Since a heartbreaking loss to Hamden, the West Haven football team has been on a mission. Behind three touchdowns for Deven Robinson and two more from Amir Nakome, West Haven defeated Hillhouse, 35-13, in a Southern Connecticut Conference Division II contest at Bowen Field in New Haven Friday evening.
West Haven has now won four games in a row and has improved to 5-1 entering next week’s home showdown against Notre Dame.
Controlling a large portion of the contest, West Haven rebounded after surrendering a pair of fumble recoveries for Hillhouse scores in the first half.
West Haven, very much alive for a postseason bid, ran for five touchdowns, scored a safety on defense, and never allowed Hillhouse to use its speed to hurt the Westies.
West Haven dominated play in the first half, but only went to the intermission ahead, 20-13. Coach Rich Boshea had to have mixed emotions with the offense, as the Westies outgained Hillhouse 198-48 in the opening half, but fumbled twice to lead to a pair of Hillhouse fumble returns for touchdowns.
Ahead 14-0 and looking to blow the game open, West Haven saw the momentum of the game shift to the Academics.
On second down, Hillhouse sacked West Haven freshman quarterback Nick Conlan, forcing a fumble. Hillhouse senior Lee Granger picked up the fumble and raced 41 yards for the score, getting the Academics within 14-7.
The Westies went back to the ground game, but that had a poor ending as well.
The Academics (1-5) forced another fumble and Frank Daniley scooped up the loose ball and returned the fumble 50 yards for the score. West Haven blocked the extra point, retaining a 14-13 lead with 6:26 remaining in the half.
With all the momentum now on their side, the Academics needed a big stop. That did not happen as West Haven marched 63 yards in nine plays, capped by a 16-yard touchdown run by Nakome with 2:16 left in the half for a 20-13 advantage.
The Westies made it look easy on their opening drive, marching 51 yards on seven plays, capped by an 11-yard score by Robinson 2:37 in.
After West Haven turned Hillhouse aside later in the opening quarter, the Westies started a drive which ended 2:11 into the second quarter with a 9-yard touchdown run by Nakome. Robinson ran in the conversion for a 14-0 lead, before Hillhouse cashed in on a pair of West Haven fumbles.
The Westies put the game away in the third quarter when Robinson sandwiched touchdown runs of five and two yards around a safety when a Hillhouse snap went out of the endzone.
The volleyball team has been looking for a spark. The common denominator this season has been missed opportunities, whether by communication of team errors.
Tuesday evening saw the trend continue as the Westies dropped their eighth straight contest and fell to 1-12 with a 3-1 loss at Sacred Heart Academy. The scores of the match were 17-25, 7-25, 27-25, and 13-25.
Jenna Johnson ran the offense with 13 assists, while adding three kills and two aces. Johnson also played well on defense with seven digs.
Dulcemaria Castillo led the defensive efforts with 11 digs, Anaelecea Turcio had seven digs, Mckayla Fowler had six digs, and Jordyn Johnson had five digs. Tanasia Fidalgo played well on offense with 19 kills, and Asia Ford had seven kills.
Despite playing one of its best matches in a long stretch of contests, West Haven team could not get on the winning side. Rallying but falling short in each of the first two games, West Haven fell to North Haven, 25-22, 25-19, 25-10 at West Haven High Wednesday evening.
West Haven fell to 1-13 with its ninth straight loss.
Jenna Johnson continued to play well on both sides of the ball as she ran the offense with 12 assists and added seven digs on the defensive side. Fidalgo also played well with seven kills, three digs, and two aces, while Castillo had a balanced effort with five aces and five digs. Ford added four kills and three blocks, while Jordyn Johnson had five digs.
West Haven fell to 1-14 with a 3-1 home loss against Guilford Saturday afternoon. The loss, 25-21, 23-25, 25-13, 25-14, was West Haven’s tenth in a row.
Jordyn Johnson led the defensive efforts with 13 digs, while Branyelis Brito had 10 digs. Asia Ford also had a solid day on defense with six blocks and five digs, Castillo had seven digs, and Samantha Carrion had four digs.
Jenna Johnson again had another solid outing with 13 assists, six kills, and four aces on the offensive side, and six digs on defense. Fidalgo had six kills and three aces, while Castillo had four kills.
With a handful of games remaining in the regular season, West Haven was looking to finish strong. That did not happen Monday evening.
Coming out slow, West Haven never recovered in a 25-17, 25-22, 25-21 loss at Lauralton Hall. The defeat dropped the Westies to 1-15 on the year.
