Weekly Recap: 9/18-9/23

Monday, September 18

Varsity Badminton vs. Hamden High: W 7-3

Recap: The Porter's Badminton team faced a mixed-gender Hamden squad. Nonetheless, Porters swept the doubles competition and dropped only three matches in the singles competition. Even though Porter's top two players, Roanna Zou '19 and Nitya Shah '20, were sidelined for the match, Porters dominated the competition.

The outstanding player of the day was Simrat Khalsa '19 who defeated Hamden's top male opponents in both singles and doubles competition where she teamed up with Annika Philomin '19.

Tuesday, September 19

Varsity Badminton vs. East Hartford High School: W 7-0

Recap: Porters swept all matches on their way to a 7-0 win over East Hartford High School. Particularly noteworthy was the performance of Co-Captain Shushu Fang '18, who stepped in unexpectedly to play 3rd singles. After winning a closely contested first game (21-17). Fang '18 "upped her game, "strategically moving her opponent around the court and targeting her opponent's backhand in the second game (21-10) to claim the victory. In the doubles competition, Fang '18 teamed up with a highly talented new girl freshman, Jolie Nguyen, a to win in straight sets (21-13, 21-5).

Varsity Soccer vs. Kingswood-Oxford: T 0-0

Recap: Porter's Varsity soccer made the short bus ride to play last year's Class B Quarter Finalists Kingswood Oxford on Tuesday evening. KO showed energy and determination throughout their home opener and shaded the first half of play. Sydni Scott '18 had an opportunity to take the lead but was stopped by KOs keeper. The field made it difficult to generate any momentum with the ball, which resulted in both teams looking to get forward too much when in possession.

The second half saw Porter's create more opportunities as Scott '18 and Carlyn Kosienski '19 went close from 8 yards out. Maddie Duchesneau '18, Bryn Mathews '18, Mackenzie Kievman '18 and Gabby Owens '19 defended very well and Naya Lipkens '18 and Jenna Hall '20 showed composure when called upon. In the end, although not pretty to watch, the team can respect the tie and look at it as a point earned rather than two points dropped.

Varsity Volleyball vs. Choate: L 0-3

Recap: Porter's varsity volleyball traveled to Choate and lost 3-0. The team had stretches throughout the match where they showed what they are capable of and will look to build on that going forward. Ellie Whitty '18 lead the defense with 7 digs, while Sofia Barth '19 paced the offense with 6 kills.

Wednesday, September 20

Varsity Field Hockey vs. Williston Northampton: L 0-5

Recap: Varsity field hockey's loss against Williston Northampton Academy in no way diminished the team's spirit. With incredibly reliable field players like Melina Belenardo '20 (player of the game) and Gabby Aucello'19, Porter's had great communicational skills and admirable hustle. Belenardo '20 showed great fitness and made successful plays in every position on the field, while Aucello '19 had frequent breakaways and shots on goal. Porter's goalies, Elizabeth Muller '19 and Kami Vigilant '20, made exceptional saves throughout the game (Muller '19 9 saves, Vigilant '20 5 saves) that prevented Williston from scoring more than 5 goals

Varsity Volleyball vs. Westover: W 3-1

Recap: After two tough losses in a row, Porter's varsity volleyball bounced back with a 3-1 win over Westover. Porter's won the first two sets 25-14 and 25-17. Westover won set 3 21-25 before Porter's played their most complete set of the season, finishing the match with a 25-8 win. Ellie Whitty '18 and Victoria Lima served the team out to a 14-1 lead in set 4, effectively ending the match before Westover could build on their momentum.

Astrid Lipkens '21 had a career-high 43 assists in the win. Sofia Barth '19, Ellen White '19 and Delaney Nwachukwu '20 combined for 33 kills, while Whitty led the defense with 14 digs. Caroline Courcey '18 chipped in with 4 kills and 3 blocks.

Saturday, September 23

Varsity Cross Country vs. Suffield Academy:L 19-40

Varsity Cross Country vs. Taft:L 22-37

Varsity Field Hockey vs. Kent:L 0-7

Recap: Porter's field hockey met Kent on their home turf up at Oaklea. The game ball was awarded to captain Adi Jalinskas '18 for her unmatched fitness, positivity, patience, and leadership. A second game ball went to Morgan Pickett '20 for having her best game yet, making many crucial saves in the back field and moving the ball towards the sidelines. Other notable performances were from new goalie Kami Vigilant '20, who had numerous saves and did her best in two very difficult penalty stroke situations. Also notable were the vastly improved game sense and technical skills offered by Gretchen Wimuth '18 and Grace Bergin '19, whose reliability and calm on defense are essential, and which have not gone unnoticed by the coaches.

Varsity Soccer vs. Greenwich Academy: W 2-0
Recap: Porter's Varsity soccer made the long journey to play Class A opponents Greenwich Academy. Greenwich started in a 4-4-2, which asked questions of Porter's defensively when possession was lost, even though it was a 3 vs.2 scenario in central midfield it did mean that our wide forwards had a lot of work to do in transition. Porter's varsity stood firm and defended well until midway through the half when Greenwich started running out of gas. The tempo of the team stayed at a good level when substitutions were made and it was Laura Gouvin '20 who threaded a ball through to freshman Sam Halligan who calmly passed the ball into the net when 1 on 1 with the keeper. Porter's started to dominate as Sydni Scott '18, Gouvin '20 and Kayleen Procanik '19 had good chances to extend the lead.

Tactical adjustments were discussed to address the opponents shape and that was all that it took for Porter's varsity to take complete control of the second half. The whole team defended with energy and purpose which allowed some intelligent movement from Halligan '21 who combined with Gouvin '20 who finished from 20 yards to make it 2-0. Mackenzie Kievman '18, Maddie Duchesneau '18, Gabby Owens '19 and Bryn Mathews '18 showed tremendous consistency in their defending against difficult opponents.