Weekly Highlights - December 6

First Girls’ Hockey

The reigning New England Champions started off the 2010-2011 season with a dominate 5-0 win over St. Mark's. Despite a slow start, registering nine shots but no goals in the first period, the Martlets came alive in the second frame. Rachel Farrel ’11 broke free on a nifty pass from Sydney Daniels ’13 and Rose Rather ’13 and buried the puck in the back of the net. In the third, the Martlets could not stay out of the penalty box, but that seemed to be to their advantage as the team scored three short-handed goals in the period. For the first, Amanda Boulier ’11 went end to end and sniped her first goal of the season. Then, in the next short-handed situation, again Boulier grabbed the puck and, this time, she maneuvered around the zone until Rather flashed open and scored her first goal of her career. A minute later, Rather tickled the twine for her second on a pass from Rachel Kennedy ’12. Daniels notched her first of the season to round out the scoring on a pass from Boulier.

Second Boys’ Hockey

The always anticipated and exciting tilt between the Simsbury High School Varsity and the Westminster Second Boys’ Team lived up to its billing once again. Both teams shook off the first-game nerves early on and skated hard to a 0-0 deadlock after the first period. Simsbury scored the first goal of the game during the second frame, following a failed Westminster clearing play The score remained 1-0 right up until the 2:44 mark of the third period when the Martlets converted on a power play opportunity. Tristan Rai ’14 fed an attacking Colin Cross ’12 who buried the puck at a most opportune time to even the score at 1-1. During the overtime period, Simsbury had an early chance from the point, which rattled off the crossbar, but the Martlets countered with some solid forechecking, which ultimately lead to the winning play. Rai grabbed a lose puck deep in the Simsbury zone and found Frankie Iannantuono ’14 waiting off the right post; Iannantuono slid the puck by the helpless Simsbury netminder for the OT victory.

First Boys’ Squash

First Boys’ Squash opened its season with a 7-0 victory against a strong, deep Salisbury squad that was much improved over last year. A large crowd was on hand to watch Ahmed Abdel Khalek's ’12 debut at number one. First, the even matches were contested. Jacob Lee ’11, John Eder ’11, and Michael LeBlanc ’12 all won in three games. LeBlanc made a fantastic get on match point to finish off his match. The odd numbered matches were closer, with Kevin Hope ’11 and Hayden Radovich ’11 both dropping single games before winning three straight. Matt Leach ’11 made many great gets and tight shots to win in three. The crowd saw all the good play but was mostly focused on Khalek’s match, which didn't disappoint. The strong Salisbury opponent moved Khalek off the T and put pressure on him, but Khalek absorbed all the pressure and returned it twofold with relentless retrieving and by taking the ball very early. The crowd was particularly thrilled with his crosscourt volley nick to end game two.