FCIAC

Darien defeats Greenwich in FCIAC field hockey tourney

NORWALK — Darien senior Shea van den Broek gave her team a big boost of momentum by scoring three first-half goals against Greenwich in Monday’s FCIAC Field Hockey Tournament semifinals.

As it turned out, the Blue Wave needed each one of those goals.

Seizing a three-goal lead, second-seeded Darien held off a spirited surge from third-seeded Greenwich and held on for a hard-fought 3-2 win at Brien McMahon High School.

Defending FCIAC champion Darien advanced to the conference tournament’s championship game, where it will play top-seeded Staples at McMahon on Thursday at 7 p.m. Staples eliminated fifth-seeded Norwalk in Monday’s other semifinal matchup.

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Trumbull turns back Staples in penalty kicks

FAIRFIELD — After 100 minutes of scoreless soccer Monday night at Taft Field — 200 minutes with the clock running in the playoffs now — Trumbull boys soccer goalie Chris Prizio finally got to the fun part.

“Penalties are so fun. I live for this. I said it last time, I’ll say it this time,” Prizio said after he stopped three out of four Staples shots to help the Eagles advance to their third consecutive FCIAC championship.

Prizio stopped the last three Wreckers after Austin Sholes scored. Jason Weinstein, Dom Zaleski and Justin Horvath tallied for Trumbull.

The teams traded chances in 80 minutes of regulation and had fewer chances in 20 minutes of overtime.

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Staples stops Norwalk, moves on to FCIAC field hockey finals

NORWALK — Opponents of the Staples High School field hockey team couldn’t find the formula to defeat the Wreckers during the regular season, as they rolled to a record of 16-0.

And the surging Wreckers have continued their eye-opening trend in the postseason.

Capitalizing on their signature counter-attack, top-seeded Staples used a two-goal first half to register a 3-1 victory over fifth-seeded Norwalk in the FCIAC Tournament semifinals at Brien McMahon High School.

With the win, the 18-0 Wreckers advanced to the tournament’s championship game, where they will play either second-seeded Darien or No. 3 Greenwich on Thursday at McMahon.

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Ridgefield edges St. Joseph in 2 OT to reach FCIAC final

WILTON — Caitlin Slaminko scored with 2:48 left in the first overtime period to give the Ridgefield High School girls soccer team a 2-1 (2 OT) victory over St. Joseph Monday night in the FCIAC semifinals at Kristine Lilly field.

The win means Ridgefield will be in the FCIAC championship game for the third time in four years.

The Tigers will face either Darien or New Canaan in Thursday’s final at Warde High School.

“Everybody dreams about scoring an overtime goal in the FCIAC or state playoffs,” Slaminko said. “I knew I had to put one in. I’m so happy it went in.”

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Trumbull edges Norwalk in PKs

TRUMBULL — The action between the Trumbull and Norwalk boys soccer teams finally heated up after 100 minutes of play.

After neither team could find the back of the net in regulation and overtime, each side came through in the penalty kick shootout, and the score was 5-5 at one point, before the Bears missed a PK and Eagles goalie Chris Prizio made a key save, helping lift Trumbull to a 7-5 PK victory in the FCIAC quarterfinals on a chilly Friday at Trumbull High.

“I was just trying to do what I needed to do to help the team win,” said Prizio, who made two saves in the shootout. “That’s all that matters.”

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Ludlowe shuts out town rival Warde to advance

FAIRFIELD — Goalkeeping is basically instinct.

See the play develop, follow your gut feeling and try and make the stop.

Ludlowe’s Nicholas Tenreiro did that — twice — and because he did, the Falcons are advancing into the FCIAC boys’ soccer semifinals.

First, Tenreiro slid out to block a shot in close from Warde’s Daniel Villabla, and then lunged to his right to punch away a curving shot from Jacob Deck. Two potential game-changing plays that kept Ludlowe in front and sparked them to a 2-0 win in the FCIAC quarterfinals on a chilly Friday night at Taft Field.

“I was just thinking that I have to make the saves for my team,” Tenreiro said. “I just kept my eye on the ball and reacted accordingly. I just did what I had to do, and I was there for it.”

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Danbury boys work overtime to win in FCIAC quarterfinals

DANBURY — There were several instances, earlier in Friday’s FCIAC quarterfinal game, when Danbury High School boys soccer player Malamin Jallow came agonizingly close to scoring a goal but couldn’t quite capitalize.

With the fate of the Hatters’ season hanging in the balance, Jallow had one more opportunity in overtime.

And he nailed it.

Jallow, a dynamic senior forward, booted home a low shot off an assist from Tiago Dos Reis with less than four minutes remaining in the first of two 10-minute overtime periods to lift the top-seeded Hatters to a 3-2 victory over Brien McMahon, the upset-minded eighth seed.

“We were up two and we let it slip, so we couldn’t let it go down any more,” Jallow said. “It feels good to put one in the net and be moving on.”

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Trinity Catholic goes to the Wing-T, beating Westhill for first win

STAMFORD—Thinking he was going to be leading his team into a game Saturday smack dab in the middle of a nor’easter Saturday, Trinity Catholic coach Donny Panapada dusted off some old playbooks when game planning for Westhill.

The contest was moved to Friday afternoon to avoid playing in the storm but Panapada stuck with the new, old, game plan, busting out the Wing-T offense at J. Walter Kennedy Stadium.

The plan worked to perfection as Trinity got two touchdowns on the ground, pounding the ball all afternoon en route to a 22-7 win over rival Westhill.

It was Trinity’s first win of the season and Panapada could barely contain himself after the final whistle as he spoke about what it meant for his seniors.

“I get emotional because of my seniors. They fought like hell today. We fought all year but we have been overmatched and today we fought and…I just feel so good for these kids,” Panapada said. “We switched up the offense and went back to my old days with some Wing-T. It was some old-school football we played.”

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