Sports Highlights 03.02.2015

The girls had a banner week, winning both of their games to close out the season, including a 57-53 upset win over Pomfret on Saturday!
 

The Martlets had a gritty 44-40 win against Class-A opponent Deerfield on Wednesday. The girls started off sluggishly and found themselves down 19-12 late in the first half, but they went on an 11-2 run into halftime to head in the locker room tied 23-23. The game was nip-and-tuck for most of the second half, and Westminster nursed small leads for the last quarter of the game. Jacqui Richard '16, Oumou Kanoute '17 and Devin Selvala '16 made key baskets late in the game to preserve the lead, and though the team didn't shoot well from the free throw line in the last minutes, they got several key offensive rebounds to extend possessions and take time off the clock. Meg Richard '15 dominated the offense in the first half and Jacqui picked up the slack in the second.
 

On Saturday, the team took on the Griffins from Pomfret, a team that they hadn’t beaten in 9 years. The girls were down 38-26 at one point in the second half, but they kept their poise, executed on offense more efficiently, and cut the lead to 49-42 with about 3 minutes left. Westminster closed out the game on a 15-4 run to secure the upset victory. Meg Richard scored a school-record 31 points, and Jacqui Richard added 13 points of her own. Sophie Tawney '17 provided great interior defense and combined with Meg and Emma Merlin '16 to lead the team in rebounding. Meg, Sophie, and Oumou Kanoute ‘17 had key baskets to help the girls cut the deficit to 53-52. After two missed free throws and a missed jump shot by Pomfret, Jacqui nailed a three-pointer with 12 seconds left. McKenna Burelle '17 had a clutch steal and passed the ball to Jacqui, who was fouled with four seconds remaining and calmly sank two free throws to put the game out of reach.
 

Saturday’s win clinched the team’s best record in over 12 years!
 

Also, congratulations to Meg and Jacqui Richard, who were named to the NEPSGBCA All-Star team!
 

Westminster finished their regular season on a high note, beating Deerfield 4-2 on Saturday and earning a spot in the New England Piatelli/Simmons Tournament.

The boys outshot the Big Green 12-2 in the opening period, but they went into the locker room stuck at 0-0. Joey O'Connor '16 got the Martlets on the board in the second, as he did his best Bobby Orr and skated through three zones and scored top shelf unassisted. Anthony Di Placido '15 scored soon after with a direct face-off win by J.P. Schuhlen '16, and Westminster headed into the final period with a 2-0 lead. The third period got interesting, as both teams took penalties that resulted in power-play goals. Deerfield cut the lead to one, but Taggart Corriveau '16 scored off a one-timer assisted by Johnny McDermott '16 and Kevin O'Leary '16. Deerfield responded with a highlight goal of their own with under two minutes to go to cut the lead again to one, but Westminster put the game on ice when, playing short-handed, Taggart Corriveau '16 scored his second of the game in the empty net.

The team takes on Vermont Academy at home on Wednesday at 3:30pm.
 

Congratulations to Taggart Corriveau, who was named to the All New England team for NEPSAC Boys Hockey!
 

The girls of Westminster’s Swim Team were on fire at the Founders League Championships at Hotchkiss on Saturday, taking down four school records en route to a 4th place finish, their highest ever finish at the league championship meet.

The 200 Medley Relay team of Elizabeth Brewer '17, Alex Kavle '15, Leta Giordano '17, and co-captain Emily Kunsman '15 got things off to a fast start, finishing third and setting a new school record of 1:57.69. Giordano went on to place third in the 200 Free with her lifetime best time, and Charlotte Lennox '16 and Kunsman '15 both had huge drops in the 200 IM, good for 7th and 9th place, respectively. Nornia Xu '17, Brecky Huth '16, Ally Marenco '18, Elisabeth Morin '18, Dallis Alvarez '18, and Mia Poling '18 all added lifetime bests in the 50 Free, with Xu and Huth 11th and 13th. Then Giordano and Kavle dove in and owned the 100 Fly, with Giordano winning and lowering her own school record to 59.53, with Kavle finishing third in her best time of 1:02.41. Kunsman was 12th in the 100 Free with a strong swim, as Brecky Huth, Aubrey Moulton, Marenco, and Claire Hotaling '16 all added best times in that event. Co-captain Phebe Huth was 12th in the 500 Free, and the 200 Freestyle Relay team of Hotaling, Brecky Huth, Erin Haydon '16, and Xu placed sixth. Brewer placed 10th in the 100 Backstroke with her season-best, and Haydon lowered her best time in that event to place 15th. Lennox and Kavle both swam incredible races in the 100 Breaststroke, placing second (1:10.97) and fourth (1:11.75), respectively, each finishing under the school record time. After that, Giordano, Lennox, Kunsman, and Kavle joined forces to place fourth in the 400 Free Relay, shaving more than ten seconds off their previous best time and dropping to within one second of the school record. Giordano's lead off leg set a new school record in the 100 Free (55.05) to round out an incredible afternoon.
 

