Fall Sports Highlights 10.21.19

On a perfect fall day at Avon Old Farms, the Winged Beavers proved much fleeter on their home course than the Martlets, but the squad had a lot of great performances. Daniel Pinckney ’20 continued to lead the team, running a 5:39 pace, almost breaking 18 minutes on this fast course and running his season best. Behind him, Josh Mason ’23 continues to improve, moving his season best forward another 20 seconds. Another Third Former, Jay Henry, was the next finisher, tying his best season mark. In only his second race of the season, Sung Min Cho ’22 dropped over two minutes from his previous best to go sub-7:00 pace on this course. Spencer Kwan '22 dropped over a minute and Sam Bradley ’23 dropped 30 seconds to finish in the top seven. Jamai Miller '22, Will Warner ’22 and Alex Shao ’22 also ran season bests.

 

The Martlets had a strong showing against Miss Porter’s School at Avon Old Farms Oct. 19. The team finished 21-34 against Porter’s, with the Martlets grabbing four of the top five places overall. Annabelle Smith ‘21 finished in second place (20:27) behind a fleet-footed Porters’ runner. Laura Mittelman ‘20 secured the No. 3 spot in 21:37, and was followed closely by captain Miranda Douglass ’21 (21:50). Fellow captains Olivia Goldstuck ‘21 (22:39) and Bethany Winters ’20 (23:31) rounded out Westminster’s top five. Janessa Yan ‘22, Simone Routledge ‘23, Alice Liu ‘23 and Susannah Van Leuven ‘20 capped off an excellent race with massive lifetime PRs. Siena Holowesko ‘21 and Taylor Hill ‘22 ran the final stretch of the race shoulder-to-shoulder to earn impressive season PRs.

Deerfield started extremely quickly, running the game for the first 10 minutes and almost scoring from open play and corners. Westminster found its grit and really pushed back hard before steadily taking the game away and maintaining the ball and the field for much of the remainder. The Martlets scored three from nicely worked corners and never gave up pushing and fighting for every ball. This was a superb win against a very strong DA team. Stand out performances from Sam DeLeo ’21 on the left wing gave Westminster some real momentum, and rock solid defense from Abby Munger '20, as well as 10 big saves from Karen Newton '20, kept a tight ship at the back. Goals first half: Sam DeLeo '21 (1), assists first half: Claire Taylor '21 (1). Goals second half: Mckenzie Bloom '23 (1), DeLeo (1), Bennett Ghriskey '22 (1), assists second half: Casey Winslow '21 (1).

 

The Martlets made the short trip across town for a 12:30 p.m. start against KO. Missing two central starters and a goalkeeper, it took Westminster 15 minutes to find its feet, and KO took full advantage pressing hard and pushing Mandy Busky '21 to make some superb saves. A few small adjustments to the formation had Westminster more settled, and then the goals started to flow nicely. Congratulations to Bennett Ghriskey '22 on her first hat trick for Westminster, to Busky for a huge opening effort to quell KO's attacks, and to Margaret Sadak '22 for hitting the field hard and turning the momentum very quickly with great energy and two nice goals. It was also excellent to see Casey Winslow '21 step into the center midfield with such maturity and composure.

 

Westminster played with energy from the moment the whistle blew. Two first half goals from Olivia Fernandez ‘23 propelled the Martlets to victory. Elle Dorrian ‘22 had a nice assist on one of Fernandez’s goals. Westminster was tested in the second half when energy dipped, however, defense held strong. Mary Dutton ‘20 had a tremendous game. Dutton worked hard to create offensive opportunities while also recovering to play defense. Chloe Ferro ‘20 was a constant source of energy and communication for the Martlets.

 

Westminster would get on the board just 90 secs into the match as Xander Cardia '21 would slash through the TP back line and go to goal alone. Midway through the first half, Boniface Fatohou '23 would go bar down on a well-struck ball to put the home side up 2-0. Scratching for another, Dylan Holley '20 would hammer home a rebound off a free kick to send the Martlets up 3-0 at the half. The second half had more of the same as Percy Sibanda '20 would nail home a well-struck driven ball from outside the box off the far post. Not too long later Godwin Asore '20 would find himself alone inside the 18-yard box to make the score 5-0. TP would score late off a miskick from a Westminster back that led to a breakaway goal. Parker Sinclair '23 would have a slower day in net with only two saves. With six minutes to go, Juan Jo Garibay '20 would score in tight for his first goal of the season to make it a 6-1 final. This is the second game in a row that the Martlets had six goals from six different scorers.

 

The Martlets took the short ride over to Avon for its parents weekend for what was supposed to be big game. After 20 minutes, the Martlets would look up at the board and be down 4-0 and 5-0 at halftime. The second half saw a little more fight in the visitors but the finish would be 6-0 to a hard-working Avon squad.

 

The Martlets traveled down to Greenwich to take on the Gators of Greenwich Academy Oct. 16. The recent history between these two teams indicated that this game would be a battle — and it was a true battle each minute of this contest. With forecasts predicting heavy rain and high winds, Westminster First Girls’ Soccer knew that this game would not only take skill and speed but mostly heart and grit. The weather did not stop the Martlets from playing hard, but GA put the pressure on all over and had many scoring opportunities in the first half that Westminster keeper Gabby Marcus ‘20 shut down. The game was scoreless into halftime with only some light rain and wind adding to the excitement. With the whistle to start the second half, however, the weather took a turn for the worse while the Martlets gained momentum. Eight minutes into the second half, Westminster drew a foul at the half. Marcus took the kick, sending the ball into the GA 18-yard box to find Priscilla Ameyaw ‘22 at the left corner of the box. Ameyaw controlled the ball and found Wheatley Sutro ‘22 in the center who then tipped it to Eliza Roach ‘21 who found the back of the net. The Martlets led 1-0 for just seven minutes before the Gators took advantage of a Westminster defensive lapse for the equalizer. The score remained tied 1-1 until the final whistle.

