Martlets Score Early, Defeat Ethel Walker

Westminster Girls’ Varsity Field Hockey kicked off the season with a home game on Hovey Field this Saturday! The Martlets took on Ethel Walker- a local matchup, on a beautiful September day, to start the season!

The excitement of the first game seemed to give the Martlets the edge in the early moments as they added a pair of goals within the first three minutes. The first goal came just over a minute into play when senior captain, Stella Spitz, pressured the Walker’s defense to gain possession. Spitz found her way into the circle, swiftly pulled past a defender and executed a beautiful reverse hit to get the Martlets on the scoreboard. The early goal gave the Martlets momentum and they used this energy to their advantage just over a minute later by adding another to the scoreboard! This time, the Martlets moved the ball well into the circle leading to an offensive corner. The Martlets were able to execute their early corner opportunity when Junior Madeleine Milkovich’s well placed deflection beat the keeper. Assist from Stella Spitz ‘27.

The early couple goals made it seem like the Martlets would continue to add to the scoreboard, but quickly both teams settled in. The score would remain 2-0 into the fourth quarter. During this time, the Martlers worked hard, moved the ball well, but struggled to create offense as the game went on. It wasn’t until eight minutes left in the game when junior Lily O’Callaghan sent a ball into the circle and senior Natasha Johnson was ready, with her stick down, to stop the rebound. Upon maintaining possession, Johnson sent the ball to the far post where Junior Lizzie Filippetti slammed the ball into the back of the net for the Martlets third of the game. During the final minutes of the game, Walker’s did not stop their push and were able to execute a stroke bringing the game to 3-1. The Martlets were able to finish the final minutes strong to secure the win and start the season 1-0. Next up, the Martlets will travel to Cambridge, MA to take on BB&N!

Our Grit & Grace player of the game goes to Kiera Dumas ‘29! Kiera’s energy hyped up the team from the start of warmups to the final whistle of the game. Her hustle and communication played a huge role in the Martlets strong defensive play today.