Sports Highlights 01.18.16

 

The Martlets hit a season-high three-game winning streak last week with three good team wins against competitive challengers. Westminster got the week started on a high note, taking down the Gunnery School 5-0 in a rare Monday evening battle. Next, the girls overcame an early deficit against a strong Choate team on Wednesday to steal a 2-1 victory on the road. The game was physical from the start, and the Boars took advantage to take a 1-0 lead in the first. In the second period, the Martlets settled down and started creating opportunities. Late in the period, Lily Holmes '18 took a pass from Hayley Martini '16 and Ashley Carbone '16 and found the net to tie the game 1-1. In the final frame, Eliza Mell '16 and Sarah Melanson '16 moved the puck to Sarah Migliori ‘16, who scored the game winner. On Saturday, the Martlets traveled to Northfield Mount Hermon for an afternoon game against the Hoggers. It was a close contest, but the Black and Gold squad was able to get ahead and hold onto a 3-1 lead for the victory.

 

 

The boys took on a determined team from Pomfret in a primetime Friday night showdown on Parents' Class Visit Day. Though the Pomfret goalie had an outstanding game (he would finish with 31 saves), Westminster kept shooting and was able to get four past him to win 4-0. Taggart Corriveau '16 and Johnny McDermott '16 got the Martlets on the board early with goals in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. In the second, Westminster was called on a number of penalties and spent much of the time killing Pomfret power plays, but the defense did a good job of keeping the Griffins from getting clean shots, forcing them to go 0-9. Despite the penalties, Connor Lloyd '16 was able to score in the period, assisted by Kevin O'Leary '16 and Jay Powell '17, to head into the third up 3-0. Corriveau scored early in the final frame to put the game on ice, as the Martlets skated to a 4-0 victory.

 

 

In their best game of the season so far, First Girls’ Basketball notched their second win on Saturday with a 63-36 victory over Canterbury. Using a combination of pressure defense, excellent communication and teamwork, and some hot shooting, Westminster controlled the game from the start. The girls jumped out to a 31 to 12 lead and then extended the lead coming out of the locker room at the half. Emma Merlin '16 had a career-high 18 points and added excellent rebounding and defense, and Sophie Tawney '17 had a season-high eight rebounds and several blocked shots. Oumou Kanoute '17 also had her best all-around game of the year, with a season-high 11 points and great defense and rebounding. Grace Brentano '16, Gabby Brown '17 and Emma Alpaugh '18 all had their respective season highs and combined for 18 valuable points off the bench. The Martlets hope to keep the momentum with another home contest against Hotchkiss on Wednesday.

 

 

The First Girls’ Squash team won both of its matches last week to push its record above .500 to 3-2. Though Wednesday’s 5-2 victory over Suffield sounds on the close side, there was not much suspense, as the Martlets took all three even (first round) matches, then quickly added another to begin round two, securing the team win. Wells Poler '16 got things going with a win in three at #2, and the bottom of the ladder provided the edge, as Westy took the #4-#7 matches. Katie Deveaux '16 (#4), Dora Mitchel '17 (#6) and Abby Newman '16 (#7) also won in three, while Sarah Poling '16 (#5) won in four, and Caroline Miller '18 took home a win in the exhibition match. Next, the squad got a win over a visiting Miss Porter's squad on Saturday. With the team missing their #1 and the Daisies missing several players from the middle of their ladder, both teams looked for players to step up. At every position except #1, the Westminster girls came through. Deveaux, Poling, Mitchel, Newman and Caroline Miller all won in three at #s 3-7. Caroline Percival '19 got the sixth win for the hosts, gutting out a five game win at #2, coming back from 0-1 and 1-2 deficits. Next for the girls is a pair of matches on Wednesday.

