By Dave Stewart
MaxPreps.com
DARIEN, Conn. - In there’s anything the past week should teach followers of Connecticut lacrosse, it’s to expect the unexpected.
During a four-day span beginning last Wednesday, the New Fairfield Rebels upset FCIAC boys lacrosse powerhouse Ridgefield 17-14; the New Canaan girls defeated Wilton for the first time in 10 years in a 14-13 overtime thriller; the Darien girls finally knocked off Greenwich Academy 15-14 after two years of disappointment; and lastly, the Greenwich Cardinals defeated the Darien Blue Wave boys, 8-7, for their first win over their conference rivals since the 1988 season.
The Greenwich victory in Darien was the latest achievement for the Cardinal program, which is 10-1 in a year in which its defending its first FCIAC championship. Darien, which came into the game undefeated and had the state’s top ranking, is also 10-1.
The Blue Wave defense actually kept the high-flying Cardinals from scoring in the first and fourth quarters, but Greenwich did enough damage in the middle frames to earn the one-goal win.
Darien led 1-0 after the first quarter, and the teams then traded goals throughout the second quarter. Greenwich seniors Tucker Stafford and Ryan Benincasa scored back-to-back goals 11 seconds apart midway through the second to give the Cardinals there first lead at 3-2, but Colin Delaney answered for Darien to tie the score.
Stafford got the lead back for the Cards when he scored off a feed from junior midfielder Jared Horowitz with 6:53 remaining in the half.
Darien junior middie Nikki Dysenchuk, who had a hat trick, knotted the game at 4-4 with 13.2 seconds on the clock as the teams appeared to be heading to the break deadlocked. But Benincasa won the ensuing faceoff, charged the net and scored with 2.2 seconds remaining for a 5-4 Greenwich lead.
Greenwich’s Sean Sutton and Dysenchuk gave their respective teams goals early in the third quarter, but the Cardinals’ sophomore midfielder Colin Dunster scored back-to-back at the 3:37 and 11:26 marks to give the Cardinals an 8-5 cushion heading into the fourth quarter.
That would be all the scoring for Greenwich, but the defense, led by seniors Jonathan Meyers, Brian Milazzo, Bob Sullivan, Tyler Gwozdz and goalie Kyle Feeney (13 saves), held the Wave to one goal over the final 21 minutes to clinch the victory.
Stafford, Benincasa and Dunster each finished with two goals, while Horowitz had a goal and an assist and Sutton had one goal. For Darien, Dysenchuk had three goals and an assist, Delaney had two goals and an assist, and senior Mike Ryan had two goals. Wave goalie Jameson Love made 11 saves.
Rebels Bump Tigers in Battle of Unbeatens
The Ridgefield Tigers were on one end of an upset earlier this year when they defeated the Greenwich Cardinals, 10-7. Last Wednesday, the Tigers got a taste of their own medicine.
Eight players scored and Sean Macey racked up five goals as the New Fairfield Rebels remained perfect with a 17-13 victory over Ridgefield at Tiger Hollow. The Rebels, who improved to 10-0, scored four consecutive goals to take a 5-1 lead later in the first quarter and were never headed.
Ridgefield closed the gap to 8-5 at halftime, but had no answer for the Rebels’ offense, which scored five goals in the third and four in the fourth en route to the win.
In addition to Macey’s five goals, New Fairfield had three goals and an assist from CJ Constabile, who will play at Duke next year, and a hat trick from Andrew Fiamengo. Corey Calvin scored twice, and Andrew Kearner, Matt Jablonski, Mike Hopkins and Matt Murphy each scored once. Goalie Nick Constabile made 14 saves to get the win.
For Ridgefield, which fell to 10-1, Matt White had four goals and two assists, and Colin Scott had two goals and five assists. Jordan Tiger, Brendan Walsh and Mike Galione each scored twice, Matt Baker scored once, and goalie Brad DePalma made 10 saves.
