For the third time this season, the Greenwich High School girls lacrosse team played Ridgefield when the rivals faced each other in Thursday night’s Class L Tournament quarterfinals.

And for the third time this season, the Cardinals prevailed against the Tigers.

Greenwich earned its second postseason victory against Ridgefield, this time in the state tournament. Freshman attack Giselle DiPietro scored a team-high four goals, senior attack Cece Tauber recorded a hat trick and junior midfielder Emma Abbazia tallied two goals and three assists to pace fifth-seeded Greenwich to a 13-8 victory over fourth-seeded Ridgefield in the state quarterfinals at Tiger Hollow Stadium.

The win propelled the Cardinals (12-5) into the Class L Tournament semifinals, where they will play No. 1-seeded/undefeated Darien on Wednesday at a site yet to be announced.

In Thursday evening’s Class L quarterfinals against Ridgefield, Greenwich took a 2-1 lead, behind a goal and an assist by Cece Tauber, then upped its advantage to 5-1. The Cardinals entered halftime ahead of the Tigers, 8-4.

“We had eight of the 13 goals assisted,” Greenwich coach Tara Clough said. “It’s hard to beat a good team three times, but our defense played with discipline in and out of different strategies and our offense moved the ball and went hard to cage.”

Junior MK Frey tallied twice, while junior attack Liv Caminiti and sophomore attack Aubrey Roth each scored one goal in the winning effort. Cece Tauber registered four assists to go along with her four goals.

“Coming out of the gate we had a three-goal lead and we ended the first ahead 8-4,” said Tauber, one of the Cardinals’ captains. “We didn’t let them gain momentum and we fired on all cylinders, both offensively and defensively.”

Abbazia had three draw controls, as did Giselle DiPietro and senior defender Kaitlin Kelly for the Cards. Senior defender/captain MK Savio had a draw control and gathered two groundballs, while senior defender/captain Keira Young had two groundballs and senior defender Sophie Roth collected two groundballs for Greenwich, which lost in the quarterfinal-round of the 2022 Class L Tournament.

Senior goalie Daryl Furno helped spark Greenwich’s stellar defensive effort, making 11 saves against the host Tigers.

“I definitely think we all went into it thinking it’s hard to beat a good team three times and we wanted to prove to ourselves and everyone watching the game that we’re more than capable of beating a great team three times and that’s what we went out there and did,” Savio said.

Greenwich moved into the quarterfinals by defeating No. 12 Staples, 13-5, in the opening round of the Class L tourney.

“We were riding off a high from Staples, which was a great performance by everyone and we took that into today’s game,” Savio noted. “We all wanted to win as a team and that’s what we did.”

“The first half set the tone for the entire game,” Savio continued. “We had a 5-0 run at the beginning and that gave the whole team some confidence and really told us we could do this if we keep going. That’s what our plan was, we didn’t take our foot off the gas and kept rolling with it.”

The Cardinals exhibited a solid approach on both sides of the field throughout their playoff matchup against Ridgefield.

“Towards the end of the first half, we were harping on how offensively, we wanted to slow the ball down, but not slowing the rotation of the ball, so everyone gets a piece of it and the defense of Ridgefield didn’t get too settled,” Cece Tauber said.

Said Clough: “I’m so proud of the progress this team has made. When we trust each other and move the ball, we are amazing.”

Like its offense, Greenwich’s defense has been on point in the state tournament.

“We were hungry to cause the turnovers, because you can’t beat a team without stopping them,” Savio said. “That was our mindset – if we stop the ball we could start the offense.”

So, now the Cardinals get another chance to play Darien – the No. 1-ranked team in the nation. Darien defeated Greenwich, 20-8, during the regular season and recently, beat the Cardinals in the FCIAC Tournament semifinals, 16-2. Greenwich learned plenty from those two matchups against the powerhouse Blue Wave and are eager to meet their FCIAC foe for a third time this spring.

“I love playing Darien, it’s great competition,” Tauber noted. “I relish playing the No. 1 team in the country. It’s great competition for our team and a chance for us to see some high-level players and competitors. I’m definitely very excited.”

“We are going into this game confident,” Savio said. “We have to prepare this week and get ready.”