Ruden Sports News

Field Hockey

Staples And Darien To Meet In FCIAC Final For Third Straight Year

John Nash

10.26.2024

For the third straight season, the Staples and Darien field hockey programs will meet for the FCIAC championship.

The top-seeded Wreckers and second-seeded Blue Wave took their spots with semifinal shutout victories. Top-seeded Staples defeated No. 4 Greenwich, 3-0, in the first game of the day at Wilton’s Fujitani Field before second-seeded Darien topped No. 3 Fairfield Ludowe by the same 3-0 score in the nightcap.

The Wreckers and Blue Wave will return to Wilton on Tuesday for the FCIAC championship.

The Blue Wave will be chasing its seventh straight (non-COVID season) league championship.

“Our girls came to play today,” Darien coach Mo Minicus said. “I thought our ball movement today was just beautiful. I just think we need to convert. We had so many chances in the the circle. We just need to do a better job at closing.”

Thankfully, the Blue Wave had Kate Bock to do just that.

The senior, playing in her final FCIAC tournament, scored all three of Darien’s goal to clinch the victory.

“Kate’s awesome,” Minicus said. “I mean she’s just the quarterback of our offense and she does what she can do to make things always happen.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Bock netted Darien’s first goal just 1:01 into the second quarter.

Later in the half, she turned a Kiley Liddell shot into a rebound to make it a 2-0 game with 5:45 to play in the half.

Her third goalie came midway through the third quarter on a scramble in front of the Ludlowe cage.

“It’s really awesome,” Bock said. “We knew we wanted to start out strong and that makes all the difference in our game. It felt so great for me to score those goals, but we’ve practiced a lot of corners where the balls are supposed to go to me and I think those reps are paying off.”

Meanwhile, Darien’s defense was simply splendid in front of goalie Ella Cherenek (4 saves).

Behind defenders Kate Bogden, Molly Fagan, Kylie Lindelland and Sarah Kellogg, the Blue Wave pitched another shutout — its 11th of the season.

“They’re really grooving together,” Minicus said. “They’re communicating, they trust each other and they’re starting our attack.”

Ludlowe, an up-and-coming squad, battled with the Blue Wave and had it caught a break at the end of the first half, who knows what might have happened.

The Falcons, trailing 2-0, had two penalty corner opportunities as time expired at the half, but couldn’t find the back of the cage.

“I’m pleased. It would have been nice to put a goal or two in, but I’m pleased with the effort,” Ludlowe coach Laura McClay said. “Again, compared to last year, it’s definitely progress. It’s baby-steps, right?”

The score also could have been much more lop-sided if not for the goalkeeping prowess of Ludlowe’s Erin McNamara, who made 13 saves while dealing with 13 Darien penalty corners.

“She did a really good job,” McClay said.  â€śWe’re so proud of her and this. I’m proud of the effort.”

Earlier in the day, Staples fought its way back into the final despite having rare difficulty finishing plays.

In fact, the Wreckers had 21 penalty corner opportunities but only had seven shots on goal.

Still, it was enough for a win as Mary Stevens scored twice and Alex Hackett scored one.

“I’m only on the post so I have the easiest job in the world,” Stevens said. “I’m not doing a lot of work, but the girls on the team just bring it down.”

Stevens, a fleet-footed wing who usually gets assists from her passes, just found herself in the right place at the right time to get Staples back into the final.

“She usually gets the assists,” Staples coach Ian Tapsall said. “She sets everything up. It was just a question of us being patient and knowing we’ll eventually get it.”

With 23 seconds left in the first half, Stevens scored to give Staples a 1-0 edge.

In the third quarter, Hackett scored to make it a 2-0 game.

On a penalty corner in the final quarter, Staples’ Tyla Ozgen threw a shot on goal that was deflected by Stevens to complete the scoring.

Staples has defeated Darien in their last two meetings.

Last fall, after losing to the Blue Wave in the FCIAC title tilt, the Wreckers won the state Class L title by beating Darien. Earlier this month they also won by a 5-2 count to give the Wreckers a two-game winning streak.

Staples will be going after its first league title since a co-championship in 2019 and an outright championship in 2012.

Image

subscribe to the ruden report for your FCIAC sports news! starting at just $25/year

Subscribe
Image

support the Ruden Report

Purchasing a subscription or upgrading your current one will help us to continue providing premium coverage.
Upgrade Now
Image
If you are encountering issues logging into the site, accessing articles, or managing your subscription, please select "Technical Support" from the "Reason for Email" dropdown in the contact form.

contact us