 

 

The Westminster Girls’ team traveled to Kent for a triple dual meet against Kent and Ethel Walker on Saturday. The team of Elizabeth Brewer '17, Co-Captain Charlotte Lennox '16, Nornia Xu '17 and Co-Captain Erin Haydon '16 opened the meet with a win in the Girls 200 medley relay to get the Martlets rolling early. Leta Giordano '17 won the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly and the team of Giordano, Lennox, Haydon and Xu won the 200 freestyle relay. Brewer continued to swim well, winning the 100 backstroke, and Lennox took the 100 breaststroke. Brewer, Giordano, Claire Hotaling '16, Lennox, Ally Marenco '18 and Sarah Minella '17 swam season best times, and Haydon, Lily Johnson '19, Shannon Keefe '19, Liza Lennox '18, Elisabeth Morin '18, Mia Poling '18, Mary Su '18 and Xu swam personal bests.

 

 

The Martlets took on Choate in a Wednesday afternoon road game and came back to the Hill with victory. The girls dominated the first half with excellent ball movement, communication and shooting, heading into the second with a 22-8 lead. Although the second half was a little more even, Westminster held onto their lead to finish the game 33-19. With points coming from five different people, and defensive contributions by all, the win was a true team effort. Brenna Monroe '17 led the effort with 11 points, while Emily Burstein '17 added 10, and Becca Gavel '18 had six.

 

 

After a four consecutive overtime games, Second Boys’ Hockey won its two games last week in more decisive fashion. The boys hosted Taft at Jackson Rink on Wednesday evening and managed to score first and skate to a fairly comfortable 5-1 victory. Alex Costanza '17 slammed home a Jack Griffith '17 rebound for the first goal midway through the initial period. Max Powers '17 also got an assist on the play and soon after scored the next goal near the Rhino crease after collecting a pass and rebound from Jagger LeClair '18 and Jeffery Guiliano '16. Taft narrowed the score to 2-1 by finding the net on a power play very late in the first period. However, Westminster got on a roll in the middle frame and scored three times. Blue liner and Sixth Former Tommy Jacobs scored the first of two goals by jumping into the play down low and finishing the good fore-checking work of Chris Connal '16 and LeClair. Next, the line of Griffith, Costanza and Mac McCormick '16 completed a nifty 3 on 2 opportunity with Jack Griffith denting the fabric. The final goal of the period belonged to Tommy Jacobs who collected a pass from defensive partner, Walker Stevens '19. Tommy took a low, hard shot through traffic to make it a 5-1 advantage. The Martlet net minder, Hunter Chaisson '18, had a strong outing, making 15 saves on the day.

 

The team hosted a strong Salisbury team on Saturday afternoon but recorded a satisfying 3-1 win. Despite playing a sloppy first period on defense, the Martlets found themselves with a 2-0 lead. Chaisson played an outstanding initial period in goal to keep the home team ahead. Westminster got their first goal on a power play. LeClair buried a Costanza rebound for the 1-0 lead. Very late in the first frame LeClair scored his second goal from a pretty drop pass from Connor Brennan '17. Salisbury narrowed the lead early in the second period by netting a loose puck in the Westminster crease. Fortunately, the Marlets answered immediately with a pretty power play goal highlighted by great puck movement by McCormick and Griffith that eventually resulted in a pass to Costanza, who fired a shot past the Salisbury goalie. Despite a very physical and energetic third period, neither team found the back of the net and the score ended with a Westminster 3-1 win. Both goalies were rock solid on the day, with Chaisson producing a 35-save game for the victors.

 

 

The girls rolled to a 5-0 record last weekend, winning both of their games in convincing fashion with a total of 21 goals scored and zero goals given up. The Martlets bombarded Choate's goalie with shots throughout their game on Wednesday and played stout defense to win 11-0. Five Martlets scored multiple goals, with Evie Pope '16, Fraser Allen '17, Katie Nielsen '18, Natalie Rubin '19 and Kendall Brown '17 scoring twice, while Maddy Paro '17 scored as well. Lily Farris '19 and Julia Krys '19 combined in goal to keep the score sheet clean, thanks in large part to the stellar play of the entire defensive unit.

 

On Saturday, Westminster continued its high level of play on both ends of the ice, defeating Williston Northampton 10-0. Blake Cote ‘19 and Brown scored twice and Neilsen scored once in the opening period to grab a commanding early lead. The team kept pressing in the second, getting goals from Layla Ennis ’19, Georgia Swank ’19, Paro, and two more from Neilsen and Brown (who recorded a hat-trick on the day) to secure the decisive win.

