Spring Sports Highlights 5.1.17

 

 

Under sunny, but breezy conditions at Farmington Woods Country Club, First Boys' Golf failed to find its "A" games in a quad match with AOF, Hopkins and Canterbury. The final team results were AOF (210), Westminster (215), Hopkins (217), and Canterbury (220). The match medalists were Quinn Greene (Canterbury) and Burton Fricke (AOF) with solids scores of 38 (+2). Grant Noble '18 led the way for the Martlets with a 41, followed by Sam Knowlton '17 (42), Ian Broadbent '18 (42), Logan Hinton '17 (45), Justin Flaks '20 (45) and Jack Griffith '17 (46). 

  

The Martlets fought hard on a beautiful spring day and fell to a solid Williston squad 3.5-1.5 at the Southhampton Country Club. Similar to last week's tight matchup with Loomis, three of five matches were again determined on the final hole of the tournament, an indication of the high compete level from the first ball strike. Williston captured the medalist honors with a 44, and both Susie Mahoney '20 and Annie Hick's ’17 carded 48 for the low Westminster scores. For Hicks, the score was a personal best even with a double par (9) on the final hole. Other notable performances included Abby LeBlanc ’17 who struck the ball solidly all afternoon, as did the entire team, especially with their respective tee shots. Eve Cathcart '20 and Ishika Nathan '19 played consistently throughout, with Cathcart earning a point for the team and Nathan carding an impressive 52 in exhibition play. Nathan's tee shot on the #2 par three was a thing of beauty, bending into the green, landing pin high and rolling 10 feet past the cup.

Under clear skies but breezy conditions, Second Boys' Golf hosted Kingswood at Hop Meadow Country Club. Westminster defeated the visitors by a score of 219 to 249. Alex Biedron '18 was the match medalist shooting a 40 (+4). Other scores included Brendan Jacobs '17 (46), Carson Roth '19 (45), Darion Benchich '20 (47), Jagger LeClair '18 (41) and Spencer Rellinger '17 (51). Congrats to Niko Rodriquez from KO who carded an eagle on the par five sixth hole.

 

It was a beautiful night for the Martlets to take on rival Deerfield Academy under the lights on their home turf. The team came out flying, and quickly went up by six quick, unanswered goals. The team won many draws, allowing for many offensive possessions and scoring opportunities. It wasn't until well into the half that Deerfield was able to get on the board. Thanks to senior goalkeeper Leah Klassen ‘17, who made many incredible saves, the Martlets were able to carry the lead at 7-2 into the second half. The team knew it had a lot of time left ahead of it to hang onto the lead, and scored early in the half to make it an 8-2 game. However, DA wasn't giving up, and score six unanswered goals. The Martlets struggled to gain possession off the draw, while DA capitalized on each possession. While never trailing, the team struggled to gain momentum. With a score of 10-10 at the end of the second half, the teams would head into a three minute, golden goal overtime. Westminster gained possession of the ball early in the overtime, but was unable to find the back of the net. Deerfield was able to find the ball in transition, and scored off a free position shot to end the game. The loss came at no lack of effort, and was a hard fought battle the entire time. The Martlets are looking forward to learning from this tough loss. Once again, senior Klassen had a stellar performance in net.

 

   

Second Girls’ Lacrosse was slow to start its game against Deerfield and found itself in a deep hole by halftime, unable to keep up with Deerfield's quick transitions in the midfield and dynamic play around the goal. The second half was much more even as the Martlet offense got in gear and started driving to the net. The Martlet defense led by goalie Nadia Lee '18, who had 10 saves on the day, kept the game close for much of the second half. Goals were scored by McKenna Burelle '17 (3), Dora Mitchel '17 (2) and Brinley Cuddeback '17, with assists by Katy Maxon '18 and McKenzie Roller '20. The Martlets plan to regroup next week.

Hoping to redeem themselves for their earlier loss, the Martlets played a strong first half against Avon on April 26. Avon is steady and disciplined, and they work hard for ground balls. Despite a 2-1 lead at halftime, it was Avon who took control of the momentum in the second half. Penalties and a few early breaks enabled the Winged Beavers to seize momentum. They capitalized when it counted and never looked back. Kyle Forsyth ‘17 was excellent in net. Inconsistent effort between the restraining lines, a lack of movement on offense, and losing the ground ball battle were the difference.