The girls’ hot streak continues through this week as they continue to rest and prepare for the NEPSAC Division 2 Championships on Saturday at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI. Fantastic job!
 

Co-captain Henry Chou '15 lit up the water On Saturday for First Boys’ Swimming at the Founders League Championships at Hotchkiss, finishing fourth in all four of his races with life-time best times in each and helping the boys place 6th overall.

With one week to go in the season, Chou closed to within .3 seconds of the school record in the 100 Freestyle, finishing in 48.67 seconds. Chou also swam an impressive 200 Freestyle and a fast lead-off leg in the 200 Free Relay, where he was joined by Jordan Gabbidon '17, Philip Wu '16, and co-captain Tom Dudzik '16. Those three also put up life-time bests in each of their swims - Gabbidon finishing 8th in the 100 Back and 11th in the 100 Fly. Dudzik was 8th in the 100 Free and 10th in the 50, while Wu placed 16th in the 100 Free. Albert Gao '18 was strong today in the 200 and 500 Freestyles with best times in both of those races, finishing 12th in the latter. Joel Groves '17, Gary Simons '17, Tiger Zhang '17, Jack Horrigan '16, Teagan Stedman '18 all added best times to the team effort in an impressive display of fast swimming. In the diving event, held Wednesday at Westminster, Jack Norman '16 placed fifth overall with a point total almost 100 points higher than his previous best. It was an incredible day of big swims from a small school.
 

With one week left in the season, the boys look to further hone their race strategies and skills in preparation for the NEPSAC Division 2 Championships on Saturday at Roger Williams University.
 

The boys finished 5th in Class B New Englands over the weekend, despite having only 6 players representing Westminster.
 

Henry Amory ‘18 finished 4th in the #3 flight, Addison Cilmi ‘16 was 2nd in the #7 flight, and Wonjune Kang ’16 was Champion in the #2 flight. Also, Will Leathers ‘17, Declan Horrigan ‘16, and Sam Worcester ‘16 all won two matches on the weekend to finish 9th of 16 in their draws.
 

The girls closed out their season with a third place finish at the New England Class B tournament.
 

On the weekend, each player won at least twice, and all displayed some of their best squash of the season. Julia Cooper '15 took eighth place in the #6 draw, going 2-1 on Saturday, but coming out on the short end of a back-and-forth five gamer in the consolation semifinal and falling in three in the 7/8 playoff despite playing her most purposeful squash of the season. Kate Breed '15 and Ginny Durfee '15, at #s 5 and 1, respectively, went 3-2 on the weekend to earn 7th place in their draws. Breed's results included a win over the #4 seed in her draw, as well as two gritty five-game victories, Durfee took the eventual third place finisher to four games in the second round, and fell in four hard-fought games in the consolation semifinal, taking her other three matches decisively in three. In the #3 draw, Wells Poler '16 went 4-1 over two days. In the consolation semis, she came back from 1-2 down to reach the final, then cruised to a fifth place finish. Margot Frank reached the semifinals of the #4 draw with two wins on day 1. In that match she fought back from an 0-2 hole, narrowly missing out on an upset of the #1 seed and eventually settling for fourth place.
 

The highlights of the weekend were provided by Katie Deveaux '16 and Abby LeBlanc '17, who were crowned champions in their respective flights. Deveaux, at #7, cruised to the semis with easy wins on day 1, but had to survive an exciting five-game semifinal before earning her trophy with an only somewhat easier four-game final. At #2, Abby earned a first-round bye, but was taken to four games in the next two rounds. After a 14-12 loss in the first game of her semifinal, she took her game up a notch, sweeping the next three games (9,3,3) to reach the final, and finding another level of patience and shot making in taking down a very accomplished player in a decisive 2,6,4 win in the final. Congratulations are due to all for a successful close to a great season!
 

The Martlets finished their season with a 4-game winning streak on the strong play of their seniors, Unique Shakoor '15, Susie Carter '15 and Nadrina Ebrahimi '15. The team had a fantastic final game on Saturday, taking down Pomfret 35-18 with hard play and good teamwork. The squad’s three seniors added crucial points and solid defense in the victory. Shakoor and Ebrahimi led the team in scoring, with 12 and 10 points, respectively. The Martlets had a strong season highlighted by hard work that resulted in great improvement. Great job, girls!
 

