Ridgefield, Staples top final state girls soccer poll; Greenwich, Danbury highlight boys soccer poll for FCIAC

Ridgefield and Staples were ranked first and second, respectively, in the final coaches Class LL-L girls’ soccer state poll.

Greenwich and Danbury were the FCIAC teams in the Top 10 of the last Class LL-L boys’ soccer state poll.

Ridgefield and Staples both advanced to the championship game of the 2018 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Girls Class LL Soccer Championships and Ridgefield’s Tigers defended their title with a 1-0 victory in a rematch of the previous year’s Class LL final which Ridgefield won by a 2-1 margin.

Consequently, Ridgefield received all four first-place votes to earn the No. 1 ranking. Coach Iain Golding’s seventh-seeded Tigers shut out all five of their opponents in the state tournament and outscored them by 13-0 margin.

The Tigers finished 21-2-1, winning their final 11 games since they dropped to 10-2-1 with their 2-1 loss at St. Joseph on Oct. 15. Ridgefield captured its third FCIAC championship in four years with a 1-0 victory over New Canaan on Nov. 1.

Fifth-seeded Staples outscored its first four opponents in Class LL state tournament by an 8-2 margin, culminating with a 1-0 victory over top-seeded Glastonbury in the semifinals.

Glastonbury was ranked third in the final Class LL-L girls poll and followed by Tolland and Newtown.

St. Joseph was ranked sixth – the third FCIAC team among the top six.

Southington was seventh, Simsbury and Southington finished tied for eighth and Farmington completed the girls Class LL-L Top 10.

Fairfield Warde coach Tom Cunningham was one of the four coaches on the girls’ poll.

Glastonbury was ranked No. 1 in the final Class LL-L boys’ soccer state poll. Glastonbury, which received 13 of the 14 first-place votes, won the CIAC Boys Class LL Soccer Championships with a convincing 5-0 victory over Pomperaug.

Daniel Hand, which won the Class L crown with a 1-0 victory over Maloney, received the other first-place vote.

Greenwich and Danbury were ranked eighth and 10th respectively.

Hall was No. 3 and followed by East Hartford, Maloney, Wethersfield and Pomperaug.

Avon was ranked ninth, after Greenwich and in front of Danbury.

Staples coach Dan Woog, Norwalk coach Chris Laughton and Wilton coach Jim Lewicki were the FCIAC coaches among the 14 total statewide who voted on the poll.

Trumbull, which won the FCIAC championship on Nov. 1 with a 1-0 victory over Danbury, received the 15th most points in the polling and was the only FCIAC team among the eight teams in the “Others receiving votes” category.

Greenwich and Danbury both advanced to the quarterfinals as the conference teams which made the deepest run in the Class LL state tournament. Eventual champion Glastonbury, which was seeded eighth, advanced to the semifinals with a 1-0 victory over 16th-seeded Greenwich. East Hartford, seeded 19th, eliminated sixth-seeded Danbury, 2-1, via the format of penalty kicks (5-4).

Glastonbury eliminated ninth-seeded Trumbull, 2-0, in the second round.

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