When the current Connecticut Coaches Field Hockey Top 10 Poll was released Wednesday (Oct. 20) with FCIAC teams ranked in the top three spots, it confirmed that there will indeed be a No. 1-versus-No. 2 showdown of undefeated teams this Friday at the Darien High School Stadium Field at 4 p.m.
Darien and New Canaan are ranked first and second, respectively, while Staples is No. 3 in the current Week 5 poll in a repeat of the same positions in which they were ranked last week.
Darien improved to 14-0-0-0 with its impressive 5-1 victory at home Monday over No. 6 Greenwich while New Canaan also improved to 14-0-0-0 with its 8-0 shutout victory at home over Norwalk.
Darien received all seven first-place votes.
The top five remained unchanged from the previous state poll. Third-ranked Staples has a 10-1-1-0 record and is followed by Hall (9-0-1-0) and Guilford (9-1-0-0).
The FCIAC has four teams ranked among the top six and five in the Top 10. Greenwich (9-3-0-1) moved up two spots from the Week 4 poll even though the Cardinals had that Monday loss at Darien while Ridgefield (9-3-1-0) is ranked 10th after being unranked last week.
Wethersfield (11-0-0-0), Valley Regional (13-0-1-0) and Joel Barlow (11-1-0-0) are ranked 7-through-9.
Friday’s big showdown at Darien will determine which team secures the top seed in the 2021 FCIAC Field Hockey Tournament which commences Oct. 29.
Darien and New Canaan both have 24 points as they have identical 12-0-0-0 conferences records after their wins Monday.
Another way they are similar is they both have been dominant with potent offenses and excellent defenses.
Darien has outscored its opposition by an 87-4 margin for a scoring average of 6.2 goals per game and had 10 victories by shutout.
New Canaan’s Rams have shut out 13 of their 14 opponents while outscoring the opposition 88-1, allowing that lone goal back on Sept. 18 in a 6-1 victory at Fairfield Ludlowe. Their scoring average is 6.3 goals per game.
The Rams have their toughest challenges in their last two games of the regular season as they host third-ranked Staples in the last game of the regular season for both teams Tuesday at 4 p.m. Darien finishes at Westhill on Tuesday.
As for the other FCIAC teams in jockeying for the other six of the eight conference playoff spots: Staples has the third most points (19) in the games played through Oct. 19, Greenwich, Ridgefield, and Wilton each have 17 points, Trumbull has 16, Ludlowe has the eighth most points with 12 and is followed by Norwalk with 10. Ludlowe also has had a pivotal 3-2 home victory over Norwalk on Sept. 23.
The conference tournament begins Oct. 29 with quarterfinal games played at the school sites of the four highest-seeded teams. The semifinals on Nov. 2 and the Nov. 4 championship game will be played at Brien McMahon High School.