The Second Girls’ Hockey team also finished with a 4-game winning streak, and a very strong record of 12-4. In total, the girls won 8 games by 7 goals or more and had 7 shut outs thanks to Karus Sabio’s solid play in goal.
 

The squad rolled in an 8-0 win over Pomfret on Wednesday. Jade Marlowe '15 scored her first goal in 4 years skating as a Martlet! It was the last home game of her career, and so the team went into the game with one objective: for Jade to score. Marlow moved up from defense and, after a few good saves by the Pomfret goalie, Anne Bitterli '16 had a perfect assist and she slid the puck right into the corner of the net! It was a season highlight, and it couldn't have happened to a better Martlet. Kendall Brown '17 had a hat trick with help from her linemate, Maggie Kelly '18.
 

On Saturday, the Martlets were fired up for their final game of the season and played to a great 9-4 win. Kent scored the first goal less than a minute into the game and, when Westminster finally got on the board with a goal on a power-play from Katie Simeon '16 with 6:35 left in the first, they responded quickly to gain the lead again. Cynnie White '17 and Katie Neilson '18 scored two quick goals to finish the period and give the Martlets the lead, which they would keep for the remainder of the game. Neilson's goal was a beauty, an unassisted breakaway goal after making a quick pull to the right and slipping it behind the goalie.
 

Coach Danyliw said, "Saturday's game was our most challenging league game of the season, and some of the best playing I have seen from the girls all season!"
 

The Seconds traveled to Deerfield, MA to take on the Big Green on Saturday and skated away with a satisfying, season-ending 6-2 win. Westminster got off to a slow start but stayed in the game largely due to some stellar goaltending by Spencer Rellinger '17 in the first 6 minutes. However, the Martlets soon found their legs and began to apply serious pressure against an increasingly undisciplined Deerfield squad. Jack Griffith '17 opened the scoring with a strong wrist shot following a pretty combination pass from Alex Costanza '17 and Ryan Seymour '15. Shortly thereafter on a power play, Blueliner Seymour was on the other end of a Griffth pass and blasted one top right for 2-0 lead at the conclusion of the first period. In the second period, the Martlet's Mac McCormick '16 gathered a Zack Orzech '16 rebound and gave the visitors a three goal cushion. Max Torrez '18 earned the other assist on this power play goal. Then Jeffrey Guiliano '17 finished a rebound off the sticks of Griffith and Costanza to give Westminster a seemingly commanding 4-0 lead. Unfortunately, the Martlets let their guard down in the final two minutes of the period and Deerfield clawed back into the game scoring twice - one on an own-end giveaway and the other on a power play. Westminster played tentatively at the very beginning of the third period but keeper, Rellinger, was sharp and prevented any further damage. The Martlets got a key goal midway through the final frame when Max Torrez fed a beautiful cross-ice pass to Orzech who went in on a semi-breakaway Orzech ripped a shot top corner for a 3 goal margin. Max Powers '17 earned the other assist. Finally, McCormick added some icing by scoring from the red line when the Deerfield netminder left his cage to jaw with the visitors with 4 seconds remaining. This was a very good team win and a great way to send the six Sixth Formers into the beyond.

A big thanks to the seniors, Freddy Baker, Brendan Cross, Peter Johnson, and captains, Austin Pope, Drew Simeon and Ryan Seymour for their hard work and commitment to the Westminster hockey program. You will be missed! Congratulations to the whole team for overcoming a serious loss of manpower down the stretch and finishing with a terrific team effort.
 

Westminster ended its season with a convincing victory over a feisty Renbrook squad. The match started off close, as Dylan Murphy ’17 and John Pfister ’17 lost in three straight to quick, agile, and crafty opponents. Meanwhile Alex Londal ’17 and Chris Zheng ’17 played nearly identical matches, winning the first two games quite easily, losing an extended third game (12-14 and 13-15), and then winning the fourth 11-9. With the match tied at two apiece, the top four odds took to the courts. Sean Ryan ’18 and Hayden Cathcart both came up short, Ryan in three and Cathcart in four games. Fortunately for the Martlets, the steady and reliable Max Grout ’17 and Andrew Doucette ’18 battled their way to victories with the help of some thrilling overtime games—Grout 15-13 and Doucette 14-12 and 19-17!—to knot the contest at four matches each. Joe Partrina ’18 rebounded from a sluggish start to edge out his opponent, while Ryan Lee ’18 used his high and deep crossing shots to sweep his match and clinch at least a tie overall. Matthew Swenson ’17 and Spencer Organ ’18 finished up the day with solid victories, with Swenson needing four games to secure his match, and Organ giving up only thirteen total points in his triumph. Coach Aber would like to thank the parents who came out to support the team, both as fans and as providers of post-game refreshments.
 

Congratulations to all of the teams, and good luck to those heading into the post-season!