Fall Sports Highlights for 10.30.17

On Parents Weekend, the Martlets headed up to Williston to run in the Shaler Invitational. In the past, Williston has been known for its fast course, but this is not the case any longer. With a total re-design, the result was surprisingly much slower than in the past. On a beautiful fall day, however, the girls persevered and ran great races. Annabelle Smith '21 again led the Martlets running a 21:32, which was good enough for ninth place, Smith's first top 10 finish of the season. The next five runners finished fairly close to one another with a recovered Bethany Winters '20 leading the way. Michelle Wu '21 was right on her heels, running a lifetime best of 24:37. Maggie Chaves '19 and Liz Casey '18 rounded out the top group. Allie Masthay '21 was not far behind, knocking a whopping two minutes off of her personal best. Masthay just continues to push herself and improve. Abby Hovey '18 rounded out the First Team squad. In the Second Team race, Siena Holowesko '21 led the way with Martina Daniele '19, Alayna Tawney '19 and Katherine Ashe '21 putting in a great effort on a tough course.

 

The Martlets played exceptionally well on Oct. 28, maintaining most of the possession and territory. Greenwich capitalized on confusion in the circle to take the lead before scoring a nice tip-in off a corner to go 2-0 ahead. The Martlets responded brilliantly with a great goal from a corner with six minutes left on the clock. Despite pressing, and having numerous chances, Westminster just could not get the goal to level the score. Both goalkeepers had seven saves, and the quality of play was superb from both teams. This game marks a fourth, single goal loss this season, and so it was a bitter pill to swallow. However, the coaches were incredibly proud of the team members for playing such outstanding field hockey and for competing with all of their hearts.

The team worked well together Oct. 25 to make beautiful goals and solid passes. Within the first couple minutes Eliza Polukhin '19 sent the ball across the circle and Sophia Gasser '18 redirected it into goal beautifully. The momentum continued during a corner when Lucy Noel '18 gave a solid lifted shot towards goal and Polukhin tapped it into the net. Towards the end of the second half, Halli Keenan '21 sent a great hit towards the goal and Gasser sent it around the goalie and into the net. During the first half the team worked well with each other. In the second half the team slowed down but still maintained possession. While there weren't any goals made in the second half, the team was happy to walk away with another win. Simonne Ponce '21 had a great game playing in the midfield for the first time with the seconds team.

 

The Martlets were excited to play against Greenwich Academy. The team knew it would be a tough game and the players were looking forward to the steep competition. The Martlets worked hard to keep possession of the ball down on their offensive end but, unfortunately, it was hard to do. The game bounced back and forth from end to end. Greenwich Academy scored two goals in the first half. Ally Marenco '18 had some great saves and the defense (Layla Ennis '19, Sarah Levine '19, Hannah Kaye '19, Jacq Autorino '20 and Eva Pfeiffer '21) worked together to keep the ball out of their end of the field and pass it back up the sidelines to the midfield players. During the second half, Greenwich continued to pressure the ball and scored a third goal. Overall, the Martlets played well but the competition was tough. The team is proud of its hard work despite the score.

 

The Martlets went to the field anticipating that it would be a tough game, and they were right. Granby scored early but that didn't get the team down. They kept pressure on and continue to move forward on the ball. Granby got by them again and put another ball in the net. A couple minutes before the half, the team was able to come together to help Celia Sotirhos '21 score a goal. They were excited to get back on the field after halftime but Granby came out strong, scoring two more times. The Martlets brought the momentum back down to their offensive circle and were very close to getting another goal at the end of the game. Overall, it was a good effort by the team. Kyani Jemmotte '20 had many saves in goal. Andrea Warrick '21 sent the ball back up the sidelines often and Clara Ekholm '20 had strong drives sending the ball across the entire field. Chloe Ferro '20 did a nice job back on the forward line after being away for much of the season.

The team was down 28-0 by the end of the first quarter and it did not get better from there. Co-captain Ian Broadbent ’18 gave his usually excellent effort on both sides of the ball against a much bigger K-O line. Souley Ballo ’19 played great in the secondary and ran for some tough yards, and two-way starter Tarek Mourad ’19 played a good game at defensive end.

First Girls' Soccer traveled north to Suffield Academy on Oct. 25, but returned home with a disappointing loss. After the Martlets played fantastic soccer for the first 20 minutes, Suffield took advantage of a Westminster mishap and opened up the scoring for the Tigers. The Martlets completely dominated the first half of the first half, but that goal seemed to cause Westminster to lose its composure and the team struggled to regain it for the rest of the game. Just five minutes later, the Tigers scored again. The second half looked a bit more promising for Westminster with some chances and continued pressure in the Tiger defensive end, but two more goals with three minutes left in the game gave Suffield the victory.

