Weekly Recap: 9/26-9/29

Wednesday, September 26

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

Varsity Field Hockey vs. Suffield Academy: T 0-0

Recap: The Porter's field hockey team played a solid match against an experienced Suffield Academy team. After lots of back and forth in the midfield and some near misses by Suffield, the teams headed into the 7v7 overtime, during which the Porter's players dominated. Despite outstanding efforts and hustle from midfielders Cricket Barnes '19 and Rachel Hart '20, and forwards Clare Porter '20 and Sydney Cheng '21, the OT ended with the 0-0 draw. It was a tight match from the opening whistle and the stellar play of defenders Grace Bergin '19, McKenna Cutler '19, and Natalie Brennan '20 kept the Porter's field hockey team on track. Goalkeeper Kami Vigilant had a great game as well, with a total of 8 saves for the match.

Varsity Soccer vs. Suffield Academy: W 1-0

Recap: Porter's Varsity Soccer traveled to Suffield Academy for their first away game of the season. Suffield reached the Quarter Finals of New England’s last year and have a style of play that will cause most teams problems. Suffield Academy edged the first half and missed an opportunity to put them ahead. Porter's Soccer struggled to find space on a long but narrow field and needed to be better when in possession. The second half was much better as the girls in green possessed the ball in the opponents half restricting them to a few counter attacks. The space was between the lines and Porter's Soccer was more patient in their build-up in the second half with the help of the introduction of Taylor Hall ‘22. With less than ten minutes on the clock Carlyn Kosienski '19 put in an excellent cross for the returning Kyla Gallagher '20 but the Suffield keeper came up with a fantastic save and tipped that chance around the post. Five minutes remained when Gabby Lowe's '19 throw ricochet around the area, the ball eventually fell to Gallagher who guided the ball into Molly Andrews '22 who took a touch before scoring her first ever Porter's goal. The team had another impressive defensive performance as they were tested both tactically and physically throughout, that is now five games without conceding.

Varsity Volleyball vs. Canterbury: W 3-1

Saturday, September 29

Varsity Field Hockey vs. Greens Farms Academy: L 3-4

Recap: The Porter's field hockey team got off to a great start against Greens Farms Academy Saturday afternoon. After inserting the ball on a corner play at the 20 minute mark, , Audrey McMillan '20 tipped in Rachel Hart's '20 drive from the top of the circle to put Porter's up 1-0. GFA tied the game up with a direct shot from the top of the circle and the game intensified. With 6 minutes remaining, GFA capitalized on a fast break opportunity to go up 2-1. GFA again found the net off a corner play with only a minute left in the first half and Porter's headed into the halftime ready to regroup. After a series of substitutions on the forward line, Porter's picked up the intensity and Clare Porter '19 and Mel Belenardo '20 fought their way through the defense to finally get some shots on goal. Porter's '19 shot rebounded towards Belenardo '20, and she was able to smash it home in the far post with 6:42 left in the 2nd half. The Porter's team took the momentum and dominated in the final minutes of the game, which led to a corner with 40 seconds left on the clock. Ruby Eisler '21 scooped up the rebound off a corner shot and her shot went in with 26 seconds left on the clock to tie the game. It was a very exciting rally in the final moments and the fans came alive again! Once the 7v7 OT began, however, it was all GFA and Porter's unfortunately had few chances to possess the ball. The Porter's defensive unit of McKenna Cutler '19, Grace Bergin '19, Rachel Hart '20, Audrey McMillan '20, and goalkeeper, Kami Vigilant '20, (17 saves total), worked tirelessly to keep the ball away from the goal, but eventually the aggressive GFA forwards found an opening and they secured a sudden victory with 2 minutes remaining in the OT to end the game. Although this was not the outcome Porter's field hockey was hoping for, the game was a great testament to the growth of the team and their willingness to keep fighting until the very end.

Varsity Soccer vs. Hopkins: W 4-0

Recap: Porter's Varsity Soccer welcomed Class B opponents, Hopkins, to Kiki field early on Saturday afternoon. Hopkins were organized without the ball and showed a lot of fight and resilience throughout the game. The tempo in the first half was too quick; it meant that every time Porter's had possession they wanted to get forward which became a little too predictable. Hopkins did have two long-range efforts on our goal but Jenna Hall '20 showed good handling on both occasions. Porter's did create a number of chances but lacked the right decision to find the back of the net and finished the first half 0-0. Knowing that the first goal would open things up, the girls in green started to find 1 v 1 situations in the final third and finally opened the scoring for the day. In the 52nd minute, Kyla Gallagher '20 received a pass from the energetic Marjorie Plants '21 who then beat two players before finishing at the near post. Not long after Gallagher '20 played a give and go with Taylor Hall '22 and then hit a driven cross into the area that touched Laura Gouvin '20 before falling at Carlyn Kosienski '19 feet who scored her sixth goal in six games. The girls in green made it 3-0 when Gallagher '20 was involved again and intelligently pulled the ball back to Hall '22 who struck a half volley from the edge of the area opening her varsity soccer account. With only seconds remaining Gallagher '20 burst through into the area and managed to get a touch to Shayla Procanik '19 who passed the ball into an empty net to complete the scoring for the afternoon.

The team managed another shut out and huge credit must go to Hall '20, Katie Konin '19, Gabby Owens '19 and Meghan Keating '20 who are showing consistency with and without the ball.

Varsity Volleyball vs. Loomis Chaffee: L 0-3