Martlets Defeat Rhinos

The Martlets traveled to Watertown on an unseasonably hot afternoon for their first road contest of the season against the Taft Rhinos. Westminster controlled the game from the start, creating two early scoring chances that were stymied by an offsides call and the crossbar. Eventually Hunter Grace ’27 drilled home a goal on a cross from Ethan Villacis ’27 in the 9th minute and Khang Ngo ’27 scored off of a penalty kick putting the Martlets up 2-0 at halftime. Jordan Pham ’27 kicked off the scoring in the second frame with an unassisted goal and the Martlets controlled the momentum from there with Khang Ngo ’27 assisting Hunter Grace ’27 and Ethan Villacis ‘27 assisting Jordan Pham ’27 both for their second goals of the day. Even though they only had two subs, the Rhinos kept playing hard, scoring two quick goals resulting from defensive breakdowns. After another strong game on defense, Auggie Jiranek ’27 intercepted a goal kick and placed a shot perfectly in the corner of the net for the Quad Squad’s final goal of the day. Jacob Boghosian ’27 played smart and tough defense all afternoon on the back line and Liam Hibbard ’27 distinguished himself in the midfield, competing with grit and intelligence. The Martlets will work to hone their skills in practice over the next two days in preparation for Saturday’s match against Deerfield, a perennially tough opponent.