The West Haven hockey team got back on the winning track and improved to 3-3-1 with a 5-2 road victory over Westhill/Stamford.
Junior Sean Bush led the way with a pair of goals, Josh Rodrigue had a goal and an assist, and Thomas Porto finished with two assists.
West Haven took a 1-0 lead less than four minutes into the game when Bush scored off an assist from Rodrigue. The Westies increased the lead to 2-0 with 7:09 remaining in the opening period when Leo Mazuroski scored off an assist from Porto.
Leading 2-1, West Haven scored twice in a span of 2:11 for a 4-1 second period lead. Cam Lipford scored an unassisted goal for a 3-1 advantage 2:11 into the second, and Bush followed with an unassisted goal 4:22 into the middle period.
West Haven scored the lone goal of the third period as Rodrigue scored off an assist from Porto with 3:16 to go.
Leading by a pair of goals early, West Haven watched as East Haven scored nine of the game’s last ten goals, including the final six in a 9-3 Southern Connecticut Conference victoryat Patsy DiLungo Rink in East Haven.
After spotting the Westies a 2-0 lead 5 minutes, 29 seconds into the contest, East Haven flipped the script. The Yellow Jackets scored three straight goals for a 3-2 lead, then added two in the second and four more in the third.
Senior Tanner Walsh was one of 11 East Haven players recording points as he finished with a pair of goals and an assist. Walsh had one of the biggest goals of the contest when he scored just 21 seconds after a Ryan Bunnell tally for a 3-2 East Haven lead with 4:42 remaining in the opening period.
West Haven inched closer to a postseason bid with a hard-fought 3-3 tie against Guilford. With the tie, West Haven moved to 3-4-2 on the year.
Despite outshooting Guilford, 34-28, West Haven was unable to pick up the victory. The Westies needed a goal by Brady Price with 3:42 gone by in the third to even the game at three.
Trailing 1-0, West Haven evened the game at one with 5:22 left in the first period when Porto fired in a shot from the left wing. Price gave West Haven a 2-1 lead by putting in a loose puck off a Porto shot 3:46 into the second, before Guilford used a pair of power play goals in the second to take a 3-2 lead.
Rasile made 25 saves in the tie for West Haven.
In a storied rivalry between Hamden and West Haven, there have been many classic contests. The latest version between the two teams proved to be all Hamden.
Behind 15 saves from Gavin Pepe, two assists from Edin Memisevich, and a lock-down defensive effort, Hamden blanked West Haven, 3-0 in a Southern Connecticut Conference contest at the Edward L. Bennett Rink.
The Green Dragons scored a goal in each period and limited the West Haven scoring opportunities. When the Westies did have their opportunities, Pepe had a clear vision of the stops and came up big throughout the game.
It was a lock-down effort by the Green Dragons, and Pepe made his biggest save of the game with 7:10 remaining in the contest when he denied Porto on a breakaway with a pad save.
Pepe only had to make four saves in the final period, but came up big in the middle period when he denied Justin Bruno in front with a pad save with 6:03 to go, stuffed Brady Price in front with another pad save in front less than a minute later, than denied a Porto deflection with 4:29 to go.
West Haven never got the spark it was looking for, and that was mainly due to Hamden winning the battles. Any time West Haven looked to create, a loose puck was picked up by the Green Dragons or a shot attempt was blocked.
Rasile finished with 19 saves in the loss for West Haven.
The West Haven/Sacred Heart Academy girls hockey team fell to 3-3 with a 6-3 loss at Amity/North Haven/Cheshire. Evelyn Twarowski made 16 saves in the loss for the Westie Sharks
WHSHA was in a battle from the start, trailing 3-1 after one period and 5-2 after two periods.
Down 2-1 in the first, the Westies Sharks cut the deficit in half when Olivia Twarowski scored off an assist from Alina Lipinsky. West Haven / Sacred Heart Academy got within 3-2 early in the second when Alessandra Picard scored off an assist from Heather Fonda just 1:03 in.
Olivia Twarowski scored an unassisted goal in the third period to close the scoring in the loss.
WHSHA improved to 4-3 with a 3-0 road victory over Simsbury. Evelyn Twarowski picked up the shutout with 25 saves, including 10 in the final period.
The Westie Sharks scored twice in the first period and iced the game with a third period goal to get back on the winning track.
Ella Williams got the Westie Sharks going just 2:02 into the contest off an assist from Cara Milrad. The one-goal lead held until 3:41 remained in the opening period when Picard scored off an assist from Paige Welch.
Evelyn Twarowski made the lead stand up with seven saves in the first period and eight more in the second.
