The season has come to a close for the West Haven volleyball team. Hosting fifth-seeded Branford, the fourth-seeded Westies fell to the Hornets 17-25, 17-25, 25-21, 12-25 in the first round of the Southern Connecticut Conference Division C tournament at West Haven High last Monday evening. With the loss, West Haven fell to 2-11 on the year.
“This season has been a wild ride,” West Haven coach Kate Coldren said. “Although we didn’t end up exactly where we hoped, I have to give all the girls a lot of credit for showing up every single day and jumping through the hoops that were required to make sure we had a season. There were a lot of times where it really wasn’t easy, but they did what they had to do.”
The Westies again had to play without several key players who were forced to quarantine. With the veterans out of play, Coldren had a chance to see her younger group in action.
“These last two games have been difficult to say the least, with so many players being forced to quarantine,” Coldren said. “We made changes and adjustments and everyone just rolled with it. I can’t thank my assistant coaches enough for the time they put into making this season work, especially Kara (Erickson). She did an amazing job in her first season. I also need to take this opportunity to recognize and thank the seniors, Neve (Krajcir), Savannah (Lopez), Lexi (Prion), and Anh (Nguyen). They have worked so hard and accomplished a lot over the past four years. Their presence was missed these last couple of games and it will most certainly be missed next year.”
Taylor Alfano led the defense for West Haven with 12 digs, while Asia Ford, Dulcemaria Castillo and Branyelis Brito each had five digs, Jenna Johnson had four digs, and Tanasia Fidalgo added four blocks and four kills. Johnson also had five assists in the loss.
The 2020 fall season has been anything but normal. For the West Haven boys soccer team, it has been magical.
Since playing to a draw with Foran earlier in the season, the third-seeded Westies closed the campaign with eight straight victories, including a 2-1 victory over top-seeded Foran in the Southern Connecticut Conference Division C final at Foran High last Friday afternoon.
The victory was West Haven’s tenth of the shortened season and allowed the team to take home its first SCC title. West Haven (10-1-2) closed out the season by outscoring its opponents 31-6 in the final eight games.
In an intense game from the start, West Haven took a 1-0 lead when SCC Division C tournament most valuable player Aldo Barragan scored an unassisted goal with 11 minutes, 41 seconds remaining in the half.
The competitive contest saw West Haven hold a 13-8 shot advantage, but Foran evened the game when Ben Cogan scored on a penalty kick with 52 seconds remaining in the first half.
The game would go back and forth until West Haven took the lead for good with 18:16 remaining as Derick Meza scored off an assist from Sebastian Navarro.
The West Haven defense and goalkeeper Brian Carew did the rest as Carew finished with three saves and the Westies prevailed for the title.
The beat went on for the West Haven boys soccer team earlier in the week.
Using the same formula for success which has helped the Westies thus far, stellar defense, solid goalkeeping and a wealth of scoring, third-seeded West Haven defeated sixth-seeded Shelton 3-1 in the first round of the Southern Connecticut Conference Division C tournament at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven Monday evening.
Barragan scored twice for the Westies, while freshman Rafael Gazcon scored on a penalty kick in the victory. The win was West Haven’s sixth in a row and helped improved the team’s record to 8-1-2.
West Haven held a 15-4 shot advantage in the contest with Carew making two saves.
After a scoreless first half, Barragan gave West Haven a 1-0 lead off an assist from Brian Rivadera 5 minutes, 24 seconds into the second half. Shelton evened the game less than three minutes later, but the Westies had an answer.
Barragan broke the tie with his second goal of the contest at 61:31 off an assist from Meza, before West Haven iced the contest 8:32 later. Gazcon scored his first varsity goal by way of the penalty kick to give West Haven a 3-1 advantage at 70:03.
It is no secret the West Haven boys soccer team is a well-rounded squad. The team plays defense. It gets solid goalkeeping.
Just as important, the Westies can score. Just ask senior Barragan.
Trailing by a pair of goals, the Westies turned to their senior sniper and Barragan did not disappoint. Scoring three times in the second half, including the final tally with two seconds remaining, Barragan helped lift third-seeded West Haven to a 3-2 Southern Connecticut Conference Division C semifinal victory over second-seeded Jonathan Law in Milford Wednesday evening.
With the victory, West Haven advanced to Friday’s final against Foran.
West Haven trailed 1-0 at the half as Law’s Aidan King scored with 6:06 left in the first half. Law extended the margin to 2-0 when Fillipe Mourao scored 6:57 into the second half.
Barragan then took over. The senior responded with a goal 4:40 later off an assist from Sebastian Novoa to get West Haven within 2-1, before he needed just 3:50 to even the contest with an unassisted goal.
With all the momentum on West Haven’s side, Barragan capped the rally with the last-second tally.
Senior Jovan Loja had a solid game for the Westies, locking down the midfield for West Haven.
West Haven held a 15-7 shot advantage in the contest, with John McLaughlin making three saves in the victory.
The West Haven girls soccer team has had a tremendous season. From a torrid start, to dominating defensive efforts, the Westies were a team to be watched from the first game of the year.
In the end, Covid-19, finally caught up to West Haven. With several key players quarantined, West Haven dropped its final two games of the season, including a 2-0 decision to Foran in the Southern Connecticut Conference Division A semifinals at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven last Tuesday evening.
The loss saw the season come to a close for West Haven with a 7-4 record.
“We played tough and gave it everything we had until the very end,” West Haven coach Pete Trenchard said. “Their goalie was phenomenal. We couldn’t get the ball past her. We were missing some key players, but I am very proud of how some of our younger girls stepped up. Kassidy Carrano did a stellar job in the goal, and seniors Amanda Tsakonas and Kaylie Hollister did everything they could to drive their team on.”
Foran, which also defeated the Westies in the regular season finale three days earlier, took a 1-0 lead 12 minutes, 20 seconds into the contest off a scramble in front on a free kick.
The Lions then used a solid defensive effort to contain the Westies, despite West Haven turning up its play in the second half. Foran countered and used a goal by Colleen Ardolino with 20:!2 remaining to take a 2-0 lead.
“Overall, we had a very good season,” Trenchard said. “I am proud of how hard the girls worked and how much they put into the team.”
Kassidy Carrano finished with four saves in the loss for West Haven.
For all your West Haven sporting news throughout the year, including game articles by Mike Madera, highlights, photos and more, visit www.westieblue.com.