Martlets Fall To Taft

Westminster made the trip to Taft to face off against the undefeated Rhinos. It was a wild game from start to finish as both teams had stretches of dominant play and the weather quickly changed from a beautiful fall day to a winter storm midway through the game. Westminster struggled to set the pace in the opening quarter as Taft stepped to each loose ball and held an edge in the midfield. The Martlets fought back, knowing they would need to step it up against a talented team. However the Rhinos capitalized on two defensive breakdowns and earned themselves a 2-0 advantage heading into the second quarter. The Martlets regrouped and began to play a more competitive style, putting pressure on the Taft ball carriers and shutting down more passing lanes. The Rhinos capitalized on another penalty corner five minutes in to earn a three goal lead, however the Martlets took advantage of a penalty corner of their own to get on the board. Allysen Whitehead ‘25 corralled a rebound at the top of the circle and sent a ball to Hadley Crowther ‘25 who slammed it to the back of the cage to bring the score to 3-1 with four minutes to go before halftime. As the first half was ending, the winter weather quickly started and did not let up. Taft scored quickly to open the second half, however the Martlets showed more grit than grace to battle the elements and put two goals in the net in less than a minute to bring the score to 4-3 before the officials paused the game to discuss the conditions. The first goal came off of the stick of Olivia Emerson ‘24 after Talia Ondy ‘24 and Sydney Courtmanche ‘24 both redirected a ball that Olivia Gordon ‘24 sent to net on a penalty corner. Emerson struck again a minute later when she finished a rebound that started with another Gordon shot. Both teams wanted to battle it out and finish the game in the snowy mix, and it would be a back-and-forth match for the final 20 minutes of play. The Martlets pushed the play as the final quarter started and earned two penalty corners of their own. Unable to capitalize and tie the game, Taft stormed down the field and Westminster deflected the ball in their own net to give Taft the two goal lead back with eight minutes to play. The final minutes would see Taft score two more on more defensive breakdowns by Westminster before the Martlets would score a fourth with two minutes to play. It was a gritty game by both teams, and Westminster was proud of their fight and desire to compete until the final minutes. Olivia Gordon ‘24 earned the POG hat for her hustle and competitive fire to fuel the comeback for Westminster. The Martlets will look to clean up some defensive concepts in the coming days to limit the game-changing breakdowns that happened today before closing out the busy week against Berkshire on Saturday on Hovey Field.