 

 

The Martlets won two-in-a-row last week, sweeping both matches to set its record to a very solid 4-1. The group faced an inexperienced but enthusiastic squad from Salisbury in their first home match of the year. The boys displayed outstanding sportsmanship during the match, but they also played great squash on their way to a 10-0 victory. All ten of the matches were decided in three games. Andrew Doucette '18 surrendered only 4 points in his match at #2, while Luke Tressy '16 gave up only 5 points in his match at #5, Jack Bitterli '16 gave up 6 points in his match at #6, and Miller Guth '16 surrendered 6 points in his match at #9. Next, Westminster won all nine matches against Kent on Saturday and only dropped one game along the way. Still, that doesn't mean that the individual matches weren't competitive or that there weren't any entertaining points. The Black and Gold are a very experienced team this year, while Kent has a squad composed of almost all novices to the game. Connor Anderson ‘16 surrendered only three points in his match at #8 and Minh Nguyen '16 played outstanding squash in winning 2, 1, 4 at #4, but the nail went to Tressy, who defeated his opponent 0, 0, 2.

 

 

The Martlets brought their "A" game on Wednesday afternoon, playing their best squash against the Kent Lions at home to sweep the match 7-0. Rachel Halfon '16 won in four games at #1 after losing the first game 11-13. Katherine Ogden '16, Annie Hicks "17, Lucy Noel '18, Katie '18, Callie Brossman '16 and Annabel Bradley '19 all won in three straight games to complete the scoring. Ellie Klein '16, Lily Mahoney '17, Brinley Cuddeback '17 and Maddie Dwyer '18 also were victorious.

 

 

Third Boys' Basketball played its best game of the season on Saturday afternoon to notch its first win by a final score of 46-35 over Canterbury. Matt Marciano '19 led the offensive effort for the Martlets. On the defensive end, James Plumb '18 and Will Livingston '19 played stout perimeter defense, while Jack Devlin '19, Zack Tarazi '18 and John Kuzminskas '18 controlled the paint. 

 

 

Playing it’s first match of the new year, Westminster continued its winning ways with a convincing victory over the Kingswood-Oxford JV squad. Playing at #8, Ethan Na ’19 got the Martlets on the board with a quick and efficient 3-0 win. Porter Girty ’18 and Matthew Swenson ’17, at #2 and #4, followed suit with three-game sweeps of their own. Meanwhile, Nate Londal ’19, at #6, fell short in his match, losing two games by scores of 12-10 and 15-13. Carl Ekholm ’19 used his blistering overhead serves to keep his opponent off-balance as he cruised to a 9,4,6 victory. Emmett de Kanter ’19 and Lukas Dudzik ’19 used their quickness to the front court along with well-placed shots to sweep their respective opponents. At the top of the ladder, Sean Ryan ’18 used his tricky drop shots and tight rails to win 4,7 and 9. Khailil Walker ’19 and Ryan Lee ’18 both needed four games to secure their matches. Walker started slow, losing the first game 11-4, but roared back to win games three and four. After splitting his first two games, Lee found his groove, hitting numerous deep corner shots for winners to clinch his victory. In a close, tightly contested match, Nate Swift ’19 got off to a good start, winning his first game 11-6, only to the last two, both by the slimmest of margins, 11-9 and 13-11. Hayden Cathcart ’18 relied on his usual arsenal of lob serves and well-timed boasts in defeating his opponent. Playing his best match to date, Joe Patrina’ 18 ran down practically every ball in winning an extremely close and exciting match, with both of the last two games going into overtime.

 

Westminster's Third Girls' Squash team played well from top-to-bottom to earn a 5-2 victory at home over Williston Northampton on Wednesday. Sam Monte '17 used her cannonball serves, while Sydney Autorino '17 capitalized on a crushing forehand to win their matches. Also winning were Stacia McBreen '18, who kept her opponent off-balance, Donatella Mancinone '18, with seemingly endless winning returns, and Elaina Comia '19, who overpowered her challenger with brute strength. The win was the team's first of the season, but it certainly won't be their last if they continue to play this well. Hannah Kaye '19 and Malika Baymuradova '17 also won their exhibition matches with decisive scores.