Jenna Johnson ran the West Haven offense with 12 assists, six aces, and two kills. Fidalgo had eight kills, and Ford added five kills.
Brito led the defensive efforts with five digs, while Castillo had four digs.
In what was a complete team effort, the Westies topped Bassick, 25-14, 25-14, 25-21, to snap an 11-game losing skid on Senior Night at West Haven High. West Haven improved to 2-15 on the year with the victory.
Jenna Johnson had a stellar evening with 18 assists and 14 aces on offense. Turcio had seven aces, Fowler added six aces and four digs, while Ford had five kills and four aces.
After picking up its second win of the season, West Haven was looking to sustain some momentum. Despite playing well, West Haven was unable to hold on to its lead and fell to Foran, 3-2, at Jonathan Law Thursday evening.
Johnson led the way for West Haven with 22 assists on the offensive side and 10 digs defensively. Ford added eight kills and six aces on offense, and three digs and two blocks on defense.
Brito was solid on defense with 10 digs, Fidalgo chipped in nine kills and three digs, Jordyn Johnson had eight digs, and Fowler and Castillo each had five kills and four digs.
Having entered Tuesday evening’s contest with Mercy with two wins in its last three games, the girls soccer team was looking to keep the momentum going. Unfortunately, Mercy had other ideas.
In a game closer than the score would indicate, the Tigers scored two first half goals, on their way to a 4-0 victory at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven.
West Haven held a 10-8 shot advantage in the contest but could not dent the back of the net. Mercy finished with eight shots as Kassidy Carrano finished with four saves in the loss.
Trailing twice in the contest, West Haven rallied each time to post a 4-3 victory over Guilford Saturday afternoon at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven.
Trailing 2-0 after Guilford scored once in the first half and again to start the second half, West Haven cut the deficit in half when Riley Severino scored an unassisted goal 11:07 into the second half. Just 4:56 later, Julia Tsakonas scored off an assist from Grace Nowak to even the game at two.
Tea Gambardella gave Guilford a 3-2 advantage with 8:14 remaining, before the Westies rallied. Madison Lentine evened the game with 5:07 later off an assist from Tsakonas, before Maya Bermudez scored the go-ahead goal 50 seconds later off an assist from Lentine.
Guilford held an 11-10 shot advantage. Carrano made eight saves in the win.
Lentine, Cori Severino, Riley Severino and the senior class knew what was at stake when they took the field against Wilbur Cross Monday evening, Not only was it Senior Night, but the Westies had a chance to clinch a berth in the postseason with a victory.
Behind two goals and two assists from Lentine, and a goal and two assists from Cori Severino, West Haven qualified for postseason play with a 6-1 victory at Ken Strong Stadium.
Sophomore Ariana Izzo added a pair of goals and Carrano needed to make just two saves as West Haven improved to 6-4-2 on the year.
The Westies took a 3-0 lead to the half and never looked back in the victory. Izzo started the scoring off an assist from Emma Walker 17 minutes, 21 seconds in, and Lentine increased the lead to 2-0 6:22 later with assists going to Cori Severino and Tsakonas.
Izzo assured West Haven was going to play in the postseason when she scored her second of the game less than five minutes later for a 5-0 advantage. Lentine assisted on the goal which gave the Westies a commanding lead.
Lentine and Cori Severino were at it again 10:24 into the second half when Severino assisted on Lentine’s second goal of the game. Tsakonas gave West Haven a 5-0 lead with eight minutes remaining, before Cori Severino capped West Haven’s scoring off assists from Lentine and Riley Severino with 1:55 to go.
Cross scored a late goal to spoil the shutout bid. West Haven held an 11-3 shot advantage in the game.
West Haven improved to 7-4-2 with a 3-0 victory over East Haven Wednesday evening at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven. The victory was West Haven’s third in a row.
The Westies led 1-0 at the half, then used a pair of second half goals to pull away. In between, West Haven used a solid defensive effort to preserve the third shutout of the year for Carrano, who finished with six saves.
West Haven took a 1-0 lead in the first half when Cori Severino scored off an assist from Lentine just 5 minutes, 42 seconds in. Severino’s goal held up until early in the second half.
Tsakonas gave the Westies a 2-0 advantage when she scored off an assist from Lentine 3:28 into the second half. Jaylyn Powell capped the scoring at the 69:30 mark for a 3-0 lead.
The boys soccer team returned from a week off with a hard-fought 2-1 road victory over Branford Monday evening. With its second victory in three games, West Haven improved to 6-3-2 on the season.
