The West Haven football team fell to 0-3 to start the season with a 21-14 loss against Newtown Friday evening. The road loss marked another close contest against a top 10 team in the state in what could have easily been victories.
Despite creating numerous turnovers, the Westies could only manage 14 points. Newtown took advantage with touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters to pull out the victory.
Quarterback Andre Rentas gave the Westies a 7-0 lead with an 8-yard touchdown run in the opening quarter as Isaac Morales also tacked on the extra point.
Newtown evened the game at seven, before West Haven picked up its last lead of the game. Kason Ligas-Nygren’s 15-yard fumble return for a touchdown along with the extra point by Morales put West Haven up 14-7 at the half.
Rentas completed 12-of-16 passes for 127 yards, while also running for 45 yards and a score in the loss.
The West Haven volleyball team fell to 2-3 on the year with a 3-0 loss at Cheshire Monday evening. The Rams cruised to a 25-7, 25-17, 25-12 victory.
Giliana Santaniello led the offense with six assists and Bria Stanley had four kills. Noelle Noble led the defense with six digs, and also added three kills, while Thiana Baez had three digs as did Savannah Lopez. Anh Nguyen had four digs.
West Haven pushed its record back to the .500 mark with a 3-1 victory over Lyman Hall Wednesday evening. The 25-18, 25-18, 24-26, 25-19 victory over the Trojans at West Haven High improved West Haven’s record to 3-3 on the year.
Santaniello had a solid outing for the Westies as she ran the offense with 18 assists, three kills and three aces, while also leading the way on defense with 11 digs. Stanley also played well with 13 kills, four digs, and three blocks, while Noble added nine kills and seven digs.
Neve Krajcir played well with five aces, four kills and three digs, and Lopez had eight assists, four digs, three kills, two blocks, and two aces.
West Haven improved to 4-3 on the season with a 3-0 victory over Foran in Milford Thursday evening. The Westies won by scores of 25-17, 25-21, and 25-11.
Santaniello ran the offense with 15 assists, Stanley had 11 kills, and Noble added eight digs, three kills and two assists. Krajcir also played well with six aces and six kills.
The West Haven girls soccer team snapped a three-game losing skid and improved to 2-3 on the season with a dramatic 1-0 home victory over Sheehan Tuesday evening.
With time running out in the contest, Madison Lentine’s shot was denied, but the rebound was grabbed by Julia Tsakonas, who buried the game-winner.
Along with the goal by Tsakonas, solid defense and the goalkeeping of Mackenzie Gardner helped lead the Westies to their second win of the year. Gardner finished with nine saves in the victory as Sheehan held a 9-7 shot advantage in the contest.
West Haven moved to 2-3-1 with a 0-0 draw against Hand in Madison Thursday evening. The Westies limited Hand to just seven shots in the contest, including just one in the first half, but could not come away with the victory.
Gardner picked up the shutout as she turned aside each shot she faced in what was a sold all around effort from the Westies.
The Westies moved to 2-3-2 with a 0-0 draw against East Haven Saturday evening at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven.
Gardner made one save in the shutout for West Haven.
The West Haven boys soccer team dropped its first contest of the year in Madison Tuesday evening. After allowing just two goals in the first three games of the season, West Haven gave up seven to Hand in a 7-0 loss to the Tigers. With the defeat, West Haven fell to 3-1 on the year.
Scott Testori led Hand with three goals, while Jason Wallack scored twice in the Hand victory. Testori and Wallack set the tone from the start as each scored twice in the first half for a 4-0 lead.
Testori started the scoring 45 seconds in, and added another at the 27:55 mark for a 4-0 lead. In between, Wallack scored twice (7:35 and 23:31).
Hand scored three times in the second half of the lop-sided victory. Eli Davis made six saves in the shutout for Hand as the Tigers held a 21-6 shot advantage in the contest.
John McLaughlin made nine saves and sophomore Brian Carew finished with six for the Westies.
