plenty of opportunity to get back in the game. Westminster was able to weather the storm to take a 4-3 win in their first game of 2015.
 

Merlin Ennis ’17 lead the defense with 7 impressive takeaways, while James Lee ’17 and Spencer Organ ’18 won important face-offs down the stretch. The game ball was given to Alex Londal ’17, who made many game saving stops in the final quarter.