Ruden Sports News

WILTON — Wilton boys lacrosse coach Steve Pearsall called a timeout with under two minutes left in today’s Class M semifinal game against Notre Dame-West Haven. To those paying attention it seemed like a curious move, with the Warriors up by 16 goals.

To those not paying attention, well, the running clock wasn’t moving fast enough.

When play resumed, Pearsall had inserted his seniors back into the game. Not to pad the outcome, as quickly because apparent, but to give his group one final time on the field together.

“We promised them they would end the game together,” Pearsall said after the Warriors had finished off a 22-6 win for their first state title since 2013. “We wanted to give them that kind of moment together. Kind of our theme this season, family was our theme and these guys led us throughout the season. So we wanted to reward them by putting them back out on the field.”

It was a classy move by a classy coach who has a team full of classy players, as they proved by the way they comported themselves all season. A lot of Wilton lacrosse parents have done a good job raising their boys.

The game was over after the Warriors’ Charlie Johnson scored the first of his five goals just 41 seconds in. Wilton and Notre Dame never should have been on the same field and hopefully the final outcome will lead to necessary changes next year in the sport’s state playoff format.

Wilton’s Colin Lenskold discusses the 22-6 win over NDWH for the Class M title. #ctblax pic.twitter.com/ZFAJSVoaDR

— Dave Ruden (@DaveRuden) June 12, 2022

After dealing with injuries and an early-season issue of waiting well after the opening whistle to reach high gear, the fourth-seeded Warriors (19-4) are playing the best they have all year. It probably left the Wilton players wondering what-if, in the quest to try and finish No. 1 in the state, especially after Staples, a team it edged by a goal in the FCIAC semifinals, followed by stunning Darien, 12-3, in the Class L final.

Asked whether the Warriors would have preferred a state tournament played against teams on their caliber, star midfielder Grant Masterson gave the most diplomatic of answers.

“It is what it is,” Masterson said. “Notre Dame is a good opponent. We were placed in the M bracket so all we just did was do our jobs. Notre Dame is a good team. We had our chance in the FCIAC.”

Wilton almost had the most humbling of outcomes eight days earlier when it showed up flat for a quarterfinal game against Daniel Hand, needed a tying goal in the final seconds of regulation and escaped with a 10-9 overtime win.

No chance the Warriors were going to show up flat today. They jumped out to a 4-1 lead, were up 12-4 at the half and scored eight straight goals after the break.

“I think that was a great lesson for us,” Masterson said. “That Hand game really showed us you can’t walk through any team. We were sleeping obviously that game and that scared us and kind of made us practice harder and work harder for the championship today.”

Ben Calabrese and Charlie Rath each scored three times for Wilton. Mike Wall finished with two goals and five assists. Spencer Liston dominated draw controls.

When the season started Jake Sommer was coming off a football injury. Masterson was lost in the third game with a knee injury and did not return until the playoff win over Staples. Wilton is a much different team than the one from two months ago.

That made Pearsall’s final coaching move of the season all the more compelling.

“It was like the final farewell,” said Sommer, a punishing defender headed to Notre Dame. “A lot of people don’t have the opportunity to play in college like some other people on the team do. It’s that one last hurrah as a class and just a great accomplishment for every single person. It’s not just a team win for the guys on the field but also the guys off the field, on the bench. It’s one giant team effort and I’m so proud of every person.”

Wilton got off to a 4-0 start before a 12-goal loss to Chaminade (NY). Two of its next three games were losses to Staples and Darien.

“At the beginning of the season we were coming out slow for some reason,” Pearsall said. “We shortened our warmup, tried to find out what was going on and change it. We came out in the last two games pretty fast. We just seem to play better offensively playing fast. It seems a little careless at times and causes more turnovers than we would like but that’s the way our offense plays better. Trying to generate as many shots as we can. So that was a learning curve for us throughout the season, our defense buckled down and we have one of the best goalies if not the best goalie in the state.”

Pearsall, who was referring to Colin Lenskold, said with Wilton’s enrollment it might be a while before it is a Class L school again. Hopefully today will be the final piece of evidence the state needs so lacrosse goes the ice hockey route, with three divisions, the top inclusive of all the state’s top teams.

“No disrespect to any of the teams in the M class, it is just something we’re used to playing different teams, we’re used to playing the L class teams,” Pearsall said. “That’s where we want to be at the end of the season, against Staples and Darien and Ridgefield and Greenwich and New Canaan. Those are our rivals and you want to play them as many times as possible. We got moved down this year. We don’t have a protocol in place to appeal that yet but I’m going to talk to some of the guys on the lacrosse committee in the fall and see if we can put a protocol in place.”

It has been almost a decade between titles, so when the final whistle sounded the Wilton celebration rightfully had the same fervor as if the decision was by one goal to an FCIAC opponent.

“It finally feels good, senior year, to pump one out,” Sommer said.