The West Haven football team won its first, two contests on the road and returned home on Friday night to host cross-town rival Notre Dame in the annual Soderman Bowl at Ken Strong Stadium. The Blue Devils were able to get on the board first when Kyle Godfrey capped a drive with a 1-yard run to put the Westies up 7-0 with 4:23 left in the first quarter. After the West Haven defense made a big stop on a fourth and two at their own 17-yard line, Chris Chance ripped off a 65-yard touchdown run with 10:09 left in the half to increase the lead to 14-0.
The Westies’ defense did it again when it came up with another stop on a fourth down at the West Haven 8-yard line with 5:30 left in the half. On their next possession, the Green Knights hooked up on a 37-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 14-7 with 2:54 left. The Blue Devils had a quick answer for the Notre Dame score with an 83-yard kickoff return by Kyle Godfrey 15 seconds later to make it 20-7. Latrell Best then picked off a Knights’ pass and gave the Westies another chance in the waning moments of the first half but, the Blue Devils’ drive stalled and the teams would head into the locker rooms at 20-7.
The Westies increased their lead to 28-7 with a Chris Chance 4-yard TD run and a Zach Conlan 2-point conversion with 6:54 left in the third quarter. The Green Knights came back with a drive culminating with a 2-yard run to make it 28-14 with 2:48 left in the third quarter. Notre Dame then recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff and were in business once again. The Green Knights drove down the field but, the West Haven defense did it again and stopped the Knights in the red zone again with a huge stop on fourth down on the West Haven 4-yard line with 11:14 left in the game.
The Westies were able to drive down the field and put the icing on the cake with a Zach Conlan 12-yard touchdown run with 6:28 left to make it a 34-14 final and help the Blue Devils hoist the Soderman Bowl trophy for the second year in a row. The Blue Devils used an effective ground game racking up 377 yards rushing behind the tandem of Chris Chance 141 yards and two touchdowns and Kyle Godfrey 123 yards and two touchdowns.
This week, the Westies host the Bassick Lions at 7 at Ken Strong Stadium.
The girls soccer team was looking to get back on track last week with a trip to Middletown to face the Mercy Tigers on Monday afternoon. The teams battled in the first half and remained scoreless because of the efforts of Alycia Morales and Madison Barbieri. With 19:35 left in the first half, Morales charged out and made a diving block on a shot. The ball ricocheted toward the box and was cleared by Barbieri averting disaster.
The Tigers did take advantage of an opportunity in the second half to make it 1-0 9:55 into the half. After the Westies had their only quality chance of the game that was deflected away by the Mercy keeper, the Tigers got an insurance goal with 8:45 left in the game for the 2-0 final. Morales made 10 saves between the pipes for West Haven.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Blue Devils spotted the Foran Lions an early 1-0 lead when the Lions capitalized on an opportunity just 3:36 into the game. Kelsey Gilmore was able to get the Westies even with 27:48 left in the first half when she took a pass and was able to send the ball past a diving Lion keeper to knot the game at 1-1. Betsy Magana finished with eight saves, including a huge save with 19:16 left in the first half to keep the game tied. The teams would battle to a scoreless second half and settle for the tie.
On Saturday night, the Blue Devils hosted the Branford Hornets at Ken Strong Stadium. The Westies could not manage a shot on goal in the first half and it took a diving save by a charging Alycia Morales with two seconds left in the first half to keep the game scoreless. In the second half, the girls had a couple of chances with 20 minutes left but could not capitalize on the opportunities. Morales came up with another big stop with 16:23 left to keep the Hornets off the board. The Blue Devils would have one, more chance but Taylor Nowak was denied with 1:46 left in the game and the teams ended the game in a 0-0 deadlock. Alycia Morales made six saves in goal for West Haven.
This week, the Westies headed to North Haven on Monday night and finish the week with a game in Wallingford against the Lyman Hall Trojans on Friday at 3:45.
The boys soccer team is struggling to find its identity and had a tough week with three losses. On Monday evening in Ken Strong Stadium, the Westies were shut out by the Sheehan Titans 2-0. The Titans took a 1-0 lead on a penalty kick with 4:05 left in the first half and that would be all they needed in the win. Sheehan added an insurance goal with 3:57 left in the game. Saul Novoa made eight saves in goal for West Haven.
On Wednesday evening, the Fairfield Prep Jesuits also shut down the Westies in a 5-0 victory. The Jesuits took a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes of the game and did not allow a West Haven shot during the first half. Fairfield Prep would add three, second half goals to breeze to the victory. Saul Novoa stopped seven shots between the pipes for the Blue Devils.
On Friday evening, the Blue Devils traveled to North Haven and were able to get back on the scoreboard with two goals but, the Indians put up four of their own to defeat the Westies 4-2. The Indians scored two goals in the first half to take a 2-0 lead. Matt Ffrench was able to get the Westies on the board to cut the lead to 2-1 but, North Haven responded to reestablish their two goal lead at 3-1. Aldo Barragan scored for West Haven to get the boys back within one but, the Indians responded again to make it a 4-2 final. Saul Novoa finished with three saves in goal for the Westies.
This week, the boys hosted Career/Hillhouse on Monday and host the Hamden Green Dragons on Saturday at 7.
The volleyball team traveled to Guilford on Monday and was swept by the Indians 3-0. Megan Paterson had nine assists, Veronica Lynn had five kills and Nancy Tapia had seven digs to lead the Westies.
The Blue Devils hosted the Career Panthers and left little doubt in gaining their first win with a dominating 3-0 (25-12, 25-12 and 25-4) victory. Lexi Burzynski led the Westies with four aces and four kills while Irene Ronan was strong on the net with six kills. In the third set, the Blue Devils used great serving, including an 8-0 start behind the serving of Megan Paterson to set the tone.
The girls finished their week with a trip to Madison to face the Hand Tigers on Friday afternoon. The Tigers pounced on the Blue Devils, handing them a 3-0 loss. Megan Paterson had 14 assists, Irene Ronan had six kills and four blocks while Marianne Loo contributed with six digs.
This week, the Westies hosted the North Haven Indians on Monday, traveled to Lyman Hall on Wednesday and host the Sacred Heart Academy Sharks on Saturday at noon.
The boys cross-country team dropped its meet on Tuesday in Middletown against Xavier 20-45 and Cross 19-44 but was able to defeat Career 15-50 behind the strong finish of Sebastian Villanueva, who finished just five seconds off the pace in second place with a time of 18:19. Villanueva was able to sprint the final 100 yards to overtake a Cross runner in the final strides to secure his second place finish. Michael Palma, James Weber and Hunter Axelrod all came in just over 22 minutes to help the Blue Devils. The girls’ cross-country team was defeated by Mercy 15-50 and Cross 17-43 in Middletown on Tuesday.
This week, the boys and girls participated in a meet at Eisenhower Park on Tuesday against Foran, Hillhouse, Fairfield Prep and Lauralton Hall.
The girls swim team was defeated by Sacred Heart Academy on Tuesday 97-79. In individual events, Jillian Doherty won the 100 freestyle relay, Madison Hobart took the 100 backstroke and Anya Celmer was victorious in the 100 breaststroke. The 400 freestyle relay team of Megan Falanga, Nicole Gaston, Sabrinna Accioly and Alana Orecchio was also victorious.
This week, the girls traveled to face Sheehan on Tuesday and host the Lyman Hall Trojans on Thursday at 3:45.