DARIEN, Conn. — This was supposed to be a "transition" year for the Darien Blue Wave girls lacrosse team — a season in which the team that is always in contention for Connecticut’s top ranking would be ripe for the picking.
Then again, you should never bet against the Blue Wave.
With Tuesday’s wild 15-13 victory over the Greenwich Cardinals, Darien not only owns a perfect 6-0 record, it’s also beaten the rest of the FCIAC’s "Big Four." With wins against New Canaan and Wilton already in the books, Tuesday’s victory means that not much stands in the way of the Blue Wave and the conference’s top ranking for 2010.
This wasn’t the way it was pictured a month ago, when opponents were salivating at the thought of a Wave team loaded in just one category: Inexperience.
"Last year we graduated nine starters, so it was a little shaky at the beginning because we needed to find out who was going to go in what spots," senior co-captain Cali Ceglarski said. "But our coaches did a great job filling the open holes that we had and we had a full bench of kids who have some experience."
Head coach Lisa Lindley said this year’s team is different from past Wave squads.
"It is different because I graduated 10 seniors and I only have three returning starters," Lindley said. "I have very inexperienced players. They’re starting now and they haven’t had any varsity experience. That’s different for us."
Darien did have a head start with two top-notch senior captains in Ceglarski and Liz Calby. Ceglarski was an All-American midfielder as a junior when she racked up 60 points on 44 goals and 16 assists. Ceglarski has committed to play lacrosse at Boston College next year, joining assistant coach Caroline Maguire, a former Wave standout from the DHS Class of 2002.
Calby returned at attack after leading Darien in scoring last spring. Calby scored 55 goals and had 29 assists for 84 points as the Wave won the FCIAC and State Division I championships. The task for the captains this season was difficult, as Lindley said there was a period of adjustment.
"In the beginning it was a little daunting for them because this is a different Darien team," Lindley said. "We all had to adjust our expectations and as a coach, I had to adjust the way we were going to play. After they accepted that, they moved on and they’re handling it well. They’re good leaders, they’ve been captains in other sports and they’re good for us."
For Ceglarski, carrying the program’s years of success on their shoulders is a unique challenge for the seniors.
"There definitely is pressure from year to year," Ceglarski said. "I remember my freshman year — I couldn’t imagine being a senior. There’s a lot of tradition in our school and we always say, ‘Tradition never graduates.’ That’s what we said when we came into the huddle. It can put a lot of pressure on us but it’s good and we always step up."
The offense has certainly stepped up so far this season, as the Blue Wave boasts an arsenal of weapons. Through the first six games, Calby leads the team with 28 points on 14 goals and 14 assists, while Ceglarski is next with 20 points on 14 goals and six assists.
Throw into the mix players such as senior attacks Ann Fucigna (13 goals, 5 assists) and Lanning McDonald (11 goals, 5 assists), along with junior attack Ellie Bullitt (9 goals, 6 assists) and senior midfielder Corinne Sommi (7 goals, 7 assists) and Darien has had no trouble finding the net.
"My offense is the strong point of this team," Lindley said. "I have seven to nine players who can score at any given time. So I wasn’t really concerned about my offense."
That much has been evident during the wins against FCIAC teams. In the home contest versus rival New Canaan (3-2), a team Darien beat in last season’s FCIAC and State finals, Calby led the way with six points on three goals and three assists, while Sommi had a hat trick in the 12-7 game. Against Wilton, it was Fucigna leading with four goals and one assist, while Calby had three goals and three assists, and senior midfielder Paige Gasparino had a hat trick. Ceglarski added two goals and three assists, as the Wave won, 16-9.
Then against Greenwich, Ceglarski had four goals, McDonald had a hat trick and two assists, and Sommi added three more goals. The Cardinals (3-1) hung tough with the Wave for much of the game, which was tied at 12-12 later in the second half. McDonald then cut to the net, took a feed from Fucigna and scored the go-ahead goal with 6:01 remaining. Sommi added a pair of goals in the final 4:29 as Darien won by two.
Defensively, the Blue Wave features three seniors: Cat Thomas, Leanne Stone and Alex Bair, along with junior Olivia Taylor, sophomore Galen Rohn, and freshman goalie Caylee Waters. Waters has been a pleasant find for Darien, as she was unbreakable against New Canaan and has played well this season.
"She’s a freshman and she’s awesome," Ceglarski said. "Coming into that position is hard, especially for a freshman, but she has a lot of confidence, which is good. I don’t know how she does it but she has a lot of moxie. She isn’t afraid to try new things. She’s very, very quick and she’s just naturally a very good goalie."
After beating rival New Canaan, Ceglarski pointed out that the season is still young and everyone has time to perfect their games before the postseason. The same can be said of all the Wave’s victims so far.
"It was really hard because when we see them in playoffs, they’ll be a totally different team," Ceglarski said of New Canaan. "We had our ups and downs today and so did they, but they’ll weed out a lot of those mistakes by the end of the year. The team that we played today is not going to be the team that we play in the playoffs."
As for being a senior in the storied program, Ceglarski admitted, "It’s a little bittersweet. Our senior class is really strong. We lost a lot of great leaders, but I think we’ve been able to replace them. There are some new people stepping up into leadership roles and it’s working out well."
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.
