Sports Highlights 02.02.2015

The Martlets had a banner week, winning three road games in a row with great team play and some standout individual performances.
 

On Monday, the boys took on the Winged Beavers of Avon Old Farms in front of a standing room only crowd. AOF, pumped up by their rowdy fans, jumped out to a 1-0 lead early by capitalizing on a power-play. Westminster stormed right back into the game with back-to-back goals by Joey O'Connor '16 to put the boys up 2-1. Connor Lloyd '16 converted on a great pass from Cal LeClair '17 to extend the lead to 3-1 before the end of the first period. The Beavers tied the game up in the second, but Mike Ventricelli '16, who was relentless in front of the net, put home a rebound in the final frame to steal a 4-3 Martlet victory.
 

Two days later, Westminster drove up Route 91 to play against an always tough Deerfield team. The game got off to a great start for the visitors when Jack Flanagan '17 tipped home a Johnny McDermott '16 pass to put the boys up 1-0. Deerfield responded with a power-play goal of their own to tie it up 1-1 heading into the locker room. In a chippy, penalty-filled second period, the game was blown wide open, with the teams scoring a total of seven goals. Westminster got the better end of the deal, scoring 5 goals to Deerfield’s 2 to take a 6-3 lead. The third period settled down, with both team adding a final goal each for a final score of Westminster 7, Deerfield 4. Taggart Corriveau '16 had the hot hand with four goals, with assists going to Jack Fitzgerald '15, Will Brophy '16, Johnny McDermott, Jack Flanagan (3) and Tim Sanford '16 (2). Brophy and McDermott finished the scoring line, assisted by Connor Lloyd '16, Fitzgerald, Corriveau and Kevin O'Leary. Stephen Gasior '16 had a busy game in net with 26 saves, many coming on penalty kills.
 

The Black and Gold capped off their great week with a 4-2 win against the Lions of Kent. The home team jumped out to a 1-0 lead midway through the first and kept the lead for the entire period. In the second, Westminster got it going and scored two pretty goals to get on top. Corriveau continued his hot play, connecting on a great 2-1 pass from JP Schuhlen '16 to tie up the game, and then Fitzgerald scored on a blistering top corner shot coming over the blue line. Kent fought back to close out the period with a goal, sending both teams to the locker room in a 2-2 tie. In the third period, Fitzgerald scored another on almost the same shot as his first goal to put the Martlets up 3-2. The boys played tight defense and kept their heads in the game to keep Kent out of their end throughout the final period. O'Connor 'snuck one past the keeper midway through the third to give the boys a cushion, and the 4-2 score would end up being the final.
 

Goalies Nick Sanford '16 and Stephen Gasior ‘16 played strong in net all week, controlling rebounds and making big saves when they counted. Sanford had 32 saves on Monday and 26 on Saturday, while Gasior stopped 32 on Wednesday.
 

The boys lost a close game on Wednesday night but rebounded on Saturday, winning a 72-67 heart-stopper against Avon Old Farms. Colin Dougherty'15 led all scorers with an impressive 34 points, including hitting 7-8 from beyond the 3-point line. David Ryan '15 also added a crucial 15 points and 9 rebounds. Chris Jones '16 had a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists, while Chris Swanson '17 and Jack Campo '15 played stellar defense to hold on to the tenuous Martlet lead. Campo also added 12 points in the win. It was a great team win that will hopefully springboard Westminster into a strong latter half of the season.
 

The Martlets came out roaring on Saturday afternoon as they took to the court at Kingswood Oxford to take on the Wyverns in West Hartford. Westminster had a strong first half and went into halftime with a 13 point lead. K-O fought back in the second, cutting the Martlet lead to just 4, but the girls weathered the storm with tight defense and some clutch shots to widen the gap and take the 58-41 win. Meg Richard '15 led the team with 17 points, while Emma Merlin '16 and Jacqui Richard '16 combined to add 22 to the scoreline. Gabby Brown '17 scored a career-high 7-points, as she proved to be a crucial asset off the bench.
 

