Martlets Fall to Sacred Heart

Westminster hosted a talented Sacred Heart team on Hovey Field on a beautiful fall afternoon while supporting the efforts of Breast Cancer Awareness Month with pink socks and ribbons. The Martlets knew this would be a tight contest from start to finish and that it would require a full team effort all over the field. Sacred Heart held the majority of the possession in the first quarter as the Martlets played more defense than offense. However in the second quarter, Westminster began to connect on their passes and move the ball down field more successfully. Westminster’s first corner attempt of the day got a point on the board when Hadley Crowther ’25 inserted the ball to Allysen Whitehead ’25, who sent a hard shot to net that Talia Ondy ’25 tipped over the head of the Sacred Heart goalie. This gave the Martlets a bit of a spark, but Sacred Heart answered the call a few minutes later when their center forward took advantage of open space inside the Martlet’s defensive 25 and sent a hard reverse shot from the top of the circle to the back of the net. Sacred Heart would then take the lead before halftime when they capitalized off of a broken corner opportunity. Westminster regrouped at halftime, looking to find another gear that they knew existed in them when they had played their best field hockey this season. The Martlets would find more offensive opportunities in the third quarter, often led by the incredible efforts by Ondy in the midfield interrupting several Sacred Heart passing sequences, but it was not until the start of the fourth quarter that they would find the back of the cage. Within the first minute of the final frame, Lily Vincent carried the ball down the left sideline and worked her way into the circle. Once close to the cage, Vincent sent a ball across the front that found the stick of Olivia Emerson ’24 who was there to send the ball in and tied the game 2-2. With under nine minutes to go, Sacred Heart would take the lead once again on an attacking penalty corner. The Martlets gave it everything they had in the final minutes, earning several penalty corners and close chances on net. Westminster forced the Sacred Heart goalie to make several impressive saves in the final two minutes, but unfortunately the time expired on their final push and Sacred Heart finished on top by a score of 3-2. It was another exciting back and forth game by two talented teams. Ondy received the POG hat for her second half spark that the team needed. Cassie Goundrey ’24 played a solid game in the net for Westminster, making several stops in key moments to keep the Martlets going. Westminster will travel to Greenwich Academy on Saturday for another big Class A matchup.