Weekly Sports Highlights - February 21, 2011

After a tough 2-1 loss to Brunswick to start the week, the Martlets bounced back with three wins in a row. While the first meeting with Loomis in January was an overtime battle, this week’s game saw the Black and Gold firmly in control and skating to a 4-0 win. Westminster faced another neighbor, Kingswood Oxford and, despite outshooting the visitors 58-8, only managed a 3-2 advantage by the final buzzer. The big win of the week was a 3-0 victory over the Berkshire Bears on their home ice. Patrick Spano ’12, with his fifth shutout of the season, led a strong defensive effort. Many players contributed to the offensive tally this week, including Luke Laskiewicz ’11, Emilio Audi ’12, Jeff Smolens ’12, Jake Bolton ’11, Nick Finn ’12, Chris Izmirilian ’12, Stu MacKenzie ’11, Phil Sandler ’11, David Hallisey ’13 and Tim Acker ’11 with two goals.

 

Despite two lackluster games early in the week, which included a 4-4 tie against Choate and an 8-1 win over Loomis, the Martlets put together a fine game against a good Berkshire team to secure the 7-3 win. Robbie Hamblett ’11 and Tommy Hovey ’11 led the team with four goals apiece over the course of the three games, and Colin Cross ’12 scored two.

 

The Martlets have had quite a challenging season, but things turned around this week as the team garnered two well-earned wins. First, against Avon, Westminster got off to a quick start and never looked back. Scoring goals in the 5-3 victory were Will Sprenker ’13, Charlie Russell ’14, Pierce Cote ’14, Owen McDonough ’13 and Austin Pope ’14. The Black and Gold then faced Berkshire, a team they had lost badly to at the beginning of the season. This was an entirely different game, however. Again, the Martlets took the early lead and never let it go. Sprenker and Pope scored again while Dan Roberts ’14 earned a hat trick and John Pappas ’14 had two goals on the night. Robbie Thompson ’11 was particularly impressive in goal and made a number of impressive saves down the stretch.

 

Westminster earned two more important victories this week over Taft (2-0) and Berkshire (2-1 OT). Against the Rhinos, Amanda Boulier ’11 scored off of an Alli Devins ’13 feed and Rachel Kennedy ’12 assisted on a goal by Rachel Farrel ’11. Against a tough Berkshire Bear squad, the Martlets were unable to score until the final seconds of the game, when down 0-1 and with the goalie pulled, Farrel found Boulier to tie the game. In overtime, it would again come down to the final minute when Boulier buried a Devins’ rebound.

 

The Martlets enter the final week of the season with an undefeated record on the line after wins over Taft (7-1) and Berkshire (3-2). Andrea Cross ’11 and Ellie Deveaux ’14 led the Black and Gold offense with two goals each. Additional tallies were made by Katie Hovey ’14, Marissa Mason ’12, Michela Gozzi ’13, Margaret Berry ’11, Abby Reed ’14 and Tyler O’Neil ’12.

 

With one match remaining on the schedule, the Black and Gold are that close to concluding an undefeated season with wins over Loomis (7-0) and Choate (4-3). The battle against the Wild Boars was only the second time this winter that the team did not sweep its opponent, and the boys knew going into this one that it would be a nail-biter after losing last year by a 4-3 margin. Gavin McGovern ’11 at No. 2 and Ben Shively ’14 at No. 4 got Westminster off to a great start by winning in three games each. But after going down 2-3, the Martlets’ hopes rested in the hands of No. 1 Beau Orchard ’13 and No. 3 Andrew Fu ’11. Both matches went to five games and, in the end, the Black and Gold prevailed in this tense affair.

 

The Martlets earned two convincing wins this week over Kingswood Oxford (7-0) and Salisbury (6-1). Miguel Castello ’13 and No. 4 Preston Miller ’13 both won 3-0 against the Wyverns, and

Will O’Donnell ’13, Castello, Miller, and Will Swanson ’14, playing at No. 1, No. 3, No. 4, and No. 6, each won in straight games in the second match of the week.

 

Westminster had two resounding wins this week, 6-1 over Kent and 7-0 against Kingswood Oxford. Against the Lions, the Black and Gold did not drop a game in the six matches won. In the second match of the week, the Martlets were even more in control. Each girl won in three games, with Cricket di Galoma ’14 and Christi DeSimone ’12 each giving up a total of five points at No. 5 and No. 2, respectively, while Sasha Marshall ’13 gave up just six at No. 1. Other winners were Chessy di Galoma ’11 at No. 3, Hannah Leathers ’11 at No. 4, Katie Polio ’11 at No. 6 and Olivia Caldwell ’14 at No. 7.

 

The Martlets had three impressive sweeps this week over Kingswood Oxford, Kent and Miss Porter’s. Emma Pinney ’11 (No. 3), Nina Grey ’11 (No. 4), Mimi Ryan ’12 (No. 5), Sydney Rivers ’13 (No. 6) and Emily Moran ’12 (No. 7) all refused to drop a game in the three matches.

 

In their last meet before championships begin, the Martlets were able to overcome Avon despite losing to Hopkins. Top individual performances included co-captain Josh Kokulis ’12 in the 200 Free and 500 Freestyle. Conor Mullen ’12 also had a best time in the 200 Free, as did Daniel Parsons ’13 and Jake McCausland ’14. Jake Cahill ’12 swam a season best in the 200 IM, and Augie Morris ’13 swam his best 50 Free. Charlie Januszewski ’13 swam his fastest 100 Fly. Eric Wainman ’11 swam his best ever 100 Breaststroke to win the event, and Stan Sandoval ’13 dropped four seconds in the race of his life in the 100 Breast. Ronald Yeung ’13 swam a huge 200 Free and 100 Breast, and Drew Poling ’13 swam a quick 100 Back to set a new personal record.

 

Westminster earned a nice win over Berkshire 61-56. The Martlets started off with a big lead but eventually the Bears tied the game and took the lead midway through the second half. The Black and Gold hung in there, however, and clawed their way back to tie the game and then take the win with five free throws at the end. Team leaders were Matt Wilson ’11, with 21 points and 15 rebounds; Myles Marshall’13, with 15 rebounds; and Mike Hom ’11, with 6 assists.

 

The Martlets notched two wins this week over Berkshire (52-49) and Kent (37-36). Mike McNally led the scoring in both games with a season high 27 points against the Bears including seven three pointers. Marquez Cummings ’12 added six steals, Max Langlois ’13 grabbed 10 rebounds, and Dillon Gomes ’12 had five assists in the effort. Against a strong Kent squad, Will Lammey ’13, Max Langlois ’13 and Miller Steinle ’12 all made big contributions.