Playing one of its most complete games of the season, nearly put the Greenwich High School field hockey team into the championship gam of the FCIAC Tournament.

The fourth-seeded Cardinals held a one-goal lead over top-seeded Darien with less than four minutes remaining in the FCIAC Tournament semifinals on Wednesday night at chilly Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk.

Yet Darien, which entered the game undefeated against FCIAC opponents, scored twice in a 1:22 span on its way to pulling out a hard-fought 3-2 win over Greenwich in an exciting FCIAC semifinal-round matchup.

Second-seeded Staples edged Ridgefield, 3-2, in Wednesday’s other FCIAC semifinal in a game that was decided in a shootout, after two overtime periods were played. Darien then topped Staples, 3-0, Friday night to capture its sixth straight FCIAC Tournament title.

The Blue Wave have claimed 15 FCIAC Tournament championships overall. Greenwich certainly gave Darien all it could handle in the FCIAC semifinals, as it was on the verge earning an appearance in the FCIAC final for the first time since the 2006 season.

“This is the best we’ve ever played in the entire season – maybe the past three, four years,” said Greenwich senior Hanna Klingbeil, who assisted on a goal and helped pace the squad’s offense. “Obviously, it was a tragic loss, we were there the whole time. We were right there.”

Darien senior Blake Wilks powered her team back into the conference tournament’s championship game, scoring all three goals for a hat trick.

Wilks’ game-winning goal came off a hard drive with only 2:11 remaining in the fourth quarter, giving Darien (18-1-0-0) a 3-2 lead.

“We were going to the left side and it came into me as we passed the middle,” Wilks said of her game-winner. “And I just knew I had to put it in. It was obviously our last shot of winning. We’ve been working so hard and I knew I had to take a shot and it went in, so I was really lucky.”

Greenwich (11-4-0-2) received one goal apiece from sophomore Clara Ojea Quintana and sophomore Emilia Arroyo. With 12:02 remaining in the third quarter, Arroyo put the Cardinals ahead, tallying off a penalty corner, giving GHS a 2-1 edge.

“The team played fantastic,” said Greenwich coach Megan Wax, whose squad was edged by Darien, 2-0, in the regular season in a game that was shortened due to inclement weather. “Today, we executed really, really well. We had high energy, a can-do mentality and they were willing to put it all on the field.”

Wilks gave the Blue Wave a 1-0 lead when she scored off a pass from junior Katie Bock at the 10:42 mark of the first period. That would be the only goal Darien managed against Greenwich and senior goalie Kelly Janssen until the fourth quarter. With 8:24 to go in the second quarter, Ojea Quintana scored from close in off an assist from junior Kate Donnellan, making it 1-1.

Janssen made 11 saves, five in the third quarter for Greenwich. She made several stops during penalty corner situations.

“The reason this loss hurts so much was because I am so proud of each and everyone today, we did everything that we have been working towards,” Janssen said. “Whether it was moving the ball, hitting it up, putting pressure on them and not giving up.”

Senior JJ Maher started in goal for Darien, then sophomore Ella Cherenek took over in goal for the Blue Wave in the second half. The Darien goalies combined for six saves. For the game, Darien took 10 penalty corners.

“It was an incredible game, it was an incredible team effort,” said Minicus, who cited junior Kate Bogdan and senior Katie Savino for sparking the Blue Wave. “You knew it was going to come down to a game like this. Greenwich is filled with talent and they’re a great team, they’re well-coached. When we were down 2-1 in the fourth quarter. I said, we’re already losing, let’s get more offensive. We kind of shifted things around a little bit and Blake just pulled these goals out of her pocket.”

The Blue Wave tied the score on a penalty corner with 3:33 left in the final quarter, courtesy of Wilks. Receiving the ball on the left side of the circle off a pass from senior Ashley Stockdale, Wilks unleased a hard reverse shot that found its mark in the corner of the cage, evening the score at 2-2.

“She made it happen when it counted,” Darien coach Mo Minicus said of Wilks. “Her second, brilliant goal was a reverse shot – that’s her shot. She made it happen when the game was on the line.”

Donnellan had four interceptions for Greenwich, as did Hanna Klingbeil. Sofia Klingbeil, a junior, had three interceptions, while Arroyo had the most for GHS with five. Ojea Quintana, junior Stella Thibeault and sophomore Julia Lattuada had two interceptions apiece for Greenwich.

“We focused a lot on defense this week,” Wax noted. “Once you get to the playoffs you are playing fantastic players. You are playing girls that know how to score and can do so efficiently. The whole team was playing defense today and I was really pleased.”

The Cards had to compensate after senior starter Liv Caminiti, who was playing standout defense, was sidelined in the second half against Darien after injuring her hand.

“Liv hurt her hand and I was proud of the way the team shifted, we moved some girls around to new positions and they did so swiftly,” Wax noted. “Kelly made outstanding save after save. She did awesome.”

Up next for Greenwich is the CIAC Class L Tournament. The Cardinals earned the No. 7 seed in the Class L Tournament and will host No. 10 Newtown in Wednesday’s 2 p.m. first-round game at Cardinal Stadium. Sixteen teams qualified for the Class L tourney, so if the Cardinals defeat Newtown on Wednesday they are off to the quarterfinals.

“I feel like everyone knows now that we’re a very competitive team and we’re going to come out really strong in states,” Hanna Klingbeil said.

“We are right there with the best teams and it’s anybody’s game,” Kelly Janssen noted. “I’m confident that we can and will go as far as we can in the state tournament.”