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Sports Highlights - 9.28.15

First Football
 
In its opening game of the 2015 season, Westminster's First Football team won in convincing fashion, taking down St. Mark's 36-20 on the strength of breakout offensive performances. Isaiah Green '16 ran for a school-record 286 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Martlets used a dominant ground game to set the offensive tone for the day. The offensive line of Ricardo Vazquez '16, Dominic Cirillo '17,  Chaz Ruffin '16, Robert Ebrahimi '16, Carl Doucette '16 and Jack Sargeant '17 opened up huge holes all day; the team amassed 496 total rushing yards and had no negative plays on the day. Tim Callahan '17 added 122 yards and a touchdown, and quarterback Henry Purdy '17 was an efficient four of five in the air, passing for a touchdown and an extra point, as well as rushing for another 16 yards and a two-point conversion.
 
Despite the success of the team's ground game, this was an all-around team effort. Marshall Watts '18 had his first career interception, Isaiah Pryor '17 played well at linebacker and fullback, and Doucette, Ruffin and Callahan came up with big plays in goal line stands. Cirillo even came up big in the kicking game, kicking off for one touchback and smashing a punt inside the two-yard-line. Saturday's win marks only the fourth time in the last 20 years that the Martlets have opened the season with a victory, and the team is hopeful that a couple days of recovery and a good week of practice will put them in position to build a winning streak against Hopkins next Saturday.
 
First Field Hockey
 
First Field Hockey pushed its record to 4-0 on the young season with two close victories last week. On Thursday afternoon, the girls edged out Milton Academy 2-1. Catherine Crawley '16 was tenacious in the midfield to shut down Milton opponents, and she distributed the ball well to the Martlet attackers. Sarah Migliori '16, Emma Stevens '16, Kendall Brown '17 and Sarah Melanson '16 were dogged up front to bear down on Milton's circle. Maggie Kelly '18 popped in the important first goal, and Crawley scored with 15 minutes left in the second with what ended up being the deciding goal.
 
The girls had another tight game on Saturday, winning over Sacred Heart 3-2. Once again, the defense was stout – Eliza Mell '16, Ashley Carbone '16, Maddy Paro '17 and Madie Bologa '17 all played well, containing Sacred Heart's offensive rushes, keeping the pressure wide and stepping to every 50/50 ball. Brown, Kelly and Melanson put together major efforts in the midfield, while Migliori and Stevens fought hard at the top. Westminster was trailing, but after a number of near misses, Migliori put the Martlets on the board, and then Paro let loose an absolute cannon to tie the game. Exactly one minute later, the Martlets cut away a lead thanks to a goal from Kelly. It was a great week for the squad, which has come out firing on all cylinders to start the 2015 season.
 
First Boys’ Cross-Country
 
On a beautiful fall afternoon, the youthful Martlet harriers lined up for the Division I race at the Canterbury Invitational against an array of schools ranging from Boston to New Jersey. The field went out fast, and the Westminster runners found themselves flying at the mile mark, with the top four runners all under the 6 minute mark, and the other three close behind. The second mile went down hill and the third began with a quarter mile uphill, at which point first-year speedster Emmett de Kanter '19 was in eighth place. He ended up kicking past three runners to finish the course in a blistering 17:09, the second-fastest time by a Martlet runner on this course at this race, and the fourth fastest on Westminster’s lifetime best list.
 
Co-captain Jordan Gabbidon '17 ran his lifetime best time of 18:23, his first time below a 6 minute average pace for a 5K. Gabbidon was followed by co-captain Ben Shaver '16 and Michael Fiorini '18, who ran a dead heat at 18:57. Another speedy early season run was delivered by Matt Cosentino '18, who broke twenty minutes for the first time with his own lifetime best of 19:38. Tim Harris '17 was knocking on the door of breaking 20 minutes and Matt Norris '19 is showing lots of promise early in his running career by making this first-team ladder. This squad is young but, with focused training and some good fortune, has the potential to be another strong team for the Black and Gold.
 
First Girls’ Cross-Country
 
The Martlets opened their season at the annual Canterbury Invitational on a perfect fall afternoon. It was a great opportunity for the harriers to gauge their speed early in the season. With many veteran runners on the team, the runners were familiar with the course and had a good sense of where it would be fast and challenging. Abigayle Hovey '18 led the Black and Gold from the moment the gun went off. Running a sub 6:40 fast first mile, Hovey showed that a summer of focused training had paid off. Despite suffering from a nasty cold, she finished just a second shy of her personal best (21:39) and just out of the top ten runners. Oumou Kanoute '17 was fast on Hovey's heels with a time of 22:07. Both girls are looking very strong for this early in the season. Sarah Minella '17 also had a big day, shaving off a few seconds of her lifetime best time (24:30). Minella has essentially started this season ahead of where she finished last season, which bodes well for future races. Running strong and confident, Nicole Fox '16 finished fifth for the Martlets in 25:50. Third Former Maggie Chaves '19 is improving quickly as she cut almost two minutes off of her finishing time from last week's scrimmage at Choate. Grace Brentano '16 and Ashlyn Chin '16 rounded out the top seven for the Black and Gold. This spirited and hard-working bunch are excited to host their own invitational at Westminster next weekend and see what they can run on their home course.
 
 
Second Girls’ Soccer
 
Second Girls' Soccer overcame a first half deficit to win its season opener in a tough road game against Deerfield on Wednesday afternoon. The girls trailed Deerfield 1-0 at the half, despite playing well and having most of the scoring opportunities. The girls didn't let the squandered chances get to them, and they came out fired up for the second half. Westminster had an incredible 18 shots on goal to Deerfield's 4 shots, and the Martlets were able to net just enough to get the win. Devin Selvala '16 and Rebecca Gavel '18 scored the game winners, both in the second half. 
 
Second Field Hockey
 
Second Field Hockey showed a lot of hustle and strong stick skills as they dominated the Hoggers of Northfield Mount Hermon en route to a 3-0 win. The Martlets got on the board early, just a minute and a half into the game, as Abby Newman '16 buried the ball off a quick pass from Greta Baker '19 that floated just out of the reach of the goalie. The team continued to apply pressure to the Hogger defense and had several opportunities to increase their lead, but the many Martlet shots went wide of the net. With renewed focus after halftime, the Martlets struck again as Morgan Peirce '17 scored on a strong shot during a corner play. Fraser Allen '17 finished the scoring with an assist from Newman. The team hopes to build on their momentum when they face Kent on Wednesday.
 
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