Martlets Shutout Williston

Westminster hosted Williston at Hovey Field on Parents Weekend. The hosts were excited to give it their all against an athletic and skilled Williston team before heading off for a much needed fall long weekend. The first fifteen minutes saw all of the play in the midfield, as each team recorded just one shot. The second quarter brought more action as both teams began to push the play into their respective offensive ends and look to create opportunities. Westminster got on the scoreboard early when Hadley Crowther ’25 took advantage of a quick self start inside the 25 yard line. She moved five yards to the endline and sent a hard cross that tipped off of a Williston defender to the stick of Lily Vincent ’25 who slipped in into the cage on her reverse side. Williston had a chance of their own just minutes later, but Cassie Goundrey ’25 came up with a big save. The forward line of Vincent, Olivia Gordon ’24, and Olivia Emerson ’24 displayed phenomenal passing sequences up field that led to a flurry of Westminster corners at the end of the half. The Martlets could not capitalize, but still held onto the lead heading into halftime. The third quarter saw more even play in the midfield, with Williston having a few more looks to tie the game. Westminster’s defense did a great job marking tightly on the speedy Williston forwards and defending each penalty corner they earned. In the final frame, just minutes after Gordon made a big stop on the defensive penalty corner unit, she gathered a pass in the midfield, dribbled her way through several Williston defenders to give herself space in the circle and released a hard shot to the cage that gave the Martlets a 2-0 lead. The final minutes saw more hard play by both teams. Westminster midfielders, Sydney Courtmanche ’24, Allysen Whitehead ’25, and Sophia Peterson ’24 did a great job stepping to loose balls in order to keep the ball in the offensive end and Talia Ondy ’25 had several connecting passes to the forwards that sent them rushing to net. Goundrey finished the day with six saves to earn the win for Westminster. The Martlets will hit the road on Wednesday to take on Deerfield in Massachusetts.