A week after falling to cross-town rival Notre Dame, West Haven turned to its seniors to get back on the winning track. Donaldo Yanez and Jerson Aquino scored, Brian Rivadera added an assist, and goalkeeper Brian Carew made seven saves.
Yanez gave West Haven a 1-0 lead at the 20:23 mark of the opening half with an unassisted tally. The goal by Yanez held up until the mid-point of the second half.
Jerson Aquino gave West Haven a 2-0 lead when he scored off an assist from Rivadera at the 60:13 mark. The goal by Aquino would prove to be big as Branford scored on a penalty kick with less than 11 minutes remaining to cut the West Haven lead in half.
Branford never got closer and West Haven, which held an 18-8 shot advantage, held on for the victory.
After starting the season 4-1-2, the Westies have hit a tough stretch. West Haven lost its second game in three meetings and third in five contests with a 3-2 loss at North Haven Friday evening.
The Westies held a 22-11 shot advantage in the contest, but North Haven goalkeeper Mark Ludovico made 10 saves to keep West Haven from winning the contest.
West Haven took a 1-0 lead to the half when senior Mekhi Pittman was credited with an own goal at the 27:37 mark of the first half.
The lead held up until North Haven scored the equalizer and go-ahead goals in a three-minute stretch. West Haven’s Mubarak Issa knotted the game with 6:40 left in regulation on an unassisted tally, but North Haven’s Zion Teclechiel scored his second of the game with 3:10 left to give North Haven the victory.
West Haven knew it was in for a battle Wednesday evening when it played host to undefeated Jonathan Law. After falling behind early, West Haven responded with three unanswered goals in a 3-1 victory at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven.
The Westies saw Law score first in the contest, but less than one minute later the game was tied when Sebastian Navarro scored off an assist from Alan Hernandez. The goal, just 40 seconds after Law’s tally, set the tone for the rest of the contest.
With the game even at one at the half, West Haven took the lead for good 9 minutes, 10 seconds into the second half when Rafael Gazcon scored off an assist from Yanez. The goal by Gazcon held up, and Issa scored an unassisted tally with 2:23 remaining for the 3-1 margin.
West Haven held a 20-11 shot advantage in the game. Carew made nine saves in the win for West Haven.
Behind the shutout goalkeeping of Carew and Holden Axelrod, and the offense of Yanez and Rivadera, the Westies defeated Coginchaug 4-0 at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven.
The shutout was West Haven’s third win in four contests and helped the team improve to 8-4-2 on the year.
Yanez gave West Haven a 1-0 lead with 5:47 left in the opening half with the first of his two unassisted tallies. When Yanez scored 2:41 into the second half, the Westies held a 2-0 advantage.
Rivadera then helped put the game away with two goals in less than two minutes late in the contest.
West Haven held a 28-5 shot advantage in the contest. Carew finished with two saves and Axelrod made one in the victory.
West Haven improved to 9-4-2 with its third consecutive victory Saturday afternoon at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven. Behind goals from Donaldo Yanez, Mubarak Issa, and Brian Rivadera, West Haven defeated Shelton, 3-1.
Yanez opened the scoring with a goal 1:32 into the contest off an assist from Hernandez. The goal by Yanez would hold up until Issa gave West Haven a 2-0 lead off an assist from Murtaza Amjad with 14 minutes left in the half. Rivadera increased the lead to 3-0 off an assist from Issa 10:32 into the second half, which was more than enough for West Haven.
The girls swim team traveled to Guilford Monday afternoon. Despite swimming well, the Westies saw a tough Guilford squad post an 82-74 victory.
West Haven took home just one first place finish in the meet. Senior Kaelyn Falanga won the 200 freestyle in a time of 2 minutes, 16.50 seconds.
West Haven improved to 2-7 with a 95-77 victory over Branford Thursday afternoon in Branford. The Westies placed first in six events in the victory.
West Haven won a pair of relay events as the 200 medley relay team of Lauren Blake, Molly Wilson, Falanga, and Victoria Acuna came out on top in a time of 2 minutes, 9.82 seconds. The 200 freestyle relay team of Wilson, freshman Olivia DeLauri, Raquel Carney, and freshman Emily Guthrie won in 2:02.25.
Falanga was also victorious in the 200 freestyle in 2:11.19, and the 500 freestyle in 6:03.87. Acuna was victorious in the 50 freestyle in 29.84 seconds, while the 100 freestyle was won by DeLauri in 1:09.19.