Winter Sports Highlights for 12.4.17

The Martlets opened the season on the road at Kingswood-Oxford. The Wyverns started the game off hot from a three-point land. However, the Martlets continued to battle during the first half. Chris Robinson ‘20 led all scores with 34 points and six steals. Ian Dardani ‘18 and Kyle Hoffman ‘19 both played well on defense. In the second half, the hot shooting continued for the Wyverns. The Martlets cut the lead to 12 at one point during the second half but the lead was too large to overcome. 

 

Second Boys’ Basketball opened up the 2017-18 campaign with a game against a tough Eaglebrook squad. The Eagles jumped out to a 24-4 lead and never looked back. Westminster battled throughout the game. Eddie Lie-A-Cheong '19 got hot in the second half (including two three-point shots) and helped the Martlets put points on the board. Lukas Dudzik '19 played well on offense. He received several great passes from Alex Biedron '18 and Riley Wood '19. Will Lynch '20 and Malcolm Kleban '20 were bright spots on defense. All of the Martlets contributed with Wood and Dudzik leading the way.

 

In the first of many games this season, the gentlemen of the mighty Martlets Third Basketball had a solid start and displayed tremendous effort. Playing hard against Eaglebrook and keeping the scores tight throughout the game, the boys’ competitive energy on the court was outshined only by their collective intensity and team spirit. Roman Mitchell ’20 had an outstanding game offensively, and Justin Flaks ’20 and Harrison Lehman ’21 both showed tremendous effort on the defensive side. This was an excellent turnout on the court, and the team will only improve as the season progresses.

The Martlets started the season with a strong fight against a tough St. Mark’s team. Despite the long bus ride, the Martlets were able to put pressure on St. Mark’s from the start. Taylor Adams ‘20 scored the first goal of the season for Westminster with help from Lilly Holmes ‘18 with just three minutes to go in the first period, giving Westminster a 1-0 lead to start the second. After a great penalty kill by Westminster, St. Mark’s was able to trickle one past Hannah Stone ‘18 to tie the game at 1-1. The Martlets kept the pressure on during the tie and with a textbook passing play Jill Parsons ‘19 and Megan Rittenhouse ‘20 were able to set up Abby Munger ‘20 in front for her first goal of the season. St. Mark’s did not quit though, and scored two unanswered goals in the third to go ahead 3-2. Westminster showed character and determination and somehow found the back of the net with just 30 seconds left to tie the game at 3-3 for the final.

  

 

Megan Rittenhouse '20 had a standout game scoring four of Westminster's seven goals to help lift the Martlets over Hill School at Jackson Rink. Westminster fought hard from the start of the game and the result was a strong offensive attack that Hill could not fend off. Hannah Stone '18 and Amanda Busky '21 combined for a total of 21 saves, allowing just one goal each. Other goal scorers included Abby Munger '20, Emma Gurnell '21 and Jill Parsons '19.

Westminster traveled north to play NMH on Dec. 1, opening the 2017-2018 campaign with a convincing win over the Hoggers. The first period opened evenly with both teams settling into their structure, but Westminster carried the play for the majority of the first frame. Ian Shane ‘20 played consistently from beginning to end, coming up with several key saves to keep NMH off the board until very late in the third when the team earned a power-play goal to notch its only tally. Iggy Belov ‘20 opened the scoring early in the second period when the Martlets seized control of the tempo, laying the pressure on in all three zones. Jagger LeClair ‘18 scored second, hammering the puck into the back of the net off a feed from the corner. Ned Blanchard ‘20 stepped inside the blueline to beat the goalie with a laser up high. Ryan Doolin ‘18 earned the fourth goal from a face-off win, and Pat Dawson ‘18 fired a crushing blow over the goalie’s blocker to go up 5-1. Darion Benchich ‘20, Noah Kaplan ‘20, Max Torrez ‘18, Cam Scott ‘18, Tasso Housakos ‘18, Malik Alishlalov ‘20, Jordie McKenna ‘19, Doolin and Dawson were all helpers. Westminster played steady and balanced, and earned a solid team win.

