The West Haven football team was looking to continue its undefeated start, stay healthy and prepare for Cheshire next week when it hosted the Bassick Lions on Friday night at Ken Strong Stadium. It took the Blue Devils all of 16 seconds to take the lead when Latrell Best scooped up a fumble on the Lions’ first play and raced for the touchdown. After the extra point it was 7-0.
After the Westies and Lions traded several possessions, the Blue Devils increased their lead 47 seconds into the second quarter to 15-0. Tyquan King took a handoff, hit the hole and was gone for a 34-yard touchdown run. Jordan Berrios ran in the two-point conversion. The Westies made it 22-0 when Jake Conlan hit Jordan Wetmore in stride with a 45-yard touchdown pass with 6:21 left in the half. Conlan was at it again two minutes later when his pass found brother Zach Conlan for a 26-yard TD pass and a 29-0 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.
The Blue Devils continued to stifle the Bassick offense while Chris Chance capped a West Haven drive with a 1-yard run for a touchdown to increase their lead to 36-0 with 9:14 left in the third quarter. Demerick Blackford scampered 49 yards to make it 42-0 with 8:40 left in the game and as time was winding down James Parker ran around the right end and snuck into the end zone for the 48-0 final.
This week, the Westies travel to Cheshire to take on the 3-1 Rams at 7.
The girls soccer team traveled to North Haven on Monday afternoon and battled to a 1-1 tie. The Westies took a 1-0 lead in the first half when Mackenzie Holy fed Keegan Riccio and she found the back of the net. The Indians were able to get the equalizer with 6:47 left in the game for the 1-1 final. Betsy Magana made six saves in goal for West Haven.
On Friday afternoon, the Blue Devils were on the road again to face the Lyman Hall Trojans. Despite the majority of the play being in the Trojan end during the first half, Lyman Hall was able to score off a set piece from 60 yards out when Betsy Magana lost the ball in the sun on a bounce with a Trojan player converging. The ball tipped off her fingertips and into the open net.
The Westies continued to battle and evened the contest when Taylor Nowak sent a beautiful, crossing pass to Kelsey Gilmore in the center of the field. Gilmore collected the ball, picked her spot and drilled a shot past the Trojan keeper to knot the game at 1-1. Magana finished with three saves between the pipes and the Westies would settle for the tie.
This week, the girls traveled to Sacred Heart Academy on Monday and face Wilbur Cross in New Haven on Friday at 3:45.
The volleyball team hosted the North Haven Indians on Monday evening and things did not look good after the Westies were dominated 25-10 in the first set. Coach Kate Coldren’s speech in between games must have lit a fire under the Blue Devils because they came out like another team and swept the next, three sets 25-18, 25-23 and 26-24 to win their second game of the season. Megan Paterson led the Westies with 32 assists, Nancy Tapia had nine kills, seven digs and four aces and Irene Ronan had nine kills and three blocks.
On Wednesday, the Westies headed to Wallingford to face the Lyman Hall Trojans. The girls struggled for most of the night, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Trojans. Megan Paterson had her usual solid game with 23 assists while Nancy Tapia had nine kills, six digs and two assists. Also contributing for the Blue Devils were Lexi Burzynski with nine kills, Irene Ronan with six kills and C.C. Condon with six digs.
On Saturday, the Westies hosted the Sacred Heart Academy Sharks. The girls dropped a 3-1 contest (22-25, 13-25, 25-20, 25-21) to the Sharks. Megan Paterson had 27 assists and six digs to lead the Westies. Nancy Tapia had six digs, and five kills while Veronica Lynn added six kills, two aces and two blocks.
This week, the Blue Devils have three matches on the road. The girls played at Jonathan Law on Monday, at Hamden on Wednesday and finish the week at the Mercy Tigers on Friday at 5:30.
The boys soccer team continued to struggle when it hosted the Career Panthers on Monday night. West Haven’s best chance in the first half was a header by Matt Ffrench with 10 minutes left but it was snared by the Panthers’ keeper. Career was able to get on the board in the early minutes of the second half and then added an insurance goal for the 2-0 defeat of the Blue Devils. Saul Novoa made eight stops in goal for the Blue Devils.
On Saturday, the Westies hosted the Hamden Green Dragons at Ken Strong Stadium. The Blue Devils were locked in a scoreless, first half when Matt Ffrench sent a kick from a set piece in the left corner towards the front of the net. Marcus Anyafulu’s header hit the right post and appeared to cross the line for a goal but, none was awarded. The score remained scoreless until the last minute of the first half. Hamden sent a shot toward the West Haven goal that was saved by Saul Novoa but a Green Dragons’ player kicked the ball out of his hands and Hamden took a 1-0 lead with 52 seconds left in the half.
After Saul Novoa had to leave the game in the second half due to injury, the Green Dragons scored off a rebound with 28:18 left in the game to make it 2-0. Just 3:22 later, a Hamden player split the Westie defenders, went in alone and beat a charging Dan Majkut to increase the lead to 3-0. Fernando Jimenez scored for the Westies with an assist going to Matt Ffrench with 13 minutes left in the game but the Dragons iced it with another goal with 2:23 left for the 4-1 final. Saul Novoa and Dan Majkut combined to make eight saves between the pipes.
This week, the boys hosted the Xavier Falcons on Wednesday and then travel across town to face the Notre Dame Green Knights at Veterans’ Stadium at 4.