Martlets Shutout Pomfret

Westminster hopped in the toasters and drove to Pomfret this afternoon to take on the Griffins in the pouring rain. A big thank you to Pomfret for supplying the visiting bench with a tent for the afternoon! The Martlets started fast and kept their play simple knowing the wet conditions would not allow for any fancy stick work. Olivia Gordon ’24, Olivia Emerson ’24, and Lily Vincent ‘25 showcased some of the best passing sequences on the forward that Westminster has seen all season, leading to several early Martlet chances that the talented Pomfret goalie turned aside. Sophia Peterson ‘24 had a busy afternoon on the right side of the field, causing several key turnovers to keep the play in the offensive end. Halfway through the first quarter, Gordon took a run through the attacking circle, beat the Pomfret goalie, and sent a ball to the empty net, but a Pomfret defender made a great play to come up with the defensive save. Luckily for the Martlets, Emerson was right there to take the rebound and send it to the back of the cage to open the scoring. Talia Ondy ’25 added to the score in the second quarter when she tipped in a shot from Emerson after Allyson Whitehead ’25 executed a perfect corner play. Emerson added her second of the day with 1:26 left in the second quarter on a penalty corner when she found herself open on the back post to finish a pass from Sydney Courtmanche ’24 and Liza Merrill ‘24 and then she scored her third of the day almost one minute later to give the Martlets a 3-0 lead heading into halftime. The assist from Merrill was her first point on the varsity team! The second half saw more great plays from Westminster as all players got in on the action and pushed the pace of play. Merrill and Mana Shida ‘25 did a great job connecting the midfield and forward lines in the second half and Catherine Knauf ’27 distributed the ball well from the backfield. Emerson completed the scoring in the third quarter when she sent a hard shot to the net for her fourth goal of the afternoon on a penalty corner inserted from Hadley Crowther ’25. The defensive unit of Margaret Dilks ’24, Margee Mahoney ’24 and Lucy Wainwright ’25 did a great job playing patient defense in the circle and moving the ball upfield with urgency. Caroline Justicz ‘26, Kate Epke ’27, Gigi Filippetti ’26 and Pippa Jiranek ’26 all got involved in the offensive play in the second half, each adding solid looks to the net and earning attacking penalty corners for Westminster. Cassie Goundrey ’24 made two big saves for Westminster in three quarters of play before Hannah Maltby ’26 entered the game in the fourth quarter. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the Player of the Game hat is on the IR this week and will return to action next week once treated and recovered!