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10/07/2018 12:00 AMField Hockey
The Old Saybrook field hockey team played a grueling slate of three games last week and came away with a pair of victories. The Rams dropped a matchup against Westbrook, earned a win versus North Branford, and then closed with the week by defeating East Lyme. The Rams’ overall record stands at 4-4-1, and they are 2-3-1 in the Shoreline Conference.
On Oct. 1, Old Saybrook headed to Westbrook and lost a 2-1 decision. Senior Mandy Beck netted the Rams’ lone goal of the game, marking the first goal that Westbrook had allowed all season. Junior goalkeeper Wendy Bowden turned in an outstanding showing by making 22 saves for Old Saybrook.
The following day, Old Saybrook hosted North Branford and prevailed by a 3-2 margin. Beck displayed her scoring prowess by recording a hat trick versus the Thunderbirds. Sophomore Kayla Holt and junior Izzy Sigersmith had assists on two of those goals. Bowden made 14 saves in the cage.
On Oct. 4, Old Saybrook defeated East Lyme 4-3 in a home game. Beck scored a pair of goals, while also providing an assist for the Rams. Junior Leah Wysocki and freshman Grace Adams supplied one goal apiece, while senior Grace Albert added an assist. Bowden had another nice day in goal by coming up with 21 saves.
Newly named Head Coach Nancy Gatta said that Old Saybrook’s two wins could have easily have gone the other way if it wasn’t for the outstanding play of Beck on offense, senior Ana Hester on defense, and Bowden in goal.
“Wendy saved us in both the North Branford and East Lyme games with her saves. They were both putting a lot of pressure on us late in those games. Our sweeper, Ana Hester, played phenomenal defense in both those games, as well, and Mandy scoring six goals in two games was huge,” said Gatta. “The kids are a bit more motivated now with me on the team since I played for [former longtime Old Saybrook coach and Hall of Fame inductee Lorraine Splain] and won a couple of championships with her. I’m trying to bring some of that old fire and pride back into the program, and they have really taken to it.”
Boys’ Soccer
Old Saybrook was victorious in both of its games last week. The Rams grabbed wins against Haddam-Killingworth and North Branford to move to 6-2-1 on the season.
On Oct. 1, Old Saybrook hosted Haddam-Killingworth and defeated the Cougars by a 2-0 margin. Paddy Ryan and Jack Colella both netted unassisted goals in the contest for the Rams, who outshot Haddam-Killingworth 12-7. Ryan picked up his goal at the 10:26 mark of the first half to put the Rams up 1-0. Old Saybrook managed to control most of the midfield throughout the game, but H-K made some adjustments that kept the Rams from putting an insurance goal on the board until the final minutes. That score came when Colella scored his unassisted goal at 76:29 to make it 2-0. Sophomore goalie Matt Rothman made some great saves among his four in the contest to earn another shutout.
On Oct. 5, Old Saybrook posted a 5-0 blowout over North Branford for its sixth win of the season.
Girls’ Soccer
The Rams saw a little bit of everything last week by getting a win, taking a loss, and earning a tie. Old Saybrook is now 2-6-2 on the season.
On Oct. 1, Old Saybrook traveled to Haddam-Killingworth and lost a 2-0 contest. Two days later, the Rams hosted Westbrook and captured a 3-0 victory over the Knights. The very next day, Old Saybrook hit the road to face North Branford, where the teams played to a 0-0 tie.
Football
Old Saybrook-Westbrook (OS-W) went up against Pequot Conference Sassacus Division rival Valley Regional-Old Lyme (VR-OL) at home last week and lost a 40-10 decision against the undefeated Warriors. The loss moves the Rams to an overall record of 1-3 on the season with a mark of 1-1 in the division.
Senior Lance Twomey came away with the Rams’ lone touchdown in the contest, and junior Cooper Pavlovich kicked a field goal for OS-W. Old Saybrook scored the first TD of the game when Twomey punched it across the goal line from two yards out. Pavlovich made the point after to put the Rams up 7-0 less than a minute into the first quarter. Valley (4-0, 3-0) got on the board with a short touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7. The Warriors then hit a deep pass before the end of the quarter for a 14-7 advantage. In the second quarter, VR-OL scored on another pass to make it 21-7. The Rams narrowed the margin to 21-10 right before halftime with a Pavlovich field goal.
After halftime, both teams’ defenses played solid and neither allowed a score until the Warriors converted two quick rushing touchdowns before the end of the third quarter to make it 34-10. In the fourth quarter, VR-OL added another touchdown on a short run to bring it to the 40-10 final.
The Rams have a bye for Week 6 play. After that, they will play a home game against division leader Cromwell-Portland (5-0, 4-0). Kickoff is set for noon on Saturday, Oct. 20 at Old Saybrook High School.