The West Haven football team came into Friday night’s matchup with the Shelton Gaels with an undefeated 6-0 record and hadn’t lost in the regular season for the last, two seasons. On The Gaels’ opening drive, they coughed up the ball on the West Haven 42-yardline, setting up the Westies with a short field to work with. The Blue Devils made sure to make the Gaels pay for that mistake when, Zach Conlan took a handoff and weaved his way through the Shelton defenders for a 26-yard touchdown run and after a Chris Chance extra point, West Haven had a 7-0 lead just 2:42 into the contest.
The Gaels responded with a long drive finished off on a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth and goal to tie the game up at 7-7 with 4:25 left in the first quarter. Then they were the beneficiaries of a West Haven fumble that they returned 60 yards for a touchdown giving Shelton a 14-7 lead with 1:44 left in the quarter.
The Westies had a quick response when Kyle Godfrey capped a drive with a 7-yard TD run but the extra point was blocked and the Blue Devils trailed 14-13 just seven seconds into the second quarter. Shelton had another quick strike when the Gaels hooked up on a 42-yard touchdown pass 1:18 later to increase their lead to 21-13.
On the next West Haven drive, the fans were treated to a display by running back Kyle Godfrey. Godfrey took a handoff at his own 35-yardline, bobbed and weaved his way through the Shelton defense for 51 yards and setting up the Westies on the Shelton 14. Several players later, it was Godfrey punching it in from 2 yards out for the touchdown. Jake Conlan’s pass to Godfrey for a two-point conversion tied the game 21-21.
Godfrey was not done. On the next Shelton drive, Godfrey stepped up on defense and intercepted a Gaels’ pass, returning it 67 yards for a touchdown, giving the Westies a 28-21 lead with 5:25 left in the first half. As time was winding down in the first half, the Gaels were driving deep into West Haven territory again but the Blue Devil defense came up with a huge stop as time expired, sending the teams to the locker rooms with the Westies in front 28-21.
Unfortunately for West Haven, they would not see the end zone again and the Gaels would put up the next 17 points to defeat the Westies 38-28, knocking the boys from the ranks of the unbeaten. Shelton scored on a 2-yard TD run on fourth and goal with 5:30 left in the third quarter to tie the game 28-28. The Gaels would then take the lead 35-28 with 4:36 left in the game on a 3-yard TD run.
After the Gaels intercepted a pass at midfield, the West Haven defense forced Shelton to punt, giving the Westies some hope. The Gaels recovered the ensuing punt setting them up on the West Haven 9-yardline and with 57 seconds left, they sealed the victory with a field goal for the 38-28 final.
The Blue Devils will look to get back on track with a trip to play the Hillhouse Academics at Bowen Field on Friday at 7.
The girls soccer team was looking to end its regular season on a positive note as it headed into the postseason. On Monday evening, the Westies hosted the Lyman Hall Trojans. The teams were deadlocked in a 0-0 game until 15 minutes left in the game. Jessica Robinson took a pass from Taylor Nowak and found the back of the net to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead with 14:21 left in the contest. Two minutes and thirty-one seconds later, Keegan Riccio converted a rebound of a Jessica Robinson shot and it was 2-0 Westies. Lyman Hall would not go quietly though. The Trojans cut the lead to 2-1 with 4:49 left in the game but Kelsey Gilmore put an end to any comeback hopes with a goal with 3:29 left assisted by Mackenzie Holy for the 3-1 final. Alycia Morales made three saves in net for West Haven. The girls will now wait for the CIAC pairings to be announced on Friday to see who they will draw in the tournament.
The boys soccer team finished up its season with losses to Hamden and Xavier last week. On Monday evening, the Blue Devils fell behind 3-0 in the first half before Ty Reeves scored at 23:39 and Alsaddik Alfazzani at 30:14 to cut the lead to 3-2. Unfortunately for West Haven, that would be its only offense and the Green Dragons would tack on another goal in the second half to defeat the Westies, 4-2. Saul Novoa made six saves and Nash Noble made four saves, splitting time between the pipes.
Ty Reeves scored again on Wednesday but it was not enough in a 4-2 loss to the Xavier Falcons in Middletown.
Already eliminated from postseason play, the volleyball team was playing for pride when it finished its season last week. On Monday, the Blue Devils swept the Platt Tech Panthers 3-0 in Milford. Megan Paterson had 21 assists and ten aces while Kara Erickson had ten kills, three aces and two digs to lead the Westies. Also contributing for the Westies were Veronica Lynn with seven kills and two digs and Lexi Burzynski with six kills and two aces.
On Tuesday evening, the girls paid tribute to their seniors and then went out and took an exciting 3-2 victory over the Lyman Hall Trojans. The Blue Devils took the first, two games and looked like they were on their way to an easy victory but, the Trojans took the next, two games to force a decisive fifth game, which the Westies were victorious. Megan Paterson once again led the offense with 23 assists and three kills while picking up nine digs. Nancy Tapia had 14 digs and seven kills while Lexi Burzynski had six kills and three aces in the win. C.C. Condon led the defense with 14 digs, Veronica Lynn had eight kills, three aces and two digs and Irene Ronan had ten kills and three blocks.
The Blue Devils wrapped up their season with a trip to Hamden to take on the Sacred Heart Academy Sharks on Wednesday evening and were defeated 3-0. Leading the Westies were Megan Paterson (12 kills and eight digs), Nancy Tapia (nine digs and four kills) and Danna Tortal (six digs). The girls finish their season with a record of 6-14.