DARIEN, Conn. - When the spring season wrapped up with its state final games on June 20, the winner’s circle had a familiar site: The Darien Blue Wave celebrating a pair of lacrosse championships.
The Darien boys bounced back from an overtime loss to Ridgefield in the FCIAC final, reeled off four consecutive victories and claimed the Class M crown with a decisive 17-11 win over league rival Wilton at Brien McMahon High School.
In Trumbull later that afternoon, the Darien girls made it a three-peat as they doubled up rival New Canaan, 16-8, in the state Division I lacrosse final.
The double championships mark the third consecutive year that the Blue Wave has added two lacrosse titles to the school trophy case. While the girls have won three straight championships, the boys have done just a little better, having won the last five Class M crowns.
The boys’ final was close early on as Wilton’s Michael Francia and Michael Serpa traded goals with Darien’s Case Matheis and Nikki Dysenchuk for a 2-2 tie in the first quarter. The Blue Wave took over with a five-goal run to make it 7-2. The rally included two goals each from John Bolton and Chas Brickman, and one from Bryan Annechino.
The Warriors managed to cut the deficit to four by halftime and made it 10-8 with 1:38 remaining in the third quarter. However, Darien scored the last goal of the third frame and outscored Wilton 6-3 in the fourth to nail down the victory.
For Darien (18-5), Brickman and Bolton led the offense with four goals each, and Brickman added two assists. Matheis had a hat trick, Dysenchuk had two goals and three assists, Annechino scored twice and Tyler Foley and Matt Wheelock had one goal apiece. Goalie Andrew West made 14 saves.
For Wilton (16-6), Serpa had two goals and an assist and Francia had two goals. Peter McMahon and Jonathon Andrews each had a goal and an assist, and Charles Cornbrooks, Joe Reardon, Kyle Sullivan, Gavin Woolard and Scott Thompson also scored. Goalie James Fuller racked up 18 saves in the loss.
The Darien girls had to hold off a persistent New Canaan squad in the state final, as the two rivals had a tooth-and-nail battle for the FCIAC crown just two weeks ago, with the Wave eventually edging ahead for a 10-9 decision
The state final was similar for awhile, as New Canaan fought back from an early 5-0 deficit to make it 7-6 with less than 15 minutes remaining. Darien then went on a 6-2 run to break the game open, and scored the final four goals for a 16-8 victory.
Courtney Bennett, Cali Ceglarski, Liz Calby and Sam Stevenson all had hat tricks for the Wave (19-2), while Amy Marchesi scored twice and Clemmi Little and Kat Nestor scored one each. Bennett also had four assists, and Nestor had two, while goalie Phoebe Maglathlin made seven saves.
For the New Canaan Rams (18-5), Jenny Simpson had three goals and two assists, Anjalie Christie scored twice, Meg Boland and Veronica Lizzio had one goal and one assist apiece, and Kacey Pippitt scored once. Goalie Charlotte Spitzfaden collected 12 saves.