Milrad iced the game for the Westie Sharks with 2:19 remaining off an assist from Olivia Twarowski.
The Westie Sharks won their second straight contest and improved to 5-3 with an 8-2 victory over Greenwich.
Hailey Azzarone led the Westie Sharks with three goals and one assist, Picard finished with two goals and two assists, and Heather Fonda and Olivia Twarowski each had a goal and an assist. Megan Losito made 16 saves in the win.
The two-game winning streak came to an end as they were defeated 5-0 on the road by New Canaan.
The Rams scored three times in the first and twice in the second to put the game out of reach for the Westie Sharks. Evelyn Twarowski made 20 saves in the loss.
They improved to 6-4 with a 5-2 home victory over Guilford. Evelyn Twarowski made 17 saves in the victory.
The Westie Sharks put on an offensive display with 54 shots in the contest, including 24 in the opening period. Taryn Lattanzi scored twice, and Azzarone and Williams each had a goal and two assists.
With the game even at two in the third, the Westie Sharks pulled away. Milrad scored off assists from Williams and Picard, Lattanzi scored off assists from Azzarone and Williams, and Lattanzi scored an unassisted goal in the final minute.
The girls basketball team inched closer to a state tournament bid with a 45-41 road victory over Foran. The win pushed the Westies to 6-3 on the season, needing just a pair of wins to qualify.
Noelle Lawrence again led the way for the Westies on both sides of the ball as she finished with 24 points and also added 10 rebounds. D’Lyana Dixon popped in 10 points in the win for West Haven.
West Haven improved to 7-3 with a 60-40 road victory over Career. With the win, the Westies need just one more victory to qualify for postseason play.
Lawrence drained seven 3-pointers and finished with 27 points, while Dixon had 15 points in the win.
The bid to the postseason had to wait as the Devils fell at home to North Haven, 66-49, dropping to 7-4 on the year.
Lawrence led the Westies with 23 points, while Ella Morgan added 11 points in the loss.
North Haven took command of this contest in the opening quarter with a 30-11 start. While the Westies settled down the rest of the way, outscoring the Nighthawks 38-36, the damage was already done.
Lawrence had six of West Haven’s 11 first quarter points, then led a 19-15 second quarter advantage with nine points. Morgan was five-of-six from the free throw line in the third quarter and added a pair of baskets in the fourth.
Lawrence and Morgan combined for 17 of West Haven’s 19 second half points.
West Haven fell to 7-5 with a 39-34 home loss to fifth-ranked Sheehan. Lawrence led the Westies with 12 points, five steals, and seven rebounds. Dixon added nine points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
The boys basketball team suffered its first loss of the season with a 64-48 road defeat at the hands of Hillhouse in New Haven. After opening the season with six straight victories, West Haven fell to 6-1.
West Haven led by five points after one quarter but trailed 26-24 at the half. Down 39-37 after three quarters, West Haven looked for a spark in the fourth quarter, but Hillhouse won the small battles and closed the game on a 25-11 run to pull away from what was a tight contest.
Aaron Johnson led West Haven with 13 points, Loshon Roman scored eight, and Brian Tillman and Ja’ Kha Little each scored six. West Haven struggled at the free throw line, draining just 13-of-21 attempts in the loss.
The Westies rebounded with a 72-54 home win over Career.
The Westies had eight players in the scoring column and were led by Roman with 21 points. Kannan Morris and Johnson each added 15 points in the win.
West Haven held a two-point lead after one quarter, but the game was even at 29 at the half. The Westies took over in the third quarter with a 21-8 run in the third quarter and a 43-25 second half advantage.
Johnson led the third quarter run with seven points, while Roman and Morris each scored six in the third quarter. Roman led the Westies with nine fourth quarter points.
An uncharacteristically off night shooting had the Westies fall to Guilford, 59-49, going 7-2 on the season.
West Haven was outscored 18-8 in the opening quarter, but the Westies only trailed just 31-29 at the half. Guilford took control of the game in the second half with a 28-20 run, which was aided by West Haven’s struggles from the free throw line.
West Haven was just 7-of-17 from the free throw line in the contest, and 1-of-6 in the third quarter. Guilford, on the other hand, was 16-for-20 in the game.
Johnson led the Westies with 18 points, including 11 in the second quarter, while Tillman and Morris each had 10 points in the contest. Morris scored eight of his points in the second quarter.
The West Haven boys swim team fell to Haddam-Killingworth/Valley co-op, 88-77. Austin Carr won the 200 freestyle in 1 minute, 58.99 seconds and Nathan Charron won the 100 backstroke in 1:02.04. The 400 freestyle relay team was also victorious in 4:25.23.
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