Darien, the five-time defending FCIAC champion, is ranked No. 1 in the current state coaches poll and is seeded No. 1 in the 2023 FCIAC Field Hockey Tournament which begins on Friday.
The Blue Wave, also the defending Class L state champion, was the unanimous choice for No. 1 while leading a group of five FCIAC teams in the Connecticut Coaches Top 10 High School Field Hockey Poll which was just released Oct. 25.
Three conference teams – Darien, Staples, and Ridgefield – are ranked among the top five.
Darien, which ended its regular season with a 15-1 record and was unbeaten against state competition, received all seven first-place votes for 140 polling points and had 26 more points than No. 2 Daniel Hand (15-0).
Staples (14-1-0-1) is ranked third and followed by No. 4 North Branford (16-0), fifth-ranked Ridgefield (12-2-0-1), Glastonbury (11-2), FCIAC member and No. 7 Wilton (11-4), eighth-ranked Canton (14-0), Pomperaug (11-2-1-1), and No. 10 Greenwich (11-3-0-2) popped up into the poll to become the fifth FCIAC team among the Top 10.
The eight teams and the matchups for the opening quarterfinal round of the FCIAC tournament were just finalized at the conclusion of the regular season on Oct. 25. The quarterfinals were set to begin on Oct. 27 at the home fields of Darien, Staples, Ridgefield, and Greenwich, the top four seeds in the tourney.
The Friday quarterfinals, with seedings based on conference records, were scheduled to have top-seeded Darien hosting No. 8 Fairfield Ludlowe (7-6-0-1) at 3 p.m., No. 7 New Canaan (9-5-0-0) at No. 2 Staples at 4 p.m., No. 6 Norwalk (9-5-0-0) at No. 3 Ridgefield at 3:30 p.m., and No. 5 Wilton at No. 4 Greenwich at 2 p.m.
The semifinal doubleheader and championship game will be played at Brien McMahon High School’s Jack Casagrande Field, the same field where Darien won its fifth consecutive FCIAC championship with a 3-0 victory over Staples last year. The semifinal games on Monday, Oct. 30, will be played at 5 o’clock and 7 o’clock. Faceoff for Thursday’s championship (Nov. 2) is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Darien lost several excellent seniors to graduation from last year’s team which finished 23-0 after its 4-0 victory over Wilton in the championship game of the 2022 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class L Field Hockey Tournament. But with the Blue Wave, there is never really a rebuilding situation with the program as it is basically a case of reloading. And that has certainly been the case this year.
Darien’s potent offense averaged 6.6 goals per game while outscoring its 14 conference opponents by a combined 93-9, including six games in which the Blue Wave scored at least 10 goals and seven games Darien won by shutout.
Darien withstood a strong challenge from Staples during a 3-2 home victory on Oct. 2. The Blue Wave also registered home victories of 4-1 over Ridgefield and 2-0 over Greenwich, and won at Wilton, 2-1.
In other showdowns involving the other four FCIAC teams ranked in the state Top 10 poll: Staples shut out Wilton, 7-0, and most recently had a pair of 2-1 victories at home over Greenwich and at Ridgefield (OT); Ridgefield won at Greenwich in overtime, 2-1; Greenwich won at Wilton, 4-1; and Wilton nipped Ridgefield, 3-2.
This year’s CIAC Class L tournament begins with qualifying rounds on Nov. 6. The first round begins Nov. 8, and the Nov. 18 state championship game (a Saturday) will be played at the Wethersfield High School Field Turf Complex.