The West Haven volleyball approached the hallway point of the season with mixed results. The Westies saw their two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 4-4 on the season with a 3-2 loss to Hamden Monday evening in West Haven. In a sloppily played contest, West Haven fell,, 25-22, 14-25, 25-22, 15-25, 4-15.
After winning two of the first three game by identical 25-22 scores, West Haven could not close out the match. The Westies could not get anything going consistently and Hamden fought back to win the fourth game.
With all the momentum, the Green Dragons easily closed out the contest in the fifth and deciding game by 11 points.
Bria Stanley led West Haven with seven kills, five digs, two blocks and two aces. Giliana Santaniello added three aces, five digs, and six assists, Noelle Noble had three aces, four kills, and seven digs, Savannah Lopez had six assists and two digs, while Neve Krajcir chipped in three aces, three kills, and five digs.
With a loss to Hamden still fresh on its minds, West Haven was looking to bounce back. A road trip to North Haven was going to be a tough battle.
The Indians were too much to handle as North Haven posted a 12-25, 15-25, 25-23, 7-25 victory at North Haven High. The loss dropped West Haven to 4-5 on the year.
The Westies did not get off to a good start, dropping the first two games. West Haven rallied to win the third game, before North Haven cruised to the win in the fourth game.
Santaniello led West Haven with eight assists and six digs, Stanley had eight digs and seven kills, Neve Krajcir added five digs and three kills, while Chekeenah Jeudi had four digs and three kills.
The fall season is a quick one. If any team knows that, it is the West Haven volleyball team.
Already at the halfway point of the season, the Westies entered the second half in style, winning their second straight contest to improve to 5-5 on the year.
Traveling to Career Friday evening, West Haven battled to a 3-0 win in New Haven. The scores in the victory were 25-20, 26-24, and 25-23.
Stanley had a monster game for the Westies, finishing with 15 kills, 14 digs, four blocks, and two aces. Santaniello also played very well with 13 assists, nine digs, and two kills.
West Haven’s defense was on its game tonight as Noelle Noble finished with 15 digs, Lopez had 13 digs, and Krajcir had seven digs.
Lopez also added eight assists, Krajcir had four kills, and Thiana Baez finished with five digs.
The West Haven girls soccer team is back to the .500 mark.
After a pair of scoreless ties, West Haven evened its mark at 3-3-2 with a 6-0 victory over Wilbur Cross at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven Tuesday afternoon.
Mackenzie Gardner and Kassidy Carrano combined on the shutout, with Gardner making three saves and Carrano one.
Selena Izzo, Jessica Robinson and Julia Tsakonas each scored twice in the victory, with Cori Severino picking up a pair of assists.
West Haven took control of the game with five goals in the opening half. Izzo got things going just 1 minute, 47 seconds in off an assist from Severino, before Madison Lentine set up Jessica Robinson 6:23 later.
Robinson gave the Westies a 3-0 advantage, scoring at the 29:10 mark off an assist from Severino. Just 4:50 later, the lead was 4-0 when Tsakonas scored off an assist from Kaylie Hollister.
Tsakonas wrapped up the first half scoring when she scored off a feed from Alexia Guerrero at the 38:27 mark. Robinson added to her two goals by setting up Izzo for a 6-0 advantage at the 71:44 mark.
When West Haven and Sacred Heart Academy met to open the season, the Sharks had a clear advantage in a two-goal victory. The second time around saw clear changes from the Westies.
With each team taking just five shots, Gardner stopping all five, and the West Haven defense playing a strong contest, West Haven and Sacred Heart played to a scoreless draw Friday afternoon in Hamden.
For the Westies, the tie moved the team to 3-3-3 on the season and extended its unbeaten streak to four games with two wins and two ties.
The West Haven boys soccer team won two of three matches this week to move top 5-3-1 on the year. The Westies fell to 3-3-1 with a 3-1 loss to Coginchaug Monday afternoon. West Haven held a 17-7 shot advantage in the contest.
