By Mike Madera
Special to the Voice
Through five games in the regular season, the West Haven football team is not where it had hoped to be. Losing consecutive games, West Haven entered the bye week with a 1-4 record.
Looking to get back on the winning track, West Haven could not get off the field against Fairfield Ludlowe. The tenth-ranked team in the state converted on numerous fourth downs, thumping the Westies, 41-19, at Ken Strong Stadium.
Trailing 6-0, the Westies evened the game in the first quarter when Haven N’Sumbu rumbled 60 yards in the opening quarter. West Haven failed to take the lead as the conversion failed.
After Ryan Love scored his second touchdown of the game to give Fairfield Ludlowe a 13-6 advantage, Charles Sutton helped even the contest at 13 with an 11-yard score.
Ben Kaminsky then scored on runs of four and 43 yards for Fairfield Ludlowe, before Kahlil Tomlinson connected with Jakari Harris on a 46-yard touchdown strike to get the Westies within 26-19. West Haven never got closer as Fairfield Ludlowe scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter.
West Haven had fallen to 1-4 with a 35-24 loss against Guilford. Tomlinson threw four touchdown passes in the contest, including three to Harris, but it was not enough in the loss.
The Westies took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter on a Tomlinson to Harris 57-yard scoring reception. Guilford took a 14-6 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Shane Connelly and a 73-yard Ryan Lynch to Reed Hovick connection, before Tomlinson hit Cordell Barrow with a 29-yard scoring strike to get the Westies within 14-12 after one quarter.
The Grizzlies used a pair of Connelly 1-yard scores for a 28-12 advantage, before West Haven got within 10 points at the half on a Tomlinson to Harris 25-yard scoring connection. Tomlinson hit Harris with a 29-yard scoring strike in the third quarter to get within 28-24, but West Haven never got closer.
Looking to go on a run as the postseason approaches, the West Haven volleyball team has dropped three of its last four matches.
The Westies fell to 9-7 with a 25-22, 25-23, 25-13 loss against East Haven. Lizledery Aquino ran the offense with 24 assists, Giulianna Ruggiero had 13 kills and eight digs, Gabrielle Hines had eight kills, Katheryne Macz had five digs, and Estefanni Sotoj Ortiz added four digs.
West Haven fell to 6-4 with a 3-0 loss at Hand-Madison. The Westies fell 27-25, 25-19, and 25-16.
Nisanur Saray ran the offense with 22 assists, Hines had nine kills, Ruggiero had 10 kills and nine digs, Nathaly Siguencia Tenesaca and Macz each had five digs, and Isabella VanBrederode had four kills in the loss.
West Haven got back on the winning track and improved to 7-4 with a 3-2 victory over Jonathan Law. The Westies won by scores of 17-25, 25-14, 25-21, 23-25, and 15-11.
Saray ran the offense with 23 assists, and also added five digs, while Ruggiero led the way with 18 kills and 16 digs. Hines had eight kills, Siguencia Tenesaca added eight digs, Sotoj Ortiz had seven digs, and Stacy Anton also played well with six kills and five aces.
West Haven won its second straight contest with a 3-0 victory over Shelton. The victory was the eighth on the year for the Westies, qualifying them for postseason play.
Aquino ran the offense with 23 assists and added five digs on the defensive side. Ruggiero had 21 kills and seven digs, Hines added nine kills, six aces, and five digs, and Siguencia Tenesaca had six digs
West Haven saw its two-match winning streak stopped with a 3-0 loss at Sheehan. With the 25-20, 25-16, 25-12 loss, West Haven fell to 8-5.
Aquino had eight assists and three digs, Ruggiero added seven kills and three digs, while Hines finished with three kills and three aces. Siguencia Tenesaca finished with four digs.
West Haven fell to 8-6 with a 3-0 loss at Cheshire. The scores of the match were 25-20, 25-22, and 25-10.
Ruggiero led the way with 13 digs and six kills, Aquino had 12 assists, Hines had seven kills, and Macz added three digs in the loss.