 

Second Boys’ Hockey began the 2017-2018 campaign with a home game against Eaglebrook School. The hosts, coming off just three days of tryouts, and no team practice, were understandably somewhat disorganized and sloppy. Nonetheless, the Martlets managed a 5-2 victory in their home opener. The first period wasn't pretty, mostly due to several Westminster penalties. Fortunately, the penalty killing units played well and goalie, Will Scott ‘20, had a strong 15 minutes of play to maintain a 0-0 deadlock. In the second frame, Westminster earned the season's first goal when Carson Roth '19 finished a Hunter Johnson '21 pass. Alec Paro ’19 also got an assist on the play. Shortly thereafter, while shorthanded, Eaglebrook tied the game after a sloppy Martlet turnover. The home team broke the tie when Wyatt Pastor '20 and Charlie Flam '20 worked the puck over to linemate Zach Papapetros '20. Westminster added to this lead when Roth collected a rebound and found the back of the net. Johnson and Paro were credited with their second assist of the night. In the third period, Steve Bray '18 gave the hosts a 4-1 lead after stuffing home a Demitri George '18 breakaway rebound. Then Roth, playing in his first Second Team game, captured his first competitive career hat trick. Defenseman, Quinn Armstrong ‘20, was instrumental in the achievement by proving a beautiful feed to Roth in the slot area. An overly relaxed Westminster team allowed a late goal by Eaglebrook ending the game with a score of 5-2.

 

Second Boys’ Hockey faced its second opponent in 24 hours at Jackson Rink and turned a likely win against Cardigan Mountain School into an OT loss during the final couple of minutes of the game. The Martlets produced the initial goal at the very end of the opening period. Defenseman Otto Bergmann '20 fed Peter Sanger '21 along the wall who feathered a beautiful pass to Zach Papapetros '20 who made a pretty deke finish. After a scoreless second period, Cardigan tied the game early in the final frame, a direct result of sloppy faceoff coverage. Westminster regained the lead when linemates Papapetros and Sanger set up Wyatt Pastor '20 who buried the puck from the near slot. Forward Steve Bray '18 gave the hosts a two-goal cushion when the puck slipped in from a bad angle. With just 1:30 left on the clock and a comfortable 3-1 advantage, Cardigan pulled their netminder and managed to score two goals within that time frame, the tying goal coming with just 14 seconds left. Unfortunately in OT, the Martlets failed to dump the puck deep on a line change and Cardigan scored the winning goal on a breakaway. Obviously, a most disappointing result that the team needs to learn from. Peter Hall '18 and Peyton Knauf '19 had a particularly strong game on the blueline.

Thirds Boys’ Hockey began its 2017-18 campaign with a home opener at Jackson Arena where the team faced off against a familiar Berkshire Bear squad. With a history of one-goal games against this perennially tough opponent, the Martlets came out on the short end of a 2-3 contest but competed hard. Will Rizzo '21 got the black and gold on the board early in the first during a period where Westminster carried the play and had at least three great 2 on 1 opportunities. The momentum would shift in the second stanza as the Bears had more chances and bottled Westminster up in its own end for long periods of time. They would be rewarded with a breakaway goal in the last second of play, setting up a third period of high action and excitement. Berkshire would score the next two quickly in the third period as Westminster struggled to find energy. Walker Jones '20 would respond midway through on a 2 on 1 opportunity, burying a nice wrist shot. As time ticked down to 1:20, Westminster pulled goalie Ben Ferrell '21, who was outstanding all game, and the offense had two great opportunities and an offensive zone face-off that led to a final and threatening shot — to no avail. Of note was the solid defensive corps of Willie Noble '20, Wes Oltsch '20, Aidan Wood '20 and Rex Flinn '21 who all competed at a high level.

