By Jim Stout
MaxPreps.com
DARIEN, Conn. --- Most boys lacrosse teams would have been content to go on the road for their first game of the season and lose by a goal to the defending national co-champions.
Most teams would have been happy with a narrow defeat on the road in Game 1 against a defending national co-champ that had already played nine games in its warm, mid-Atlantic environment in North Bethesda, Md.
Most teams would have considered a last-minute, opening day, 8-7, loss at undefeated Georgetown Prep a moral victory. Others, such as Darien, would take exception to such a loss.
Then take its frustration out another venerable opponent.
Playing its first significant match since the loss at Georgetown on April 7, Darien scored eight of the game's first nine goals on Saturday and went on to crush visiting Yorktown, N.Y., 17-6. The win by Darien (2-1) marked the first time it has scored three consecutive victories over Yorktown, the perennial New York Section I, Class A champs.
Yorktown, 4-1, picked an inopportune time to visit Darien and its pristine Fairfield County home.
"We're definitely not used to losing so we wanted to come out here today and take it out on (Yorktown)," Darien senior midfielder Sam Spillane said. "I think we did that. We came out fast. We came out hard. We came out like we wanted to win. And we wanted to be able to make a statement.
"We had a tough loss last weekend," Spillane added. "We thought we could have won that game. We felt as though we outplayed Georgetown Prep. The bounces just didn't go our way in that game."
Darien, the two-time defending Connecticut Class M champs, began the season ranked 11th in the nation in the STX/Inside Lacrosse poll. Considering the Blue Wave lost their opener in the waning minutes to a No.2 Georgetown team that was already 9-0, the ranking may have sold Darien short by more than a few slots.
"We feel as though we're one of the best teams in the country," said Spillane. "We feel as though we can play with anybody. We went into that (Georgetown) game not thinking we wanted to be close with them in the end, but that we were going to win. We outplayed them and could have beaten them. The loss did not sit well."
Thus the Blue Wave stood up for an immediate gut check.
After blasting Danbury by 20-1 earlier in the week, Darien easily had its way with heralded Yorktown.
Colin Delaney scored five goals in the Yorktown win. Mike Ryan netted three goals while Spillane and Nick Heitz each had two goals and three assists to lead Darien's relentless attack.
"We were all pretty upset with that loss to Georgetown Prep," Delaney said.
"Everybody thought we'd be lucky to lose by six goals or less. I thought we had a chance to win that game. Everybody's been doubting us, saying we didn't have as much on offense. We lost a lot on offense, some All-Americans from last year. Sam (Spillane) is our only returning All-American. Our defense has been great and our offense is coming along."
The fact that Darien has reloaded so quickly and effectively from last season is perhaps the most remarkable aspect of its early-season success.
"It really starts down on the youth level," Spillane said.
"Guys on the varsity team donate their time to help the younger kids. We help coach them. Year after year, there are young kids coming up to the high school who are more than ready to step in and help us on the varsity level. Unfortunately for them, some have to start out behind other great players like (graduates) Cooper MacDonnell and Whit McCarthy and Kyle Hollingsworth, but when it comes time for them to step in, they are more than ready."
And Darien was more than ready for Yorktown.
After John Ranagan (3 goals, 1 assist) tied the score for Yorktown at 1-1 with 9:01 remaining in the first quarter, the Blue Wave torched the Huskers with seven unanswered goals in a span of 10 minutes, five seconds. John Bolton scored his second goal of the game on an assist from Heitz to give Darien an 8-1 lead with 9:18 left in the second quarter.
Though Yorktown cut its deficit to 8-4 just prior to intermission, Darien quickly turned back into overdrive for the second half.
"Making a statement like this against a team such as Yorktown is big for us," Spillane said.
"We finally started clicking today. Everyone was talking and playing well and shooting well. We played as a team. You can't underestimate a Yorktown or a Manhasset (next Saturday's opponent here) or any New York team we play. We see them as great competitors and we enjoy coming out here and playing them."
Darien coach Jeff Brameier cited the efforts of Alex Yackery, Tim Clinton, Corey Caputo, John Haire, Kevin Joy and Jon Schoen in helping deny the Yorktown attack, particularly in short-handed situations.
Goalie Jameson Love made nine saves for Darien.
"We played well; we really did a nice job," Brameier said. "Obviously the score indicates that we controlled both sides of the ball. We were very dominant on the defensive end. We were very physical. We didn't give them many scoring chances and we really capitalized on our own scoring opportunities."
In short, the Darien players heard loud and clear the message from their coach following the Georgetown loss.
"We got on (the players) cases this week in practice," Brameier said.
"To me, there was no moral victory down there. We played well, we had the opportunity to win and we didn't take advantage and let it slip away. You can make what you want of the fact that Georgetown had already played nine games but it is what it is. Yeah, we played them tough, but we didn't win. We've got to step up and win those games."
Saturday's performance was a step in the right direction.
Darien/Yorktown Notebook: Rocky Bonitatibus added a goal and three assists for Yorktown, which was coming off a 17-2 rout of a reputable Mahopac, N.Y., side.Next Saturday's game here against Manhasset of Long Island will serve as the MSG-TV game of the week.The Darien-Yorktown game was broadcast live over the Internet by Sporting News Connecticut, with broadcaster Don Boyle handling the play-by-play. A complete rebroadcast of the game may be accessed at the following link: http://www.sportingnewsct.com/lacrosse.htm .The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team practiced at Darien on Saturday afternoon in preparation for its game at Fairfield on Sunday.
Jim Stout is the MaxPreps Master Photographer for the Southern New England area and a Northeast Region columnist. He may be reached at 203-563-2297 or at j.stout@jmstout.org.
