Blue was the color of choice for Greenwich High School’s girls lacrosse team on Tuesday, as they donned sky blue warmup pinnies prior to its game against Stamford to honor the life and memory of former lacrosse player Emily Catherine Fedorko.

During Tuesday’s game against Stamford at Cardinal Stadium, bracelets were sold, as the Greenwich lacrosse program raised money for the Emily Catherine Fedorko Foundation – a family foundation that provides funding to spread education, advocacy and awareness of boating and water sports safety for adults and children, throughout Connecticut and nationwide.

The foundation was created by Pamela and Joseph Fedorko to honor the life of their 16-year old daughter Emily, who lost her life during a tragic water tubing accident in the summer of 2014 in Greenwich. Emily was a standout lacrosse player and gymnast at Greenwich High School.

Peter Simpson, Greenwich’s girls junior varsity coach, made a speech to honor Emily Fedorko during the pregame ceremony.

Simpson coached Emily Fedorko in lacrosse.

“I’ve been here for 16 years and every girl that has played for me has been one of my girls,” Simpson said. “Emily is no exception, we still all miss her. I’m so proud of the program, so proud of the captain’s parents, the booster club, the team’s moms, who continue to recognize this special girl and her parents.”

“Emily was one of those athletes a coach loves,” Simpson continued. “She was a leader by example, by hard work and coachability. As a defender, she was always on the biggest and best defender on the other team and she always dominated. She was a great teammate, everyone on the field loved her. Emily is the reason for being here today, but the real story behind the headlines are what Pam and Joe Fedorko have done with this tragedy. They are saving lives every day.”

The Emily Catherine Fedorko Foundation is a foundation that provides funding and education, advocacy, awareness for boating and water safety for adults and children throughout Connecticut and nationwide and all proceeds raised Tuesday benefited the foundation.

Tuesday’s matchup saw the Cardinals play with great intensity and efficiency against the Black Knights on their way to registering a 15-4 victory – a win that raised its overall record to 5-1.

Sophomore midfielder Emma Abbazia recorded four goals and three assists to pace Greenwich’s offense. Senior midfielder/captain Noey Johnson had a hat trick with one assist to ignite the team’s production, while junior attack Cece Tauber also had three goals and one assist for the Cardinals, who jumped out to an 11-1 first half lead.

“Today was an awesome game and I think that had to do with the tribute to Emily Fedorko,” said Johnson, one of the Cardinals’ four captains. “Everyone was super excited to play in her honor and everyone worked so hard today and we came out and did everything we could. It’s an awesome tradition every year we do, hopefully we can do it every year.”

Freshman attack Aubrey Roth scored twice, freshman attack MK Frey had two goals and one assist and Flynn Tauber, also a freshman attack, added one goal and one assist in the winning effort.

“I thought today was a great game, I always love playing for something greater than ourselves,” Greenwich junior captain/midfielder Sophia Neitzell said. “I honestly think it’s my favorite game of the year, so I was so happy about our performance. I think we’re working really hard to play together more. We’re looking for more assists and I think that’s what we were practicing for.”

Said Cardinals senior midfielder/captain Annabel Koven: “I love how we all got the blue pinnies, it united our team and reminded us what we were playing for. As they said, this is always the most important game for our team and as a community and I really value this tradition. It’s good for not only the team dynamic, but the whole lacrosse community.”

For Stamford (4-4), Alana Goldhaber scored three goals and Alex Butler had a goal. Sophomore Kate Janis got the start in goal for the Cards, making several saves.

“We came out today and we had fun with it,” Greenwich junior defender/captain MK Savio said of Emily Fedorko Day. “Our whole team worked up the confidence. We were aggressive and we were having fun and I think as the other captains mentioned, playing for something bigger than ourselves, but that hits close to home, really brought us together and that we played as one.”

“It was a very strong performance,” GHS coach Tara Clough said. “I’m really excited about the level of energy, the success we had off the draw. “We were determined to come up with every 50/50 ball possession and rebound we could and we did off the bat and it made a difference. There was a lot of effort from a number of different players. Defensively, we came out with a plan and we executed. Stamford has very strong athletes and a lot of talent and a great coach.”

Clough was pleased to see the program continue its tradition of holding Emily Fedorko Day.

“The greatest thing about today is that we were playing for something greater than our team and our program,” Clough said. “We were playing for Emily, her family, her friends and it was just a great celebration and a great victory for the team.”

To support the Emily Catherine Fedorko Foundation and the “Emily’s Chimes” Restoration Project at Tod’s Point visit: http://www.emsway.org