  

 

 

Third Boys' Lacrosse looked to keep the undefeated streak alive as the team hosted the Eaglebrook School JV team on a hot sunny day. The Martlets scored just eight seconds into the game and would never look back. The first half would see some great ball movement both on and off the ball. The second half would see lots of players getting some great field time. In any game where you can hold the other team to zero goals with just two minutes left in the game is a great team defensive effort. The game ball went to all the close defenders: Khalil Walker '19, Galym Sarkytbayev '19, Boyan Alipiev '19, Mac Dye '20, Justin Parsons '20, Will Scott '20 and goalie Eddie Lie-A-Cheong '19 with 12 solid saves.

Brenna Monroe '17 allowed just two singles and struck out eight to lead the Martlets over Kingswood -Oxford. Westminster had quality at bats and hit the ball well against the Wyverns. In the first inning, nine batters came to the plate and delivered multiple hits to give the Black and Gold a quick 6-0 lead. For the day, Monroe was 3-3 and had five runs batted in. Emily Samar' 18 also had a big day at the plate, with three hits and four RBIs. Gabby Brown '17, Lucy Noel '18, Katie Neilsen '18 and Gabby Nemarich '20 had two hits apiece, and Ashlee White '18 drove in three runs. Westminster players were flawless in the field, and Samar caught a strong game.

Ally Marenco '18 allowed just three Northfield Mount Herman base hits to lead Westminster to a seventh consecutive win. Mackenzie Griffith '17, Brenna Monroe '17, Lauren Ferraiuolo '17, Lucy Noel '18, Emily Samar '18 and Ashlee White '18 had two hits apiece for the Black and Gold. Monroe, Samar and White each had three runs batted in. The Martlets jumped out to a decisive lead in the first inning and never looked back. Defensively, Megan Cournoyer '19 caught a fine game. White made a number of sharp plays at shortstop, and Ferraiuolo had three nice put outs at third base. Katie Neilsen '18 was strong at first base throughout the afternoon. NMH was led by Julia McClellan, who singled and scored in the second inning and also was effective behind the plate.

On a summer-like day, the Martlets hosted Suffield and came away with a resounding 9-0 win. Things started well with the doubles, where at #1 Nat Wilson '18 and Clara Ekholm '20 got out to a strong start and never looked back, winning 8-1. Ellie Suit '20 and Olivia Zhang '20 also looked good in their debut in doubles at #3. Playing with increasing confidence, they defeated the tigers 8-2. Leta Giordano '17 and Liz Casey '18 were challenged at #2 doubles, falling behind at one point, but battled back to win 8-6. In singles, the Martlets were particularly dominant, at #1 (Lily von Stade '17), #2 (Mary Kille '18) and #5 (Ekholm). Playing the best of three sets each, these girls combined to lose only three games. Alex Wolf '19 at #4 and Giordano at #6 also maintained control of their matches winning 6-2, 6-3. Maggie Chaves '19 was tested at #3 and needed a tiebreaker to win the first set but then pulled away in the second to win 6-2.

First Boys’ Tennis traveled to Williston and came up short, losing 4-3 in a four-hour long match. The boys took #2 and #3 in the double, and took the first point. Azat Mukhametkulov ’19 and Kevin Kuang ‘19, who courageously stepped in for Chris Whipple ‘18, fell 6-8 at #1, while #2 Ethan Na ’19 and Carl Ekholm ’19 won 8-3. Finally, #3 Connor Seeley ’18 and Stone Brown ’17 secured the double point with a 8-2. Mukhametkulov lost #1 6-7, 6-4 and 9-11 in a super-tiebreaker. Na fell at #2, 6-2, 3-6, 0-6. Nikola Kostic ’18 lost #3 with 7-6, 0-6 and 8-10 in a super-tiebreaker. Ekholm, #4, went down 2-6 and 5-7. Brown won #5 with 6-3 and 7-5, while Seeley finished his match with ease, winning by 6-1 and 6-1.