 

First Girls' Soccer came up with a 3-0 win against Canterbury during Parents Weekend on Oct. 28. The scoreboard, reading 0-0 at half time, did not do justice the work the Martlets were putting in on the field, as they were putting the pressure on the Canterbury defense the entire first half. They had over 10 shots, but solid goal keeping from the opponent prevented any of those being converted to goals. Five minutes into the second half, however, that changed when Katy Maxon '18 found Mackenzie Reynolds '20 who sent the ball deep into the Canterbury net, a top-shelf shot, to open up the scoring. Eight minutes later, forward Georgia Swank '19 scored her first goal, followed by her second minutes later, thanks to a cross from Taylor Adams '20. Captain Emma Alpaugh '18 played very well in the defensive end for the Martlets, coming up with key tackles and strong wins in the air.

Westminster would host a Loomis team on an eight game win streak on Oct. 25. The game would not start well for the host team, as Loomis would go up 2-0 early in the first half. Zach Papapetros '20 would get the Martlets on the board with a well-placed bending shot to the top corner off a corner kick rebound. The Martlets would have five starters hurt in the first half, so the team needed to make some adjustments. Lucas Wahlberg '21 would have to jump in net and play big in the second half. Things got exciting with some of the reserves on the field making it 4-2 early in the second half. Paul McNamara '18 would nail home a hard shot inside the 18-yard box to cut the lead to two. Loomis would push late and make it a 5-2 final.

 

It was a nice win on Parents Weekend for the Martlets. Westminster started the game off quick with two goals from Zach Papapetros '20 and Ryan Messina '20 just 10 minutes into the game. Riley Wood '19 would give the home side a solid 3-0 lead heading into halftime. Wood would get another goal early in the second half on a scramble in front of the net. The game ball went to Lucas Wahlberg '21 who got his first start in net for the Martlets; he finished with eight saves.

Despite a promising opening 10 minutes, during which the girls strung passes together neatly, the visiting Pelicans proved to be too much to handle on this day. Playing into the wind in the first half, the home squad came under increasing pressure. After yielding an unlucky first goal, a tough eight-minute stretch saw the Martlets give up three more, and another late goal sent the girls into halftime down five. The second half saw the girls find their footing a bit better, but they would give up two more for the final tally. On the day, Susie Mahoney '20 was a bright spot, establishing possession up front, Lauren Way '20 made a lot of good touches in central midfield, and Campbell Swift '21 played with poise at outside midfield.

Second Boys’ Soccer was on the defensive for much of the game but played tenacious defense, keeping the match scoreless through 67 minutes. Then, Loomis capitalized on a positioning breakdown on the right side of the defense and worked the ball into the penalty area. Westminster couldn't clear it in time and Loomis scored the only goal of the game. Despite playing the majority of the game defensively, the Martlets increasingly possessed and moved forward as the game went on. In fact, Westminster had the two best scoring opportunities for either team but failed to convert.

 

Grant Noble '18 scored in the first minute of the game and hit the post 30 seconds later, but then it was all Canterbury. The Saints converted on a penalty in the sixth minute and scored on two more fast break opportunities in the first half while the Martlets reeled in their complacency and overconfidence. Their undisciplined play failed to produce any meaningful scoring opportunities and allowed another Canterbury breakaway goal early in the second half. The Martlets had no answer in a game that they could have — and probably should have — won. Henry Mitrano's '19 goal in the 73rd minute was one of only a handful of shots that were anywhere near the frame.

Westminster had one of its best offensive games of the season, but it wasn't enough as the team fell to Miss Porter's 5-4. The swarming speedy strikers on Miss Porter's were able to slice their way through the defense with many shots on goal. It was a good moment for the Westminster offense, as it was able to sustain many drives and had the most shots on goal of any game this season. Alex Wolf '19 had two goals; Lizzi Cronin '21 and Ondine Finley '19 had one each. Many of the plays were set up by the midfield, which included great games from Rachel Ha '21 and Mairead DeFronzo '20.

 

Considering the result in the first match against Suffield, Westminster pushed its game to another level this time around. Heading into the half only down 1-0, the team played with grit and grace, though the team eventually lost by the score of 4-1. The defense was able to prevent Suffield from gaining any momentum, despite playing a half field defensive game for most of the first 35 minutes. Diana Tsibikova '21 and Caroline McDermott '20 stymied any offense approach to the net for nearly the entire game. Ondine Finley '19 scored yet again, and has taken to her new position on the offense after spending two years as a defender.

 

Fourth Boys’ Soccer lost to Renbrook 1-5 despite great goalkeeping by Tremaine Dawson '21 who has returned to the team after an injury. Rex Flinn ‘21 scored the lone goal, with two minutes left in the game, on a break away up the middle.

 

Fourth Boys’ Soccer dominated the game against Taft for most of the two halves with Taft scoring the winning goal on a penalty kick. Westminster played its best game of the year with great passing and teamwork. Westminster's lone goal came from Peter Sanger '21.