Weekly Recap: 10/21-10/25

Tuesday, October 21
Varsity Badminton vs East Hartford High School: W 7-0

Wednesday, October 22
Varsity Field Hockey vs Choate: L 1-4
Recap: Porter’s hosted Choate on another rainy and windy day for our annual Play for the Cure game. Despite the elements and falling behind 0-3 at halftime, the girls fought back and pushed forward on offense. That push won us a stroke, which Annie Kamradt ‘15 bulleted it in.

Varsity Soccer vs Berkshire: W 3-0
Recap: Porter’s varsity soccer took to the field on a wet and cold afternoon in Sheffield, Mass. The team was determined to protect its unbeaten streak and to be a little more clinical in the attacking third. Fifteen minutes in Porter’s had an opportunity to open the scoring but Sydni Scott ‘18 put her effort wide of the post. Once the game settled down Porter’s started to control the game, with Sam Plourde ‘16 driving at the back four and Becca Clark ‘15 and Kyra Bukowski ‘18 asking questions out wide. Twenty-four minutes into the half Sam took advantage of a mix up from the opposition and carried the ball in between two Berkshire midfielders before placing a ball into the bottom corner of the net from 20 yards out. Eight minutes later Sam won a free kick 40 yards out and Katie Maher ‘15 swung in an excellent ball that Sydni volleyed in first time from 12 yards out. The start of the second half showed the mental strength of this team, as Porter’s controlled the tempo without allowing a two-goal cushion to influence its application. Deep into the second half Sydni reacted first to a poor clearance and her touch fell to Kyra, who forced the goalkeeper into making a smart save that fell at the feet of Becca, who had no hesitation in scoring her second goal of the season. Naya Lipkens ‘18 pulled off an excellent save to preserve the shutout and as the final whistle sounded the team was pleased with another positive performance accompanying the 3-0 victory.

Varsity Volleyball vs Choate: L 0-3
Recap: Reigning New England Champions Choate broke Porter’s undefeated home streak. Porter’s was clearly outgunned by a team with more offensive options than they have dealt with so far this season, Porter’s continued to play hard and refused to be deterred by the opponent or the score.Very long rallies were the hallmark of the match, which saw Porter’s grab early leads in the first two sets. Porter’s posted its third highest passing rating on the season (and highest in a loss), refusing to give up easy points. Unfortunately, the disparity in offense was more than could be overcome, but Porter’s walked away from the match feeling like the gap between them and the top tier of New England has been lessened.

Friday, October 24
Varsity Badminton vs Simsbury High School: W 6-1
Recap: In its best performance to date against Simsbury, Porter’s badminton defeated the Lady Trojans by a score of 6-1. It was the last home match of the season where the four seniors on the team, Victoria Linnehan ‘15, Rachel Song ‘15, and co-captains Xinyi Wang ‘15 and Cindy Qian ‘15, were honored in a gathering before the match. Team members created posters and bought special treats to celebrate the occasion.

Saturday, October 25
Varsity Cross Country- Shaler Invitational: Placed 6th out of 10 teams
Recap: Porter’s cross country team placed sixth out of ten teams at the Shaler Invite. Victoria Apuzzo ‘17 ran a personal best to finish first for the team and place 17th overall. Also running a personal best was Audrey Jang ‘15. Freshman Layla Garyk ‘18 had a fantastic race to run 23:42 and shatter her previous best time.

Varsity Field Hockey vs Ethel Walker: L 0-3
Recap: Porter’s suffered another tough loss on Saturday against rival Walker’s. Walker’s won 24 offensive corners and took advantage of their offensive opportunities. Morgan St. Pierre ‘15 saved at least three goals during the game and limited the damage.

Varsity Soccer vs Ethel Walker: W 1-0
Recap: On a beautiful day (and playing surface) against a well-organized and energetic opponentm, both sets of supporters were out in numbers and added to the excitement of the players. Both teams came out looking strong and ready to play. In the first half Porter’s struggled to finish, settling for a few long range efforts at goal that just sailed over the opponents bar and the half ended 0-0. During the second half the team started to look for more width (from the left and right back) and penetrated that part of the field. With the wide forwards making intelligent runs it looked like a matter of time before Porter’s would have an opportunity. Halfway through the second half Sam Houle ‘16 received the ball back from Emma Updegrave ‘17 and whipped in an excellent ball that Becca Clarke ‘15 ran onto and finished high into the net from 18 yards for her third goal of the season. Both teams continued to press but the defensive unit stood strong and maintained its fifth shutout in a row, which now totals 400 minutes since the last goal was scored on the team.

Varsity Volleyball vs Kingswood-Oxford: W 3-1
Recap: Missing our starting libero, one of our niddle hitters in our 3 MH rotation, and one of our two “bigs” on the right side, Porter’s found itself with a lot less blocking than normal and a serve receive with a slightly different dynamic. Dropping the first in a closely fought 28-26 set, Porter’s settled in to the new roles and swept the next three 25-22, 25-23, 25-21. Serve receive held up well with the contributions of Paige Hughes ‘16 as the libero for the day. More impressive is that a team that returned only two varsity starters, four varsity players in total, and only one varsity starter in her previous year’s position (Dylan Banever ‘15, libero) turned what was supposed to be a “rebuilding year” into a more successful season than the 2013 venture. Nothing more can be said than the players have put in a ton of work to catch up to the rest of the league as quickly as possible, and they should be commended for their efforts.