Ruden Sports News

GREENWICH — After Darien and New Canaan faced each other in the championship game of the FCIAC Girls Lacrosse Tournament and the seedings were announced for the CIAC Class L Tournament, many fans knew there was a good chance that the rivals would meet again with the stakes even higher.

Well, Saturday at Sacred Heart University, the Rams and Blue Wave will conclude their respective seasons with a matchup against each other, with one team ending its 2022 campaign as a champion.

Round three of the Darien-New Canaan rivalry will be for the Class L title and the longtime rivals each advanced by rolling to victory in their respective semifinal-round games tonight at Greenwich High School.

Top-seeded Darien reached the Class L final by defeating fourth-seeded Wilton, 13-3, while third-seeded New Canaan moved on with a 19-11 triumph against 10^th-seeded Ridgefield.

The Blue Wave and Rams are 1-1 against each other so far this season, with Darien winning the regular season matchup, 15-11, and New Canaan posting a 10-8 in the FCIAC title game.

“It feels really good to make the state finals again,” Darien senior captain Ceci Stein said. “After the FCIAC final game we were really upset with how we played. We felt we didn’t play our best. So in practice we’ve been working on pushing each other and just fixing up the things that we didn’t do great on in that game. We are also considered underdogs for this game against New Canaan, so we want to get revenge.”

In tonight’s first semifinal at Greenwich’s Cardinal Stadium, New Canaan seized control early, jumping out to a 5-0 lead. Junior midfielder Stella Nolan converted a shot from close range 48 seconds in, giving New Canaan a 1-0 lead. Senior attack Caitlin Tully tallied at the 23:44 mark, then scored on a catch-and-shoot off a pass from senior attack Dillyn Patten, making it 3-0 at the 22:39 mark. 

Junior attack Caroline Underwood scored off the ensuing draw and Patten tallied off a free position attempt, giving the Rams a 5-0 advantage with 19:55 to play in the opening half.

“Our attack came out on fire,” New Canaan coach Kristin Woods said. “Our team was focused, ready to play and shooting very well. One of our goals was our shooting, so I’m very happy with our shooting.”

Patten recorded a game-high five goals and had one assist, while Caitlin Tully recorded a hat trick with one assist to pace New Canaan (20-2). Lexie Tully, a sophomore midfielder, registered three goals and two assists, while Nolan and Underwood each added two goals and one assist in the winning effort.

“Woods said in the first huddle that we had to be on our ‘A’ game,” Patten said. “We had to win the first draw, get the first ground ball and try and get the first goal, because that would set the tone for the game.”

Ridgefield (15-6) closed to within 5-2 on goals from Grace Winkler and Caroline Trinkaus, but New Canaan kept flourishing offensively, lighting the scoreboard frequently and taking a 14-6 advantage into halftime. Trinkaus and Gabby Lauretani had three goals apiece for the Tigers, while Winkler and Caroline Gerosa tallied twice.

Devon Russell had two goals and Kaleigh Russell added a goal for New Canaan.

New Canaan and Darien will play each other for the state title for the third time in the tournament’s history.

“It feels awesome,” Patten said. “Last year we didn’t make it to the final, so I’m excited to get the chance and possibly win the title this year.”

In the night’s second semifinal, Stein and senior captain Molly McGuckin scored four goals apiece and junior Chloe Humphrey notched two goals and one assist to power the team past Wilton. Darien has captured the last two CIAC Class L titles.

The Blue Wave bolted out to a 4-0 lead before going into halftime with a commanding 10-2 advantage. Darien excelled in its settled offense and on transition, while once again playing aggressive, lock-down defense.

“We had a couple of injuries in the beginning of the week, including myself,” McGuckin said. “We had one of our star players, Ryan Hapgood, out too. But once we settled it down everyone got the ball moving. My co-captain Ceci Stein also played awesome and we were able to take control in the beginning of the game.”

Sadie Stafford and Maggie Ramsay added one goal apiece, while Shea Dolce got the win in goal for the Blue Wave, making seven saves.

“Winning the draw and taking time to move the ball around on offense and waiting for the perfect opportunity, something that we focused on in practice,” Stein said. “We were making sure we were patient and took advantage of our opportunities.”

For Wilton (16-5), Addison Pattillo scored two goals and Grace Williams added one. Amelia Hughes had eight saves for the Warriors.

“I was very happy with the way we came out,” Darien coach Lisa Lindley said. “I thought we were sharp in moving the ball, burying our shots. I was very happy with our tempo and intensity. In the beginning of the game, I think we won the first five of our six draws, so that really made a difference and our ‘D’ really played strong in the first half. We’re looking forward to the state final, I think it will be a good game and we’re ready for it.”