Coginchaug jumped out to an early lead with two goals in the first 12 minutes, 19 seconds of the game. Max Temple gave the guests a 1-0 lead just 2:19 into the game and Anthony Gavrilovic increased the margin to a pair of goals 10 minutes later.
With West Haven’s constant pressure, the Westies cut the deficit in half when Aldo Barragan scored off an assist from Adair Perez-Garcia at the 29:54 mark.
West Haven never got closer. Evan Hempel scored at the 68:51 mark, extending Coginchaug’s lead once again two goals.
Looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss just two days earlier, Barragan and the West Haven boys soccer team did just that.
Behind two goals from Barragan, a solid defensive effort, and a combined shutout from Brian Carew and Holden Axelrod, West Haven blanked Jonathan Law 3-0 Wednesday evening at Ken Strong Stadium.
Carew finished the contest with three saves and Axelrod had two as the Westies held a 14-11 shot advantage in the contest. West Haven improved to 4-3-1 with the victory.
Barragan gave the Westies a 1-0 lead at the 12 minute, 20 second mark, before he increased the margin to a pair of goals at the 31:08 mark off an assist from Sebastian Navarro.
When Derick Meza scored at 41 minutes, West Haven had more than enough cushion to post its fourth win of the season.
After three losses and a tie over a four game span, the team appears to be back on track. Posting its second consecutive shutout, West Haven improved to 5-3-1 with a 7-0 victory over East Haven Friday evening at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven.
Carew and Holden Axelrod combined on the shutout with Carew finishing with two saves and Axelrod one. West Haven held a 15-5 shot advantage in the contest.
Kevin Morales, Eren Sarikaya and Aldo Barragan led the offense as Morales and Sarikaya each finished with a pair of goals, and Barragan had a goal and three assists. Sebastian Novoa added a pair of assists in the win for West Haven.
West Haven got going early in the contest and never looked back. Barragan opened the scoring just 1:09 into the contest, then set up Derick Meza 8:35 later. Sarikaya gave West Haven a 3-0 lead off an assist from Isaiah Knight at the 32:54 mark, before Morales scored off an assist from Barragan.
Morales kept the momentum going in the second half with a tally off a feed from Barragan at the 47:02 mark, before Nova set up Brian Rivadera 13:09 later. Sarikaya scored his second of the game off an assist from Nova at the 78:45 mark.
The West Haven girls swim team fell to 0-5 with a 94-81 loss against Mercy at West Haven High Monday afternoon.
The Westies had a pair of first place finishes as the 50 freestyle was won by Kaelyn Falanga in 28.19 seconds, and the 100 backstroke was won by Madison Hobart in 1:10.94.
West Haven also had four second place finishes in the meet. The 200 medley relay team of Hobart, Molly Wilson, Victoria Acuna, and Kaelyn Falanga was second in 2:08.75, as was the 200 free relay team of Kaelyn Falanga, Kaylee Taulty, Acuna, and Morgan Falanga in 1:55.70.
The 200 freestyle saw Morgan Falanga place second in 2:26.17, and the 100 freestyle had Kaelyn Falanga place second in 1:09.48.
The West Haven boys and girls cross-country teams traveled to Milford Friday afternoon. The boys picked up three victories, defeating Stratford, 23-37, Law, 25-30, and Platt Tech, 20-35.
Senior Sebastian Villanueva led all runners in a time of 17 minutes, 46 seconds. Junior James Weber ran in 19:25, senior Ryan Martinez-Miranda ran 19:27, junior Allen Aldrich was just behind at 19:28, and freshman Khai Outhavong ran a 20:03.
The girls fell to Jonathan Law, 15-50, but defeated Stratford, 15-50 and Platt Tech, 20-35. West Haven’s top runners were junior Kenedi Merola in 26:21, freshman Amanda Gullo in 26:46, and senior Rowanne Mustafa in 26:47.
The boys improved to 7-5, while the girls moved to 2-9.