Second Girls’ Tennis dominated Suffield with a clean sweep. Captains Elena Lie-A-Cheong ’17 and Sydney Autorino ’17 led the team to this ultimate victory, despite a rough week of weather. 

The Martlets got their first win of the season against a short-handed squad from Canterbury. It was a sunny, warm day, perfect for tennis. Cam Jury ’19 and Scott Wilson ’19 won #1 doubles 8-5. Mike Fiorini ’18 and Zach Tarazi ’18 battle from 5-6 down to force a tiebreaker at 8-8 and won 7-5 to secure a sweep for the doubles. In singles Alec Costanza ’17 won 8-5 with a good mix of shots, while James Chun ’19 built a big lead and won 8-3. Max Torrez ’18 had the best result, though, winning 8-1. The Saints averted a sweep with an 8-6 win at #2 against Ashton Howey ‘18.

 

On a hazy, warm afternoon on Williams Hill, the Martlets welcomed the Taft Rhinos for their Founder’s League home opener. With temperatures in the 80’s and blustery winds, the Martlets had to battle the conditions as well as a young and talented Taft squad. The Martlets won all the doubles and one singles but came up short by a score of 5-2.

 

Westminster got off to a good start in doubles led by Jack Flanagan ‘17 and Justin Liu ‘18 winning at number one, 6-4. Cal LeClair ‘17 and John Hunt ‘17 overwhelmed their opponents at two doubles, by a score of 6-3, while Kai Edmonds ‘19 and Aidan Wood ‘20 completed the sweep with a 6-3 victory at three doubles. In exhibition play, the team of Alex Ellis ‘20 and Vincent Wang ‘19 lost to their opponents, 2-6.

 

In singles Darian Purcell ‘19 and Scott Lee ‘20 both dropped their matches 3-8 at six and five singles. LeClair and Wood also had great rallies with their opponents before dropping their sets at four and three singles 2-8. Liu played another consistent match before coming up short 4-8. In exhibition singles, Jack Hajdukiewicz ‘18 won his match 8-6.

 

The match of the day was played by Flanagan at one singles. He faced a younger but experienced player with an aggressive attacking style. Flanagan mixed in a variety of spins with a powerful serve to keep his opponent off balance. Flanagan won by playing with a relaxed consistency that proved too much for the Taft player, 8-6. With the victory, Flanagan improves to a perfect 4-0 on the season.

 

Girls track lost to Berkshire but soundly defeated Canterbury. Katherine Eckerson ’17 won the meet MVP as she won the long jump, triple jump and placed second in the 200m. Sophie Tawney ’17 won the discus and shot put and finished third in the javelin. Chloe Sealy ’18 won the pole vault with Amanda Liu ’18 close behind in the second. Those two also finished second and third in the high jump. Nathali Madrid ’17 finished third in the discus, and Anissa Joseph ’17 finished third in the shot put. Dylan Foster ’20 finished third in the long jump. On the track, Caroline Percival ’19 won the 800m and finished third in the 1500m. Sarah Minella ’17 finished third in the 400m followed closely by Kaitlyn Eddy ‘19. Minella also finished fourth in the 800m. Eddy finished fourth n the 300m hurdles. Paige Phillips ’20 and Alexa Green ‘17 finished third and fourth in the 100m. Phillips also finished third in the 200m. Morgan Peirce ’17 won the 3000m.

  

First Boys’ Track defeated Canterbury and Trinity but lost to Berkshire. The Martlets did well in the field events. Dom Cirillo ’17 won the javelin and shot put and placed second in the discus. Ray Rivers ’17 placed fourth in the discus, and Tim Callahan ’17 placed third in the shot put. Devonte McCall ’17 placed third in the long jump. Delando Clarke ’17 and Payton Prendergast ’17 took the top two spots in the high jump. Prendergast also won the 110m hurdles and placed second in the 300m hurdles. In both hurdle events, he was followed closely by Brandon Williams ’18 who finished second and fourth in those events as well as fourth in the 100m. Drew Brownback ’19 placed second in the pole vault and fourth in the triple jump. Teagan Stedman ’18 finished fourth in the 800m. Daniel Chey ’18 and John Kuzminskas ’18 finished fourth and fifth in the 1500m. Chey also finished third in the 3000m.