 

First Girls’ Soccer experiences true Friday night lights as the team traveled to Kingswood Oxford for a Founders League battle. With high energy and a lot of opposing fans supporting the home team, the Martlets had to stay composed and control the game. The first 20 minutes of play was back and forth between the two halves with some nice chances for the Martlets, but it was the KO Wyverns who got on the board first with a PK. Westminster responded well, however, and put together a beautiful goal to equalize when Jillian Gregorski ‘23 found Eliza Roach ‘21 five minutes later. Five minutes later, the Martlets struck again when Priscilla Ameyaw ‘22 send the ball to Roach on the left side line for a beautiful side-netting finish, leading 2-1 into the second half. The Martlets controlled the rest of the game and came out ready to play. Ten minutes into the second half, Wheatley Sutro ‘22, who turned in a fantastic all-around game, controlled a loose ball to find Roach in the 18, who did a one-two with Gregorski, to put her third goal of the game in the back of the net. With 20 minutes left in the game, Sutro found Roach who sent a through ball to Ameyaw with a beautiful finish. Westminster played a fantastic game from end to end, but the back line of captain Jaclyn Laplante ‘20, Bianca D’Onofrio ‘23, Sam de Kanter ‘22, Abby Davis ‘20 and Kalilah Akbar ‘23 was instrumental in the win.

 

Second Boys' Soccer recovered well from a poor first half to win against Trinity Pawling. The opponent scored late in the first half through a marauding run down the wing. Fortunately, the second half saw a more focused Westminster team emerge and quickly leveled through Peter Miller '22. Miller's goal capped a wonderful passage of play from the Martlets, which left the Trinity Pawling team chasing shadows. Tommy Cramer '23 found his lucky socks for the second goal, which deflected into the net after a strong period of sustained pressure. Ben Mihailovich '22 won a penalty but was denied by two excellent saves. Trinity Pawling continued to offer a threat, despite receiving a red card, and the Westminster defense had to remain alert. The 10 minutes at the start of the second half witnessed some of the best passing and movement of the season, and the recovery from a goal down is further evidence of the growing spirit within the team.

 

 

Second Girls’ Soccer remained unbeaten with a 2-0 win at KO. The Martlets took the lead in the fourth minute when Cecilia Raymond '20 took in a beautiful pass from Lauren Way '20 behind the Wyvern back line and buried her shot by the near post. The rest of the first half featured rapid ball movement from one end to the other, but most of the deep penetrations did not generate dangerous scoring chances. Raymond did have another great chance later in the half, but did not do enough with her shot, and the first half ended with the narrow 1-0 Martlet advantage. The second half played out similarly, although both teams tired as a result of the sustained battle. The Wyverns generated better chances for themselves, but goalkeeper Lily Marvin '22 was solid in net. Susie Mahoney '20 created a particularly good chance for herself, but couldn't find a chance to pull the trigger. Finally, in the 73rd minute, the Martlets put the game away with a brilliant sequence. Raymond gathered in a ball deep in the corner. She found Ridgely Green '20, who laid a pass off to Way, whose one-time shot from just outside the 18 found the upper corner and put the game out of reach. In addition to the aforementioned, shoutouts go to Campbell Swift '21 for numerous stops at center back and crucial relief in central midfield; to Green for relentless effort in central midfield; and to Ola Szopa '20, who once again neutralized the opposing team's speedy scoring threat.

 

The Westminster coaches couldn't be prouder Oct. 19. When tempers flared on the opposing side, the Martlets kept their composure and let their actions do the talking. The game was deadlocked at 0-0 for most of the game against undefeated Avon Old Farms. In the second half, with a chance to take the lead, Westminster was awarded a penalty kick only to be denied on a great save by the Avon keeper. The chess match continued until Avon drilled a direct kick into the back of the net, an unsaveable shot that would prove to be the game winner. All of the Martlets should hold their heads high as they represented their school very positively. The defense, led by Alex Tonioni '22, Travis Paulsen '20, Owen Kaplan '22, Sawyer von Jess '22, Jack Luppino '21 and keepers Oliver Frantzis '22 and Theo Vandervoorn '20, played exceptionally well.

After nine days without playing a match, Westminster Third Girls' Soccer came out refreshed, played a solid game and notched a 3-2 victory. Alex Buerck '21 put the first two in net, thanks to one assist from Caroline McDermott '20 and another beautiful assist from Francesca Bradley '21. Shortly before the half, Marina Steinle '23 scored on an assist from Rachel Ha '21. Jane Burke '21 played her best game yet in the goal. Even though Hotchkiss made a comeback with two goals in the second half, the defense held strong in the final minutes thanks to some stellar play from Tatiana Restrepo '22, India Lalor '21 and Grace Cristini '22.

 

On a beautiful day in Avon, the Martlets and the Winged Beavers battled to a 0-0 draw. Westminster had many chances to score, but the ball simply did not bounce favorably. Newt Cutler ‘22 was all over the field and played his best game of the season. Riley Devine ‘23 also outhustled many Beavers to many balls. Although Westminster outplayed its opponent, the odds were not in the team’s favor.

 

 

Oct. 16: Water Polo - First Boys’ 8 vs. Hopkins School 16