West Haven got back on the winning track with a 3-0 Senior Night victory over Career. With the 25-20, 25-3, 25-18 win, the Westies improved to 9-6 on the year.
Aquino ran the offense with 21 assists, Hines had a big day with 11 kills and four digs, Anton had 10 aces, Maggie Pierce added six aces, and Ruggiero and Isabella VanBrederode each had four kills.
The boys soccer team had goals of winning its division and playing in the postseason when the season began. The Westies can check off both boxes with a 6-4-3 record.
West Haven picked up its third tie of the season with a 1-1 tie at Guilford. Bricatson Laurent scored the lone West Haven goal in the draw.
The Westies started the season 3-0-2. That streak ended with a 3-0 loss against rival Notre Dame-West Haven, and has continued with a 1-0 loss against Hand and a 2-0 loss at Amity to drop the Westies to 3-3-2.
West Haven got back on the winning track with a 2-0 victory at Cheshire. Joel Goodlow and Ismail Sanounou each scored in the win as West Haven improved to 4-3-2.
The Westies could not sustain the momentum from the victory over Cheshire as they fell in a home contest to Xavier, 4-0 to drop to 4-4-2 on the year. The loss was West Haven’s fourth in its last five games.
West Haven inched closer to the state tournament with a 2-1 victory over Career, With the victory, the Westies improved to 5-4-2 and moved to within one win of qualifying for the state tournament.
Youssouf Keira and Amar Sanounou scored for West Haven as the Westies also inched closer to a Southern Connecticut Conference tournament berth.
The Westies qualified for the state tournament with a 2-1 victory at East Haven. With the victory, West Haven improved to 6-4-2 on the year.
West Haven also took a step towards qualifying for the SCC tournament with the victory. Keira and Amar Sanounou once again scored the goals in the victory.
The girls soccer team is inching closer to the postseason. Behind three goals from Lynnie Chesson, and a pair of goals from Amiyah Jones, West Haven topped Wilbur Cross, 5-0. With the victory, the Westies improved to 5-7 on the year.
Jones gave West Haven a 1-0 lead 13:52 into the game with a tally off a penalty kick. Chesson scored less than three minutes later to send the Westies to the half up 2-0.
Chesson increased the lead to 3-0 with a goal 10:19 into the second half, Jones scored her second of the game with four minutes remaining, and Chesson added her third goal off a penalty kick with 2:55 to go.
After a 7-1 loss at Cheshire, West Haven fell to 3-5 with a 3-2 loss at Lyman Hall. Stella Porto and Sumeyye Uzun scored for West Haven.
West Haven snapped the two-game losing streak and improved to 4-5 with a hard fought 2-1 victory over Notre Dame – West Haven. Jones and Uzun scored for West Haven as the Westies avenged an earlier season loss to Notre Dame.
The Westies could not sustain the momentum the momentum of the win as they dropped their third contest in four games and fell to 4-6 with a 6-0 loss at Mercy.
West Haven (4-7) dropped its fourth contest in a row with a 5-0 home loss against North Haven. The Nighthawks controlled play with five goals in the first half and allowed just one quality scoring opportunity in the contest, coming off the foot of Porto in the opening half from 15 yards out.
The girls swim team fell to 0-4 with a 92-78 home loss against Mercy.
The 200 medley relay team of Sila Akilli, Keren Medina Panchi, Zoey Prutting, and Monserrath Yuquilima placed second in a time of 3 minutes, 20.03 seconds, and the 200 relay team of Arianna Rose, Brooklynn Loehfelm, Sophia DeLauri, and Emily Falanga won in 2:01.22.
Falanga won the 200 freestyle in 2:18.79, Rose won the 200 IM in 2:37.42, Natalia Lowe was second in the 50 freestyle in 30.61, and Akilli won the diving with 137.20 points.
DeLauri was victorious in the 100 fly in 1:09.30 while Margarita Buren was second in 1:23.00, and Prutting was third in 1:37.57. Falanga was also victorious in the 100 freestyle in 1:02.15, and Loehfelm was second in 1:08.85. Haleigh McCarthy was second in the 500 freestyle in 6:53.71.
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