Ruden Sports News

FAIRFIELD — When Tyler Clark hit the ground after taking a shot 3:45 into overtime of tonight’s first Class L boys lacrosse semifinal, the Staples attack immediately looked back toward the goal, trying to locate the official.

Clark’s shot, he was pretty certain, had landed in the desired location.

Clark’s body was another question.

“I was kind of worried that I jumped in the crease,” said Clark. “I spinned up to see the ref and he had his hands up. It was the best feeling in the world.”

Clark’s goal lifted the Wreckers to a dramatic 9-8 win over Ridgefield and into the final for the first time since 2014. They have never won a title.

Staples will face No. 1 Darien, which in the second semifinal broke open a close game in the second half and toppled Fairfield Prep, 16-9.

In a game of pronounced momentum swings, Clark’s goal came after the second-seeded Wreckers (18-3) had relinquished an 8-5 lead at the start of the fourth quarter and been stymied by Ridgefield goaltender Matthew Shepard, who was outstanding stopping five shots at the end of regulation and the start of overtime, including a big one to rob Charlie Howard with about five seconds left.

The Tigers were buoyed by Shepard’s mastery, got the ball back in overtime but quickly turned it over and Staples capitalized. Ryan Thompson moved the ball up and the Wreckers set up their offense. Derek Sale made a charge down the left side, getting a step on Ridgefield’s Chris Reinhardt and the ball over to Clark, who was to the side of the goal. Clark spun and beat Shepard.

Clark got confirmation of the goal and then made a charge to the middle of the field, where he made a dive into the air and was soon mobbed by his teammates.

“It was the best feeling in my life to be honest,” Clark said. “This is what I’ve dreamed of my whole life. This is my life. This is just indescribable.”

The second-seeded Wreckers seemed to be in control heading in the fourth quarter. It had overcome a 3-0 deficit by outscoring the third-seeded Tigers (15-5) by an 8-2 margin in the middle periods. Ridgefield’s zone defense made them tentative and they were quickly behind, 3-0.

Sale and Clark scored 38 seconds apart in the second quarter to tie the game at 3-3 and Howard, with a man-advantage, gave Staples a 4-3 halftime lead.

“I think we just settled in a little bit,” Staples coach Will Koshansky said. “Being excited for the moment, being in a semifinal game like that, I think we needed to settle in and let the ball do the work. We’ve got a super team offense.”

Howard scored twice in the third quarter and Gavin Rothenberg’s goal on a Clark feed with 53 seconds left gave the Wreckers a seemingly commanding 8-5 advantage.

Reinhardt scored 55 seconds into the fourth quarter, Ryan Colsey followed 38 seconds later and Kyle Colsey drilled a low shot to tie the game with 6:01 left.

From there came a chess match resulting in turnovers, hard defense and nice saves, leading up to Clark’s heroics.

Howard finished with three goals and Clark had two goals and one assist.

Ryan Colsey finished with four goals and Kyle Colsey added one goal and two assists. Sheppard stopped 12 shots.

“We had our sights set on getting to this game and winning this game since the offseason,” said Koshansky, whose team lost to Ridgefield last year in the first round of the tournament. “It’s awesome that the hard work has paid off to get us here and now we have to go finish the job.”

Darien (20-1), which has lost only to New Canaan, found itself leading Fairfield Prep by just 6-5 at halftime after a Riley Strub goal 1:16 before the break. There were uncharacteristic turnovers and unforced errors.

“We had first-half jitters,” Darien’s Joe Cesare said. “They’re a good team and we were just figuring ourselves out and then in the second half we just got going. We had been a little impatient and we were forcing it a little bit.”

Few teams can turn a close game into a rout in a blink of an eye like the Blue Wave. After the fifth-seeded Jesuits (15-5) tied the game at 8-8 with 4:25 left in the third quarter, Darien scored eight straight goals — the first seven in under five minutes — to avenge a quarterfinal round loss a year ago.

“It was a great run,” said Cesare, who finished with four goals and an assist. “When it gets like that everything is clicking.”

Strub, the Blue Wave’s version of a Swiss-Army knife because of his versatility, was moved up front and ended up with four goals and two assists.

“I’ve been using him in a lot of different roles,” Darien coach Jeff Brameier said. “I bit the bullet and put him on attack, which is his natural position. He just had a phenomenal game. He was all over the place. I’m shooting myself for not doing it earlier.”

Matthew Minicus and Brady Pokorny each scored three times, Christian Alliegro added two goals and Cam Weibel had a great game in goal, with 10 saves.

Darien will attempt to win its 12th state title and first since 2019.

“You saw what Staples did, they played smart,” Brameier said. “They’ve got athletes, they’ve got a good faceoff kid so it’s going to be a battle of getting the ball. Two very good offenses. We’ll see.”