Greenwich High boys lacrosse team edged by FCIAC rival Darien at Cardinal Stadium

By David Fierro on May 15, 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

**Photo by David Fierro:** Colin Zeller of Greenwich High School’s boys lacrosse team looks to make a move while possessing the ball during a varsity lacrosse game against Darien at Cardinal Stadium. The Blue Wave defeated the Cardinals, 12-9.

Mikey Brescia’s goal with 6:44 remaining in the fourth quarter gave Greenwich High School’s boys lacrosse team a two-goal lead on rival Darien at Cardinal Stadium on May 11, putting the Cardinals close to earning an especially significant victory.

Yet the Blue Wave are a powerhouse team for a reason and they proceeded to finish the game strong, ending the fourth quarter with five consecutive goals to secure a hard-fought 12-9 win under the lights at Cardinal Stadium.

The victory, coupled with a 13-2 win over Seton Hall Prep gives Darien a five-game winning streak and a record of 11-5 heading into the FCIAC Tournament. Seeded second, Darien will host seventh-seeded St. Joseph in Saturday’s 3 p.m. FCIAC Tournament quarterfinals. Greenwich, which carried an 8-7 record going into today’s road game against non-conference foe Carmel High School, is seeded sixth in the FCIAC Tournament and will travel to third-seeded Ridgefield High School in Friday’s 5 p.m. quarterfinal-round game.

Photo by David Fierro: Darien’s Porter Barnett looks to move the ball while being defended by Greenwich’s George Weiksner.

In the Cardinals’ matchup against the Blue Wave on May 11, junior midfielder/attack Colin Zeller scored three goals, senior Jimmy Flinn recorded two goals and one assist, junior attackman Conrad Burki tallied twice and junior attack Mikey Brescia had one goal and three assists for GHS.

“I can’t say enough about the effort and heart of this team,” Brescia said. “I’m really proud of our guys, we battled the full minutes. We showed a lot, it was not the outcome we were looking for but I’m really proud.”

Sophomore attack Dean Kim added a goal and senior midfielder Jake Duda assisted on a goal for the Cardinals, who trailed the Blue Wave, 4-1, following the first quarter, then rallied to close to within 5-4 at halftime.

Greenwich High School’s Dean Kim in action during a recent night game against Darien at Cardinal Stadium.

“I’m beyond proud of the boys,” Greenwich coach Bobby Lutz said. “We showed a lot of improvement not only for this game, but for the postseason. I’m proud of them that we came that close.”

Greenwich scored the game’s first goal, then senior midfielder Briggs McGuckin tallied off a dodge at with 4:04 to go in the opening quarter, evening the score at 1-1.

Sophomore attack Benjamin Blodeau picked up a ground ball close to the Cardinals’ goal and tallied, putting the Blue Wave on top, 2-1, at the 1:06 mark of the first quarter.

Cole Critchell of the Cardinals varsity boys lacrosse team in action against FCIAC rival Darien High School.

Flinn scored Greenwich’s first goal of the second quarter, making it 4-2, then after Darien tallied in transition, Zeller converted two straight shots, cutting the Blue Wave lead to 5-4 at halftime.

A goal by Dean Kim off a Brescia pass brought GHS to within 6-5 with 2:35 left to play in the third quarter. Flinn scored a man-up goal and Brescia notched another goal, giving Greenwich a 7-6 lead with 1:26 to go in the third period.

“I think we’re starting to click, a lot of guys dug deep and good things happened,” Brescia said. “We’re super excited, we know we can hang with any team in the state and we’re not going to let the opportunity go to waste.”

Photo by David Fierro: Max McBride of Darien looks to pass the ball while being defended by Greenwich’s Teddy Johnson.

With 10:55 left in the fourth quarter, Zeller scored, making it 8-6 in favor of the Cards. Later in the quarter with the Blue Wave trailing 9-7, the visitors scored at the 5:16 mark to make it a one-goal game.

Just 1:58 remained in the game when sophomore attack Ryan Thurlow caught a pass and put a shot from close in past GHS goalie Ilan Amaro, giving the Blue Wave a 10-9 edge.

McGuckin and senior Elliott Lancaster in the final minute of action, gave Darien a 12-9 advantage.

Darien’s Morgan Ruppenstein looks to make a move with the ball while being defended by Greenwich’s Boden Farmer.

“It was a really strong effort for almost the whole game then we kind of fell apart a little for a minute at the end and they were able to capitalize on it,” Greenwich senior midfielder Lane Critchell said.

Critchell won 16 of the 24 faceoffs he took for Greenwich versus the Blue Wave.

“That’s really heartbreaking, we know we can hang with the top teams and we showed it, we were up by two goals and had an opportunity go to up by three goals,” Lane Critchell noted. “There is still a lot of stuff we can work on in practice. We are only going up from here.”

Boden Farmer of the Cardinals boys varsity team in action during an FCIAC matchup against Darien.

Amaro had a stellar game in goal, making 14 saves for the hosts.

“We had all week to prepare and the boys implemented the game plan as well as possible, but a couple of miscues and costly turnovers at the end allowed Darien to get back in it,” Lutz said.

The Blue Wave were held to six goals the first three quarters, then tallied six times in the pivotal fourth quarter.

“There’s definitely things we can take away from it,” GHS senior defender Cole Critchell said. “There were great times and bad times, one of the things we have focused on this season is not getting too high, not getting too low.”