Stevenson’s Goal Propels Wave Past Gators, 15-14
Whenever the Darien Blue Wave and Greenwich Academy girls lacrosse teams get together, it’s always a thrill-a-minute ride. This year, the annual battle was of epic proportions.
Darien’s Sam Stevenson scored with 42 seconds remaining as the Blue Wave edged the Gators, 15-14, in a seesaw battle at Greenwich Academy Saturday.
The game saw numerous lead changes and no fewer than 11 ties as neither team managed to build a lead of more than two goals. Darien had a 2-0 lead in the first two minutes after Caroline Spillane scored the game’s first two goals.
GA’s Katherine Pujol responded with two goals of her own to tie the game at 2-2.
The Blue Wave later went up 5-3, but the Gators came back to take an 8-7 lead by halftime.
In the second half, Greenwich Academy took a 10-8 lead with just under 20 minutes to play on goals from Natasha Kingshott and Sophie Kleinert, but the Blue Wave held a 7-4 advantage the rest of the game.
The winning goal was set up by Bennett, who fed Stevenson in front of the GA cage for the score.
The victory kept Darien undefeated in Connecticut at 10-0. It’s only losses have come to Suffern and Lakeland, both of New York. Greenwich Academy suffered its first loss and is now 13-1.
Spillane and Bennett led the Blue wave in scoring with four goals apiece, and Bennett also had two assists. Stevenson had three goals and two assists; Amy Marchesi had a goal and three assists; Liz Calby had a goal and an assist, and Caroline Frelinghuysen and Kim Davis also scored.
For the Gators, Pujol finished with five goals; Jackie Klauberg scored four; Kingshott had two goals and three assists; Kleinert scored twice; and Taylor Gattinella scored once.
Ram Girls Work Overtime, Beat Wilton
The last time the New Canaan Rams had beaten the Wilton Warriors in girls lacrosse, Kristin Wood was a junior for the Warriors. Ten years later, Wood is the head coach of the Rams, who finally beat the Warriors 14-13 in overtime last Friday at WHS.
New Canaan sophomore Alexandra Crerend and junior Jenny Simpson scored back-to-back goals in the second three-minute OT period to put the Rams up by two on the way to the victory.
The Rams led for much of the game, but the Warriors fought back numerous times.
After Wilton scored first, New Canaan rallied for four straight goals to take a 4-1 lead at the 16:31 mark of the first half. Wilton got back to within two at 6-4 by haftime and tied the game 6:52 into the second half on two goals by Kacie Johnson.
Simpson and Crerend scored the next two goals to make it 8-6 for the Rams, who then led 9-7 with 12 minutes to play.
Wilton still had some life left, however, and scored three consecutive goals to take its first lead in more than 38 minutes at 10-9 with 7:35 remaining.
Veronica Lizzio tied the score a couple of minutes later and Kacey Pippitt got the lead back for New Canaan with 4:43 remaining.
Brooke Flanagan tied it for Wilton with 4:27 to play, and when Johnson scored her fifth goal with just 33.5 seconds remaining, it appeared the Warriors were going to get the victory.
But Lizzio earned a free position with 10 seconds on the clock and flipped a pass to Simpson, who scored the equalizer with 7.2 seconds on the clock.
After the first three minutes of overtime were scoreless, Crerend scored off a pass from Lizzio 33 seconds into the second period. Simpson then scored on a free position with 59 seconds left for a 14-12 lead.
Flanagan made it a one-goal game with 23 seconds remaining, but Lizzio picked up a ground ball after the draw and New Canaan was able to run the clock out.
The victory gave New Canaan records of 8-3 overall and 5-3 in the FCIAC, while Wilton fell to 8-2 overall and 6-2 in the conference.
Dave Stewart, the Sports Editor of the New Canaan (Conn.) Advertiser, is a MaxPreps.com writer and photographer. He may be reached at 203-966-9541 or at sports@ncadvertiser.com
