Martlets Defeat Pelicans

The Martlets hosted the Pelicans of Loomis Chaffee this Saturday afternoon. Despite the gloomy weather and scattered moments of downpour throughout the day, the Martlet’s spirit and determination shone brightly. From the first whistle, there were many moments of dominance from both teams with the Martlets and Pelicans engaging in back-and-forth battles. The Martlets set the stage for the match with their first goal of the game 15 minutes into the first half. Haley Cramer ‘24 won the ball in the Westminster defensive third off of Pelican throw-in and played a fantastic ball for Catherine Graves ‘24 to run on to. With plenty of grit, Graves beat her defender with speed and crossed the ball into the box for Kaitlyn McQueeney ‘24 to have an incredible one-touch finish into the back of the Loomis net. To solidify their lead, the Martlets scored another with three minutes remaining in the half. Off of another Pelican free-throw, Jillian Gregorski ‘24 won the ball and found Blessing Kieh ‘24. After dribbling by multiple defenders, Kieh crossed the ball into Graves who was running into the box. With tremendous effort, Graves got her head on the ball for the finish. While up 2-0, the Martlets entered half-time knowing there were another hard 40 minutes of play ahead. In the second half, Loomis was relentless in their attack and did not give up. Just ten minutes into the second half, the Pelicans were able to score off a long distance shot, making the score 2-1 and changing the flow of the game. For the remaining 30 minutes, the Martlets battled hard to keep their lead and were successful in their efforts. The backline, anchored by center backs Maya Goddard ‘26 and Hannah Coccaro ‘26 and flanked by outside backs Mia Davis ‘24 and Izzie Leone ‘27, tirelessly defended the Martlet net for the full 80 minutes today and their efforts should be appreciated. With this win, the Martlets are now 5-1-1 on the season. They look forward to getting back on the pitch this Wednesday with a home game against Hotchkiss at 3:15 PM.