Not many people expected the West Haven football team to travel to Westport and come away with a victory over eighth-ranked Staples. The only thing that mattered was the Westies believed.
Behind great special teams play which produced a touchdown, another score by way of an interception, and two touchdown passes from Nick Conlan to Armani Reid, West Haven rallied to top Staples 33-23 in the season opener Friday evening.
Conlan and Reid hooked up early for a 6-0 lead as the conversion failed, but a 19-yard touchdown by Staples gave the home team a 7-6 lead after one quarter.
The Westies had chances to get on the board in the second quarter, but a turnover stalled one drive and a missed field goal stopped another.
Staples went on a 99-yard drive to take a 14-6 advantage, and after a missed West Haven field goal and a stalled Staples drive, DeMarco Eady returned a Staples punt 79 yards to even the game at 14 with 32 seconds left in the first half.
Conlan then used his legs to get the Westies going again in the third quarter as he scampered 82 yards for a 21-14 lead.
With the game even at 21, Conlan and Reid hooked up once again. The 28-yard touchdown reception gave West Haven a 27-21 lead after three quarters.
Aedan Coe then came up with yet another big play for the Westies. With Staples threatening, Coe returned an interception 80 yards to give West Haven a 33-21 lead in the fourth quarter.
West Haven took a late safety as Staples ran out of time to mount a comeback.
Two games in and West Haven has opened some eyes. After an upset over Staples in the opening week, West Haven returned to the field for its “home” opener at Veterans Field against Jonathan Law Thursday evening.
Scoring on its first possession, West Haven never looked back in a 47-14 victory over Law. With the victory, West Haven improved to 2-0 on the year.
The Westies set the tone from the start as Camren Kemp scored on a 48-yard run for a 7-0 lead. After West Haven held Law, Conlan connected with Reid for a 41-yard scoring strike and 14-0 advantage with 2:20 remaining in the opening quarter.
West Haven’s defense then took over, scoring for the second straight week. With Law driving, Coryon Harris returned an interception 95 yards for the score and a 21-0 lead.
Law got on the board with just over three minutes to go in the half, but Conlan threw his second touchdown pass of the half, connecting with Eady on a 47-yard scoring strike for a 28-7 lead with 32 seconds to go in the first half.
Coe scored on a 7-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for the Westies, capping a 12-play drive with 5:19 left in the quarter.
Coe was at it again just eight seconds into the fourth quarter when his interception return for a score gave the Westies a 41-7 lead.
The Westies then used their special teams to set up their final score as a blocked punt gave the Westies possession at the Law one, before freshman Tyrome Stevenson ran in on the next play with 10:08 left in the contest.
The West Haven girls volleyball team opened the season in impressive fashion with a 3-0 road victory over Hillhouse. The Westies won by scores of 25-5, 25-20, and 25-12.
Maddie Scillia led the way with nine aces, Hudanur Sahin had eight assists and two aces, Camila Queiroz had six kills, Alison Frazer had five aces and two digs, while Bianka Portugal Morales chipped in three aces and three digs and Olivia McDonnell had three aces and three kills. Sarah Davey added four assists and Jayden Braacker had three aces.
With a consistent team effort, West Haven improved to 2-0 with a 3-0 victory over North Haven in the home opener for West Haven Saturday afternoon. The Westies topped North Haven, 25-14, 25-10, 25-18.
Sahin led the Westies as she ran the offense with 13 assists and added nine digs on the defensive side. Frazer also had nine digs, Portugal Morales had seven digs and three aces, while Avery Criscio added five digs, and Queiroz had four kills and four digs.
McDonnell also played well with five digs, five kills, and two blocks, Shannon Hoey had three digs, and Scillia added three digs and three aces.
The West Haven volleyball team is on a roll, winning its third straight match and third straight shutout victory as West Haven topped Foran, 25-22, 25-9, 25-22 at West Haven High Tuesday evening.
Sahin led the Westies with 12 assists, four digs, three kills, and two aces, McDonnell had nine kills and four digs, while Portugal Morales had nine digs and five kills. In a balanced attack, Davey had eight assists and three aces, Sam Close added six blocks, six kills, and three aces, Frazer added six digs and two kills, and Hoey added four digs and three aces.
After opening the season with three straight shutout victories, West Haven team had the favor returned. Playing host to Guilford, the Westies were shut out, losing in three straight games, 25-18, 25-19, and 25-23.
