Weekly Recap: 10/18-10/21

Wednesday, October 18

Varsity Badminton vs. East Hartford High: W 8-1

Varsity Field Hockey vs. Loomis: L 0-6

Varsity Soccer vs. Loomis: T 0-0

Recap: From start to the finish both teams showed desire, commitment, and resilience without the ball. Loomis connected well in central midfield and moved the ball well in between the lines. Both teams had opportunities to open the scoring, whilst Loomis had a few long range efforts it wasn't until mid way through the first half when Naya Lipkens '18 produced a full stretch save to deny the away team. Sydni Scott '18 rattled the crossbar and Kyla Gallagher '20 tested the keeper when one on one from a tight angle but the game remained scoreless at half time. Porter's front three pressed with more intelligence in the second half and that made it a little more difficult for Loomis to circulate the ball. Both teams entered each other’s final third but some impressive defending canceled most of the attacks out. Although both teams will feel that they could have won it, I am sure that it will be a point gained upon reflection.

Varsity Volleyball vs. Taft: L 0-3

Recap: Porter's varsity volleyball played well, but ultimately came up short against Taft and lost 0-3. The game scores were 19-25, 22-25 and 20-25. Ellie Whitty '18 lead the defense again with 11 digs and was strong in serve receive. Sofia Barth '19 and Callie Godfrey '20 had 8 kills each, while Delaney Nwachukwu '20 chipped in with 5. Astrid Lipkens '21 had 24 assists and Victoria Lima '19 had 5 digs in the loss.

Friday, October 20

Varsity Badminton vs. Hamden High: W 9-0

Recap: Playing a mixed gender Hamden squad, Porters swept all matches. Outstanding player of the day was Nitya Shah '20 who, in a rematch with Hamden's top male player, avenged her defeat a few weeks ago to the same individual, a tall and athletic individual who packed a formidable smash. This time, however, Shah '20 ran him all over the court, keeping him off balance and preventing him from finding his rhythm. Later Shah '20 teamed up with Roanna Zou '19 to claim an easy win in the doubles.

Saturday, October 21

Varsity Cross Country vs. Westminster: W 25-30

Recap: The Porter's cross country raced at Westminster today and beat Westminster! Despite a challenging course and missing one of our top runners, the team was able to edge out the Westminster team by five points. Special recognition goes to our top five runners: 2nd place Alexandra Poole '20, 3rd place Marisol Carty '19, 5th place Sofia Olivares '20, 6th place Lydia Gambacini '19 (who overtook a Westy runner in the last 200m of the race), and 9th place Amy Wang '21.

Varsity Field Hockey vs. Westover: L 1-2

Recap: Porter’s had an exciting game against Westover in Middlebury, CT at Westover’s Fall Family Weekend. Westover scored midway in the first half, but the Porter’s team rallied with a much-improved second quarter. The second half was dominated by breakaways and numerous shots on goal. The offense really put the pressure on the Westover circle, and scored late in the second half with a beautifully executed corner play. The tie-up put both teams into 7-a-side sudden victory overtime. Porter’s had a few opportunities on the net and even won one corner, but the Westover team was able to capitalize on a big breakaway with 3 minutes remaining, which ended the game in a 1-2 loss for Porter’s. The coaches were excited that these young athletes had an attempt at overtime play for the first time this season. Players of the game were McKenna Cutler ’19, Adi Jalinskas ’18, and Maya Butensky ’18 for giving it their all. Another notable player was Gabrielle Brewer ’19 for her fitness in the 7 vs. 7 and for our amazing goalie, Kami Vigilant ’20 for incredible saves throughout both regulation time halves.

Varsity Soccer vs. Convent of the Sacred Heart: W 2-0

Recap: Porter's Varsity Soccer made the long journey to Greenwich to play a hard-working and organized opponent. Every member of the squad worked hard and contributed to a difficult game. During the first half, Porter's tried to play the final pass too early or made the wrong decision when entering the final third. The deadlock was broken late in the first half when Natalie Godoy '21 turned two opponents and poked a finish into the net from 12 yards. 5 minutes into the second half Carlyn Kosienski '19 put in a corner, Olivia Grommers '18 challenged the keeper and then the ball fell at Lauren Schramm '20 who finished well and in to the top right-hand corner of the net. Defensively the team showed how solid they are by restricting Convent to only 1 chance the entire game.

Varsity Volleyball vs. Hopkins: W 3-2

Recap: In a matchup of two Class A teams, Hopkins took the first two sets of the match 20-25 and 26-28. Despite being down 0-2 in the match, Porter's put together their most complete performance of the season with a thrilling come back to win the match 3-2. Porter's came out firing in the third set and picked up 12 kills and 3 blocks to win 25-20. The score was tied at 22-22 in the fourth set, when Ellie Whitty '18 notched two aces and helped secure a 25-22 win for Porter's to keep the match alive. Porter's jumped out to a 14-10 lead in the 5th and deciding set, but Hopkins would not go away and turned the match around once again to take the lead 14-15. After tying the score at 15-15, Tiara Do '19 came into the game to serve out the match and Porter's won the set 17-15.

Porter's had a season-high 61 kills as four players were in double figures for the match. Callie Godfrey '20 had a career-high 22 kills, Ellen White '19 added 17 kills, while Sofia Barth '19 and Delaney Nwachukwu '20 each had 10. Ellie Whitty '18 had 11 digs and 4 aces, while Caroline Courcey '18 had 2 kills and 3 blocks. \Astrid Lipkens '21 once again guided the offense with an incredible 52 assists and a team-high 19 digs on defense.