Holding a one-goal, third-period lead, while playing inspired hockey, Greenwich was close to earning its first victory of the season Friday evening against FCIAC rival Darien at the much-anticipated Winter Classic at Greenwich Skating Club.

Yet Darien had other plans, scoring the equalizer, then receiving a clutch goal from one its top playmakers – senior forward Charlie Schwind.

Those two late goals resulted in a dramatic comeback win for the Blue Wave.

Schwind scored on a 2-on-1 with only 51.6 remaining in the third period, giving a one-goal lead to Darien, which prevailed against Greenwich in the 2023 Winter Classic at Greenwich Skating Club’s outdoor rink, 5-3. The triumph marked Darien’s fourth straight victory at the Winter Classic after Greenwich won the first two Winter Classic matchups. The Blue Wave lead the outdoor series, at Greenwich Skating Club, 4-2.

With the win, the Blue Wave raised their record to 4-1. The Cardinals, meanwhile, are still seeking their first victory of the season. Greenwich, which also experienced tough one-goal losses to Xavier and North Haven, is 0-4 to start the season. Still, the Cardinals, extracted numerous positive aspects from Friday night’s matchup against Darien, before a large gathering at Greenwich Skating Club.

“This was our best outing so far. Nobody wants to be 0-4, but I think we’ve made progress,” Greenwich coach Jack Duffy said. “We’re up 3-2 late in the game against a team like that, we must be doing some things right. But we haven’t finished the job yet, we haven’t played 45 minutes of hockey. There are a lot of good things to take out of it. Obviously, the boys are down after the loss, but it’s December 29^th, we have a lot way to go.”

Junior captain/forward Joe Lewis registered two goals, while sophomore Teddy Johnson added one goal for Greenwich, which received stellar goaltending from senior Nick Sinisi throughout. The Blue Wave received goals from five different players – senior right wing Elliott Lancaster, junior center Aidan Elders, sophomore left wing Jack Marisca, and Schwind, a senior right winger.

With the score tied at 3-3 heading into the final minute of action, Marisca controlled the puck just before center ice, skated down the left wing and crossed the puck to Schwind, who made a quick move toward the net, before putting using his backhand to snap the puck past Sinisi, giving the Blue Wave a 4-3 lead with just 51.6 seconds left to play. Junior defenseman Connor McNamara was also credited with an assist on the go-head goal.

“Marisca made a great poke check to make it 2-on-1 and we were going down and he slid me a great pass and then I put it to my backhand and tried to put it in,” Schwind said of his go-ahead tally. “Luckily, it went in.”

Schwind entered Friday’s game with four goals through Darien’s first four outings.

“He is a real skilled player, we have him on the ice a lot, with Marisca,” Darien coach Mac Budd said. “At the end of the game, if you can pick two guys to be involved in a play, those are the two of the guys that would certainly be on our list.”

Said Duffy: “It was a 2-on-1 that they executed really well.”

The Blue Wave added a goal with just 23.3 seconds remaining, making it 5-3 and sealing the win in game played in an impressive atmosphere.

“It’s great, we play here every year and we circle it on our calendar every year,” Schwind noted. “We used to play on the ponds outside as kids and it’s just amazing to play in a game like this against Greenwich, which is one of our biggest rivals.”

“It’s always a good game, we look forward to it,” Budd added. “It’s a big deal for us, we always know we’re going to be in for a battle. It doesn’t matter what the records are, it’s a playoff type environment.”

The second period ended in a 2-2 tie, then Lewis gave Greenwich a quick 3-2 lead in the third period. The Cardinals’ co-captain scored off a pass from senior Frank Skibo 22 seconds into the final period, putting his squad ahead, 3-2.

“After the second period, we were talking in the locker room about how much of a privilege it is to be out here and we wanted to put our heads down and get to work.”

The Cardinals, who were coming off a tight 2-1 road loss to North Haven, came out strong, taking a 1-0 first-period edge. Johnson, a forward, snapped a shot from between the circles that whizzed past Darien senior goalie Quinn Kreppein’s stick, giving the hosts a one-goal advantage. Sinisi and Kreppein made several saves in goal for their respective teams during the opening period, with Sinisi helping Greenwich kill off a Blue Wave power play.

“It was a great first period, I thought we were hustling and I thought we were taking the play to them,” Duffy said.

Budd knew his squad had to regroup a bit, following a first-period that concluded with GHS ahead, 1-0.

“You know when you play Greenwich, they are going to come out hard, they are going to be physical, I love the way they play,” Budd said. “That’s not something that we didn’t expect. Hats off to them, they jumped all over us in the first period before we could get going.”

In the second period, Lewis scored his first goal, converting a shot from the left wing and putting Greenwich in front, 2-0, with 14:26 remaining in the frame.

The Blue Wave closed to within 2-1 when Lancaster scored off a pass from Elders at the 11:53 mark of the second period. A power play goal by Elders off an assist by junior center Gavin Samame evened the score at 2-2 with 6:41 left in the second period.

“We came in after the first period, we settled down,” Budd noted. “We haven’t been playing well in the first period. We got it going in the second period, our power play was good, our top two lines did a real nice job – that’s where we got our scoring from. We started to get our rhythm a lot better and started to make progress as the game went along.”

The Cardinals and Blue Wave ended the second period embroiled in an intense 2-2 tie.

“I thought the first and third period were great,” said Greenwich senior defenseman/co-captain Kyle Allen, who helped pace the Cards’ defense, along with sophomore Boden Farmer. “We were getting the puck in deep, we were battling, we just have to play all three periods. We said we were going to get the puck in did and we did that, especially the first five minutes of the third period.”

At the 9:39 mark of the third period, the Blue Wave knotted the score at 3-3 when Marisca tallied – Schwind and Elders were each credited with assists.

“In the beginning of the game, I don’t think we came out as good as we wanted to and they came out flying,” Schwind said. “It was one of our biggest games of the year and coach told us to step it up and play good in all three zones, especially the neutral zone.”

Riding a four-game winning streak, Darien visits Fairfield Ludlowe/Warde on Jan. 7 at Sacred Heart University.

“All four lines have really stepped it up and I think we’ll be able to keep this momentum going,” Schwind said.

“We’re a young team that’s coming together,” Budd said. “We’re happy to get out of it with a ‘W’ and we’re thinking about Fairfield next Sunday.”

Up next for Greenwich is a game against New Canaan on Jan. 6 at Dorothy Hamill Skating Rink. The puck drops at 5:45 p.m.

“The next step is to take a hard look in the mirror these next few days off and put our hats on and get to work,” Lewis said.

“In order for us to play 45 minutes of hockey, we have to stick to what we do,” Allen noted. “If they start get comfortable in our defensive zone, that’s not our brand of hockey. We have to keep getting the puck in and get one guy down low hard, give him some support and get some pucks to the net.”

Duffy reflected on the positive signs he saw from his Cardinals squad.

“Nick Sinisi – he played great, he’s been doing well,” Duffy said. “We’ve been getting good goaltending, I was glad to see that we scored three goals tonight, we are starting to come along there – we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“We get a goal from Teddy Johnson, one of our younger guys, we get two goals from Joe Lewis, one of our captains, that’s the kind of leadership we need and those are some of the positive signs,” Duffy continued. “We have New Canaan next week coming to our place it’s going to be a tough one, but we have to prepare the boys for it.”

As for competing in the Winter Classic at Greenwich Skating Club?

“It’s great every year Greenwich Skating Club hosts this great event,” Duffy said. “We are really lucky to have this game. I know Darien appreciates it, I know our boys appreciate it.”