 

First Girls’ Squash opened its season with a very close and exciting match against visiting Loomis. Each team had two three-game wins, with the Pelicans winning at #4 (Caroline Kelter '19 took her second game to 15-13) and #5 (co-captain Caroline Miller '18 improved each game – 6, 7, 8 – against a tenacious counter-puncher), while the Martlets won decisively at #7 (Rebecca Sargent '20: 2, 1, 2) and #1 (Valeria Osorio '19: 2, 2, 4). At #3, Katie Kosior '18 mixed aggression with good defending in a tight, back-and-forth four set loss (11, (7), 8, 6). The remaining two matches had similar story lines, with Martlets fighting back from 0-2 down to take their matches to five games. Unfortunately, while Ellie Bailey '21, playing her first match for the black and gold, pulled off the comeback win ((9), (7), 4, 8, 8) at #2, co-captain Lucy Noel '18 fell just short at #6 (11, 9, (5), (5), 6).

 

The Martlets opened the 2017-2018 season Dec. 2 with a 7-0 victory against Salisbury. Things looked promising early for Salisbury. They won the first game at #2 and were leading 10-6 at #6 in game one. Playing in his first varsity match, #6 Nate Londal ’19 buckled down and won six points in a row to take game one 12-10. He won the next two 11-2 and 11-6. At #2 co-captain Andrew Doucette ’18 rebounded from losing game one and took the next three, using his fitness to retrieve many soft boasts from his opponent. At #4 co-captain Connor Seeley ’18 won in three games allowing only 10 points. However, #5 Sean Ryan ’18 allowed only eight points in his victory to earn the Red Hot for the match. Aly Tolba ‘18, co-captain Chanler Miller ‘18 and new Third Former Sam Pagon ’21 all won in three games as well, to complete the match. Khalil Walker ’19 took the exhibition match, ending with a perfect 11-0 third game.

 

The Martlets started the 2017-2018 season with a solid 9-0 win over Suffield Academy. Six of the nine individual matches went to four games, an indication of the competitiveness of the match overall. In the opening round, Gus Hartmann '20, one of four members of the squad who played on the team last year, won his match at #9, 4, 7, (9) and 4. Ethan Na '19, another returning player, spilt the first two games of his match at #2, winning 11-5 and losing 8-11, before bearing down to play fundamental squash and close out the match at 3 and 5. Travis Paulsen '20, who played for the Thirds last year, jumped out to a 2-0 lead at #4 before dropping the third game due to a series of unforced errors. Paulsen corrected that problem in the fourth game, which he won handily by the score of 11-4. At #6, Carl Ekholm '19, returning to squash after a year off from the sport, played nervously in losing 9-11 in his first game before settling down to overpower his opponent 3, 4 and 5 to close out the match. Finally, Mac Dye '20, another returning player, was in complete control of his match at #8, winning 4, 4 and 5. In the second round, Nate Swift '19, the fourth returning player from last year's team, dropped his opening game at #1 by the score of 7-11 before rallying to win the next three games handily, 4, 2 and 6. Vincent Wang '19, who also played for the Thirds last year, was a bundle of nerves in the first game of his match at #3, falling 5-11. After a brief talk with coach Michael Cervas that centered on playing fundamentally sound squash, Wang took the next three games, 8, 5 and 5. Newcomer James Manderlink '21 also exhibited some nervousness in his match at #5, eking out an 11-9 win in the first game and then taking games two and three by scores of 11-6 and 11-9. Scott Lee '20, the third player on the team from last year's Thirds, closed out the scoring with a 5, 6, 5 victory over his opponent at #7. Cervas saw much to like in this opening win, but much also to work on in the weeks and months ahead.

 