West Haven moved to 3-1-1 with a 1-1 tie against North Haven Thursday evening in West Haven. After taking an early lead and playing with that advantage the majority of the contest, West Haven watched as the Indians tied the contest in the final 10 minutes of regulation.
Junior Derick Meza gave West Haven a 1-0 lead 6 minutes, 35 seconds into the contest when he scored off an assist from fellow junior Aldo Barragan. Despite having 10 shots in the contest, West Haven could not find the back of the net again.
Carew kept the Indians off the scoreboard and was inching closer to a shutout until Jack Pollard scored at the 71:55 mark to even the game at one. Carew finished with five saves in the contest.
West Haven fell to 3-2-1 with a 7-1 loss at Cheshire Saturday evening. West Haven fell behind by three goals early and never recovered in its second loss of the season.
Barragan scored West Haven’s lone goal at the 39:56 mark to get West Haven within 3-1 as Cheshire scored three times in a span of 2:50 for a 3-0 lead.
Cheshire added four second half goals in the win. Jack Loura and Denys Fuentes each scored twice for the Rams.
McLaughlin made three saves and Carew made two saves for West Haven in the loss. Cheshire held a 23-7 shot advantage.
The West Haven girls swim team fell to 0-3 on the year with a 95-81 loss against North Haven Tuesday afternoon in West Haven. The Westies did not have any first place finishes, and had just two second place positions.
The 200 yard medley relay team of Madison Hobart, Molly Wilson, Victoria Acuna, and Kaelyn Falanga was second in 2 minutes, 7.80 seconds, while Kaylee Taulty was second in the 1 meter diving with 172.40 points.
Falanga then rounded out the top three finishes as she was third in the 50 yard freestyle in 27.74 seconds, third in the 100 yard freestyle in 1:04.62, and third in the 500 yard freestyle in 6:04.64.
The West Haven girls swim team fell to 0-4 on the year with an 89-81 loss at Shelton Friday evening. The Westies had five first place finishes.
The 200 yard medley relay team of Hobart, Wilson, Acuna, and Kaelyn Falanga won in two minutes, 5.22 seconds, and the 400 yard freestyle relay team of Morgan Falanga, Eileen Barrington, Kaelyn Falanga, and McKenna Driver won in 4:18.25.
The 200 yard freestyle was won by Morgan Falanga in 2:18.89, while the 500 yard freestyle was won by Kaelyn Falanga in 6:10.02. The 200 yard freestyle relay team won in 1:56.57 with a team of Hobart, Wilson, Morgan Falanga, and Acuna.
The Westies also had five second place finishes. Hobart was second in the 200 IM in 2:46.51, Kaelyn Falanga was second in the 50 yard freestyle in 27.50 seconds, Morgan Falanga placed second in the 500 yard freestyle in 6:15.50, while Hobart was a runner-up in the 100 yard backstroke in 1:17.30, and Wilson placed second in the 100 yard breaststroke in 1:19.74.
Eileen Barrington was third in the 200 yard freestyle in 2:28.72 and the 100 yard freestyle in 1:04.54, and Sofia Shubin was third in the 200 IM in 2:51.59. The 200 yard freestyle relay team of Aliyah McAuley, Barrington, Shubin, and Kaylee Taulty was third in 2:04.94.
The West Haven boys and girls cross-country teams ran in Eisenhower Park in Milford Wednesday against Foran, Hillhouse, Sacred Heart Academy, and Notre Dame.
The boys team defeated Foran, 20-48, and Hillhouse, 15-50, but fell to Notre Dam,e 20-48. Senior Sebastian Villanueva led all runners with a time of 18 minutes, 21 seconds. Junior James Weber ran 19:58 and freshman Khai Outhavong ran 20:01, The boys team is now 4-5 on the season.
On the girls side, West Haven fell to Foran 17-47, Sacred Heart 15-50, and Hillhouse 26-35. The top runners for West Haven were junior Kenedi Merola at 26:30, freshman Amanda Gullo at 27:56, and senior Daelle Coriolan at 28:28. West Haven is now 0-8 on the year.
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