Martlets Defeat GA in OT

Westminster made the long trip down to Greenwich on an unusually warm, but beautiful fall afternoon to take on the Greenwich Academy Gators on their Senior Day. The Martlets started strong, staying composed and organized defensively and finding quick passing patterns offensively. The first quarter saw most of the play in the midfield, as both teams worked extremely hard to limit any breaks up field. GA opened the scoring just two minutes into the second quarter on a perfectly executed penalty corner. The Gators had a burst of energy immediately after the goal, putting the Martlets on their heels a bit. Westminster was able to weather the storm though, and held strong defensively until they were able to find their footing again. Margee Mahoney ’24 and Margaret Dilks ’24 did a fantastic job all afternoon communicating in the defensive end to the entire team and stepping to any loose balls when they had the chance. At halftime, the Martlets regrouped and set out to play confidently and as one unit knowing there was plenty of field hockey left to be played. The third quarter saw more back and forth action with both teams earning looks to cage, but it was not until the fourth quarter that the scoring would all occur. Westminster knew the clock was against them down a goal heading into the final 15-minute frame and the Martlets wasted no time scoring in the opening minute. Lily Vincent ’24 found herself with the ball on her stick heading down the left sideline and once entering the circle and fighting to get her hands free in open space, she sent a ball towards the cage that Olivia Gordon ’24 was able to send in to even the score at 1-1. Both teams battled to turn any open space into an offensive opportunity. Hadley Crowther ’25 and Talia Ondy ’25 did a phenomenal job shutting down lanes for GA on the press and the midfield unit of Sophia Peterson ’24, Allysen Whitehead ’25, and Sydney Courtmanche ’25 worked tirelessly to transition every ball up to the forward line. After a scrum in front of the net that saw Cassie Goundrey ’24 impressively keep the ball out of the cage, GA was awarded a penalty corner with just over five minutes to go. Goundrey was fantastic in net all afternoon, making many big saves against the talented GA forwards. The corner led to another crowd in front of the net and GA was able to get a hold of the ball once loose and send it through the traffic to take the lead with 5:03 to play. The Martlets called a timeout to catch their breath and make a plan to attack right away. The Martlet defense came up big once again making a crucial stop, and once Westminster got the ball up field, Gordon gained possession, entered the circle, and sent a hard ball towards the net that Gigi Filippetti ’26 tipped in on the back post to tie the score 2-2 with 2:24 to play. Heading into overtime, the Martlets were down a player for the first minute and forty five seconds, but once again weathered the storm with strong communication and team defense. GA held the majority of the possession in the opening minutes, but then it turned into a back and forth affair in the midfield as both teams desperately tried to rush up field. It was the Martlets who would earn a penalty corner in the waning minutes of the OT period. Crowther sent a ball to Whitehead at the top of the circle and she sent a hard ball to net to Gordon who tipped it in for the Martlet win! It was another incredible field hockey game against an outstanding Gator team. Thank you to GA for sharing their senior day celebration with our seven Westminster seniors! The Martlets will rest up for a busy three game week next week beginning with a road match on Monday at Suffield Academy.