Westminster took on WNS at home in an exciting home meet that saw the boys win their first matchup of the season. The boys opened a wide margin on Williston to start the meet when the 200 Medley Relay team of Albert Gao '18, Henry Chou '15, Jordan Gabbidon '17 and Tom Dudzik '15 kicked off the afternoon with a win, and Chou won the 200 IM as well. Dudzik won two close races in the 50 and 100 Freestyles, with Philip Wu '16 close behind in some of his top performance this year. Gabbidon won the 100 Fly and was second in the 100 Back, and Jack Horrigan '16 placed second in the 100 Breaststroke, which was a crucial finish in the final individual race of the meet. The visitors closed the gap in the second half of the meet to create a suspenseful finish in the final event, the 400 Freestyle Relay. Fortunately, the team of Gabbidon, Wu, and co-captains Dudzik and Chou shut the door by winning decisively. Westminster divers Jack Norman '16 and Ben Shaver '16 were key in the victory, placing first and second for a ten-point swing.
 

The girls relied on relays and depth on Saturday afternoon in a close meet with Canterbury. Westminster came out swinging 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 Free with her best time yet this year, and Erin Haydon '16 was third. Co-captain Emily Kunsman '15 was second in the 200 IM, with Lennox in third, both with strong swims. Xu was second in the 50 Freestyle followed by Ally Marenco '18 and Elisabeth Morin '18 in third and fourth, respectively. Giordano and Kavle placed 2-3 in the 100 Fly, and Kunsman won a close race in the 100 Freestyle with her best time. Brewer and co-captain Phebe Huth '15 placed 2-3 in the 500 Freestyle, both with season-bests. The Martlets trailed by 3 points heading into the 200 Freestyle Relay, where the team of Haydon, Xu, Kunsman, and Giordano won easily, with the B team of Claire Hotaling '16, Morin, Nathali Madrid '17, and Marenco taking third and the lead for good. Brewer and Haydon followed up with a 1-3 finish in the 100 Backstroke, and Kavle and Lennox went 1-2 in the 100 Breaststroke. The girls capped things off with a 1-3 finish in the 400 Freestyle Relay, led off by Giordano with a personal best 100 Free time. The girls were proud to seal the win and are looking forward to their training trip to Florida next weekend.
 

The First Girls' squash team split with Sacred Heart and Rye Country Day School on Saturday afternoon, taking their first match against Sacred Heart 7-0 but falling to Rye Country 5-2. All the games against Sacred Heart were played simultaneously, and the girls swept the line, with Abby LeBlanc '17, Wells Poler '16, Kate Breed '15 and Katie Deveaux '16 winning in three straight games, while Ginny Durfee '15, Margot Frank '15 and Julia Cooper '15 were victorious in four. The Martlets next took on a talented Rye Country Day squad, falling by a 5-2 margin, but not without a great effort by all participants. Frank, Poler and Cooper lost in three straight, while Breed went down in four. However, Katie Deveaux played some inspired squash and won in three straight games to win both her matches of the day. Ginny Durfee and Abby LeBlanc were the last players to finish as they both went to five games. The level of play in both their matches was sensational, to say the least. LeBlanc lost the first two games, won the next two, and then fell 7-11 in the final game. Ginny Durfee split the first four games and then prevailed by an 11-9 score in the fifth and deciding game.
 

The Second Girls’ Basketball squad hadn’t won a game yet this season, but they turned it around and won two games this week, taking down Wilbraham & Monson in a close 31-26 contest on Wednesday, and then exploding for 40 points in a 40-20 win over Williston Northampton on Saturday.
 

Rolling from their first win of the season, the girls came out hot on Saturday, running WNS up and down the court. Emily Burstein '17 was the team's top scorer with 14 points, including two 3-pointers (their first of the season). Nadrina Ebrahimi '15 also played well, adding 12 pts to the board. The girls played solid defense, despite only having 2 subs, which kept them from pressing.
 