For its opening match of the season, Westminster faced a young but very talented squad from Eaglebrook who played as if they were in midseason form. The top 11 Martlets on the ladder, a handful of whom were playing their first match ever, fell to worthy opponents. Zach Eckerson ’21 and John Clofine ’20 started strong, winning their first game, only to have their opponent come storming back to win the next three. Carter Henshaw ’20 lost his first game, battled back to tie the match at one apiece, but then ran out of steam in the final two games. Boyan Alipiev ’19, playing at the #1 spot for the first time, Spencer Organ ’18 and Quoc Truong ‘20 were simply outmatched by talented and crafty opponents. Although they each lost in three games, Ral Reyes ’20, Dinh Truong ’19 and Nate Chaves ’19 saw four of those games go to overtime — two for Reyes and one for Chaves and Dinh Truong — and a few points the other way would have altered the final outcome. Literally stepping off the van from Model UN and walking onto the squash courts, Cam Jury ’19 played valiantly, pushing his opponent in two of the games, 8-11 and 7-11, a moral victory of sorts under the circumstances. Jimmy Zhang ’18, brand new to squash with only one practice under his belt, used his tennis racquet skills to defeat his opponent in four games and give the team its first victory for the afternoon. Playing five extremely close games, with neither player winning by more than three points, Jimmy Chey ’20 went ahead two games to one, but couldn’t close out the match. The matches of the day belonged to James Chun ’19 and William Mell ’21, who both won in five games, but took dramatically different routes to get there. Chun won his first two games and seemed ready to close out the match in three, but his opponent had a different plan, winning the next two to set up a fifth and decisive game. Chun eked out the match with a thrilling 13-11 overtime win. Meanwhile, Mell started off slow, losing the first two games, but then, with the full gallery cheering him on, reeled off three consecutive games for a satisfying and well-deserved victory.

 

Westminster kicked off the season with a convincing victory at home against St. George's on Dec. 2, in a meet that featured a large contingent of new athletes competing for the first time in black and gold. The meet started with a first place finish in the 200 Medley Relay by Annie Brewer '21, Dorka Nagy '19, co-captain Liza Lennox '18 and Alex Wolf '19, followed by a win from Alex Lin '19 in the 200 Freestyle. Katherine Ashe '21, Lennox and Brewer finished second, third and fourth, respectively, in the 200 IM, and then Wolf, Angelesia Ma '20 and co-captain Dallis Alvarez '18 swept the top three spots in the 50 Freestyle, with Wolf finishing just .1 seconds off her lifetime best time. Jane Ogden '19 and Cecilia Raymond '20 went 1-2 in the diving event. Ashe added a second place in the 100 Fly, and Lin, Wolf and Alvarez went 1-2-3 in the 100 Free with great swims. Lennox took second in the 500 Free and then teamed up with Wolf, Nagy and Lin to win the 200 Free Relay. Brewer took first in the 100 Backstroke, Ma was second in the 100 Breaststroke, and Ashe, Alvarez, Brewer and Lin won the 400 Free Relay to end the meet. Other notable swims were turned in by Sydney Schuster '21 (200 Free, 100 Breaststroke), Siena Holowesko '21 (50 Free, 100 Breaststroke) and Jennifer Jerand '19 (50 Free, 100 Breaststroke). It was a great start to the season and a first glimpse of a talented and lively incoming class of new athletes alongside their veteran counterparts.

 

The boys kicked off the 2017-18 season with a close match up against St. George's at home. After falling behind early, the team clawed its way back into contention and drew within three points, but came up just short in the final relay and St. George's got the win. The meet began with a second-place finish in the 200 Medley Relay by Hudson Stedman '21, co-captain Matt Norris '19, Layton Harmon '21 and co-captain Albert Gao '18. Kieran Haug 21 and Emmett de Kanter '19 took third and fourth, respectively, in the 200 Freestyle, both with excellent swims. Stedman and Harmon also finished third and fourth in the 200 IM. Liam Seeley '20 and Justin Schuster '19 took third and fourth in the 50 Free, and at the diving break the Martlets were down almost 20 points. Westminster began closing the gap when Hayden Cathcart '18 won the diving contest and Norris won the 100 Fly. Gao won the 100 Free, with de Kanter third and co-captain Teagan Stedman ’18 fourth. Norris and Haug then provided a 1-2 punch in the 500 Free, and the Martlets finished second and third in the 200 Freestyle Relay. Gao and Hudson Stedman took second and third in the 100 Backstroke and Eddie Shin '21 took third in the 100 Breaststroke. The 400 Free Relay team of de Kanter, Norris, Hudson Stedman and Gao took first to pull to within three points, but St. George's second place finish was enough to keep the lead. Other great swims were turned in by Seeley (100 Free), J-C Lane ’21 (50 Free, 100 Back), and Grant McCargo (50 Free). It was a thrilling contest and equally exciting was the number of new and talented athletes competing for the Westminster Swimming and Diving Team for the first time.