Through four games of the regular season, the West Haven football team may have had only one win, but realized the record could be switched with how tough they played.
West Haven continued to play well, topping Norwich Free Academy, 27-13, Friday evening at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven. With the second straight victory, West Haven improved to 2-3 on the year.
The contest was even at 13 at halftime as junior Jaden Grant, who rushed for 97 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries, gave the Westies a 6-0 lead in the second quarter with a 6-yard run.
With the game even at six, quarterback Andre Rentas ran in from 1-yard out for a 13-6 advantage. Grant put the game away with a touchdown run in each of the final two quarters.
The juniors gave West Haven a 20-13 advantage with an 11-yard score in the third, and added insurance with a 3-yard scoring run in the fourth.
Rentas finished the contest 14-of-23 for 146 yards in the air.
The West Haven volleyball team won two of three matches this past week to improve to 10-6 on the season. The Westies fell to Cheshire, but then rebounded to top Bassick and Foran.
team saw its four-game winning streak come to an end with a 3-1 loss to Cheshire Tuesday evening at West Haven High. With the 20-25, 25-19, 17-25, 15-25 defeat, West Haven fell to 8-6 on the year.
After a strong first game in which the Westies lost by just five points, West Haven came back to take the second game by six. Cheshire showed why it is one of the top teams in the area over the next two games, capitalizing on West Haven’s mistakes to win games three and four.
Noelle Noble led West Haven defensively with nine digs, while Neve Krajcir had seven digs, Giliana Santaniello five digs, and Bria Stanley four blocks.
On the offensive side, Santaniello had six assists and three kills, Stanley had six kills, Savannah Lopez added four assists, Noble had three kills, and Krajcir added three aces.
The West Haven volleyball team won its fifth match in six decisions with a 3-0 decision over Bassick in Bridgeport Thursday evening. The 25-8, 25-11, 25-10 victory allowed the Westies to improve to 9-6 on the year.
Santaniello led the Westies with 13 aces and 11 assists. Stanley had nine kills, four aces, and three digs, Noble had nine aces, three digs, and two aces, while Lopez had six aces and six assists.
The Westies team improved to 10-6 with a 3-2 victory over Foran Saturday afternoon. The 25-23, 21-25, 23-25, 25-12, 15-10 comeback victory was won in the fourth and fifth games.
After losing a tough third game, West Haven rolled by 13 points in the fourth game and pulled out a fifth game victory.
Lopez led the way for West Haven with 10 assists, seven digs, and six kills, while Stanley had seven killls, six digs, and four aces. Noble had nine digs and six kills, Thiana Baez had seven digs, Krajcir was solid with 11 digs, six kills, and three aces, and Chekeenah Jeudi added three blocks and two kills.
The West Haven girls’ soccer team played to a draw and took a loss in its two contests this week.
After seeing its six-game unbeaten streak come to an end in a loss to North Haven, the Westies got back on the field three days later. Playing a hard-fought contest, West Haven and Cheshire played to a scoreless draw at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven Tuesday evening.
With the tie, West Haven moves to 4-4-4 on the year and the team is 3-1-3 over its last seven contests.
Each team had eight shots on target in the contest. West Haven goalkeeper Mackenzie Gardner led the way with eight saves for the Westies.
The game was West Haven’s sixth shutout on the year, and Gardner’s fifth, with one combined.
Gardner was aided by a strong defensive effort from the Westies. Selena Izzo strong at midfield.
Tomalyn Williams, Grace Nowak, Taylor Nowak, Riley Severino, Caitlin Walker, and Amanda Tsakonas were stellar in front of Gardner.
The Westies fell to 4-5-4 with a 2-0 loss against Sheehan in Wallingford Saturday afternoon.
West Haven was outshot 9-7 in the contest. Gardner led the way for West Haven with seven saves.
After an eight-day layoff, the West Haven boys’ soccer team was eager to get back on the field. Traveling to Milford to play Foran, the Westies knew they were in for a battle.
With a defensive game in hand, West Haven and Foran played to a scoreless draw at Foran High Tuesday evening.
The tie helped West Haven move to 6-3-2 on the year and was the team’s fifth shutout of the year. John McLaughlin, who has been part of three of the shutouts, made four saves in the draw for West Haven.
The Westies held a 13-5 shot advantage in the contest, but Foran goalkeeper Luca Marinella made 10 saves to preserve the shutout for the Lions.
The scoring drought continued for the Westies as they fell to Hand 2-0 Saturday evening in West Haven. The Westies managed just three shots in the contest, which Hand goalkeeper Timothy Perez denied.
Hand, which held a 7-3 shot advantage, scored the only goal it needed at the 27:46 mark when Chris Porter found the back of the goal.
Brian Carew made four saves in goal for the Westies.
The West Haven girls swimming team fell to 1-7 with a 99-81 loss to Sheehan in Wallingford Wednesday evening.
The Westies had just one first place finish which came in the 50 freestyle as Kaelyn Falanga won in 27.48 seconds.
West Haven had several second place finishes. The 200 medley relay team of Madison Hobart, Molly Wilson, Victoria Acuna, and Kaelyn Falanga was second in 1:08.85, the 200 free relay team of Acuna, Wilson, Alana Orecchio, and Morgan Falanga was second in 1:59.75, while the 400 freestyle relay team of Orecchio, Kaelyn Falanga, Morgan Falanga, and Hobart was second in 4:16.63.
Morgan Falanga was second in the 200 freestyle in 2:21.55, Hobart placed second in the 200 IM in 1:40.19, while Acuna was second in the 100 fly in 1:16.32. Kaelyn Falanga was second in the 500 free in 6:00.42, while the 100 backstroke had Hobart second in 1:10.37, and the 100 breaststroke had Wilson second in 1:23.45.
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