It was a gutsy week for the team, which has made great strides throughout the course of the season.
 

The Seconds took on Williston Northampton at home on Wednesday afternoon and took the 5-2 win. The Martlets got off to a sluggish start defensively and allowed the visitors to score the first goal, but Westminster countered with a crash-the-net goal by Jeffery Guiliano '17, assisted by Chris Connal '16. Unfortunately, with just 34 seconds remaining in the first period, Williston took the lead with a power play goal. The middle frame was dominated by the Black and Gold. On the power play, Max Torrez '18, assisted by Zach Orzech '16, scored on a wrap-around effort. Alec Costanza '17 added the next tally from a pretty pass to the slot area by Jack Griffith '17. A minute later, Guiliano got his second of the afternoon when Ryan Seymour '15 made a fine neutral ice pass, which Guiliano ripped into the top corner for a 4-2 lead. The Martlets completed the scoring in the third period when Mac McCormick '16 collected a Jack Bitterli '16 pass and let loose a tight wrist shot to make the final score 5-2. Alex Gadowski '18 made 16 saves for the winning side in between the pipes.
 

The girls’ three-game winning streak stalled on Wednesday, but they got back on track with a dominant 8-0 win over the Bears from Berkshire on Saturday afternoon. Once again, Westminster spread the puck around to give plenty of scoring chances to players from different lines. Goals for Westminster, mostly very pretty shots hitting top corners, came from Katie Simeon '16, Kendall Brown '17 (2), Katie Neilson '18, Ana Wigmore '16, Susanna Baker '15, Anne Bitterli '16 and Cynnie White '17. In front of the net, Karus Sabio '18 had another great, shut-out effort, making some of her toughest saves of the season, including a save on a Berkshire breakaway. Overall the girls played smart team hockey and pulled out the decisive win.
 

The Thirds' hockey team split their back-to-back games against Simsbury High School’s JV squad this week. The boys came out of the gates slow on Wednesday, going down 1-0 in the first and generally struggling to find their offensive rhythm. The next period saw a quick turnaround, as Brendan Jacobs '17 tied the game just over a minute into the frame, but Simsbury answered to take the lead again, and the Martlets went into the locker room down 2-1. The boys turned it on in the final period, scoring three goals and keeping Simsbury out of the net to clinch the 4-2 win. Sam Leopold '18 found the back of the net early in the period, while Josh Cosentino '18 put the team ahead with just over 10 minutes to play, and Jake Szykowny '17 iced the game with an empty-netter.
 

The Martlets avenged an earlier loss to the Winged Beavers from Avon Old Farms on Saturday, but just barely, squeaking by with a 6-5 victory. Chris Zheng ‘ 17 and Joe Patrina ’18 each won in four games, with Zheng roaring back from a first game defeat to win the next three, and Patrina limiting his opponent to a mere one point in the fourth and decisive frame. Avon took the next two matches to go up 4-2. Westminster needed to win five out of the remaining six matches to get the victory. Hayden Cathcart ’18 got the team back on track, using some well-timed boasts to pull out a dramatic five-game win. Dylan Murphy ’17, steadfast and resolute as always, pulled the Martlets even with a 3-1 triumph. And then Matthew Swenson ’17 put Westminster in the lead with a three-game sweep, the last one a 15-13 barn burner. Now only one match away from a team victory, things were looking good for the visitors as both Minh Nguyen ’16 and Ryan Lee ’18 jumped to 2-1 leads in their respective matches. But their opponents would not go away quietly, forcing both matches to a fifth and decisive game. Lee came through with a thrilling 12-10 win to secure the match, while minutes later Nguyen lost his contest by the same score. Both coaches agreed that these two teams, so evenly matched and competitive, were also gracious and civil on the court.