Sahin led the West Haven offense with 18 assists and had eight digs on the defensive side. Frazer led the defense with 10 digs, and Portugal Morales had nine digs, Scillia had eight digs, and Hoey finished with six digs. McDonnell had nine kills and Portugal Morales also added five kills.
After two failed attempts to open the regular season due to weather, the West Haven boys soccer team finally got on the field to play at Amity. In hot conditions, the Westies and Amity played to a 1-1 draw.
In an evenly played contest, Amity held a 13-12 shot advantage. West Haven junior goalkeeper Yahzeel Beyley made 11 saves in the draw, while Amity’s William Keenan finished with eight saves.
Both goals came early in the contest as West Haven took a 1-0 lead when junior Ethan Masoperh scored off an assist from Rafael Gazcon at the 13:40 mark of the opening half.
Amity needed less than 14 minutes to respond as Erik Jiang scored the equalizer at the 27:25 mark.
West Haven scored five first half goals and picked up its first victory of the season with a 6-1 victory over Foran.
Junior Keifer Tandazo led the Westies with a pair of goals, while Gazcon, Masoperh, Juan Vargas-Martinez, and Angel Magana also scored for West Haven. Masoperh added two assists, while Vargas-Martinez and Gazcon each added an assist.
West Haven took a 1-0 lead just seven minutes into the contest when Gazcon scored off an assist from Masoperh, before Masoperh assisted on Tandazo’s tally 5:35 later for a 2-0 advantage. Masoperh extended the lead to 3-0 with an unassisted tally at the 30:13 mark, before Tandazo scored off an assist from Gazcon 7:32 later.
An unassisted goal by Vargas-Martinez increased the lead to 5-0 less than a minute later, before Magana closed West Haven’s scoring for a 6-0 lead off an assist from Vargas-Martinez at the 57:15 mark.
The Westies held a 34-8 shot advantage with Beyley’s shutout attempt broken up with less than 13 minutes to go. Beyley finished with two saves.
West Haven improved to 2-0-1 with a 2-0 victory over Wilbur Cross at the University of New Haven. Masoperh and Gazcon each scored for the Westies, while Beyley finished with eight saves.
West Haven took a 1-0 lead when Gazcon set up Masoperh at the 27:37 mark of the first half. Gazcon then sealed the victory with 16:35 remaining in the contest, scoring off a penalty kick.
West Haven held an 11-9 shot advantage in the contest.
The girls soccer team opened the season with a 5-1 loss against Amity. The Westies struggle to gain any consistency in the match in the opening loss.
Freshman Amiyah Jones scored the lone goal for the Westies. Sophomore Ericka Tighe made 11 saves in the loss.
West Haven bounced back from its opening day loss with a 2-1 victory at Shelton. Junior Jaylyn Powell scored both West Haven goals, but it was a team effort which produced the victory.
Tighe made 12 saves, and the Westies received solid efforts from Abigail Phelan, Niamh Chesson, Liv Trenchard, Arianna Izzo, Katelyn Selgado, and Chloe Whelan.
The West Haven girls swim team opened the season with a 94-80 home loss against Lyman Hall.
The Westies had two first place finishes as Olivia DeLauri won the 100 backstroke, and the 400 freestyle relay team of Ava Gallipoli, Olivia DeLauri, Emily Guthrie, and Isabella DeLauri was also victorious.
West Haven also had several second-place finishes as Gallipoli was second in the 200 freestyle, Khando Dorjee was second in the 100 butterfly, Caly Nyack was second in the 200 IM, Gallipoli was second in the 500 freestyle, and the 200 freestyle relay team of Nyack, Dorjee, Emily Falanga, and Gallipoli was also second.
Third place finishes included the 200 medley relay team of Nyack, Amanda Fagnani, Dorjee, and Isobel Roche, Dorjee in the 200 IM, Emily Guthrie in the 50 freestyle, Olivia DeLauri in the 100 freestyle, Guthrie in the 500 freestyle, and Fagnani in the 100 breast.
Michelle Tompkins was fourth in the 50 freestyle, Amber Militrano placed fourth in the 1 meter diving, Nyack was fourth in the 100 butterfly, Emily Falanga placed fourth in the 500 freestyle, and Delia Vital was fourth in the 100 breast.