As Greenwich High School boys lacrosse coach said, Wednesday’s game against Stamford in the first round of the CIAC Class LL Tournament, “was a tale of two halves.”

A much-improved Stamford team held the lead on the Cardinals at some points of the first half and entered halftime in a 5-5 tie with Greenwich in the matchup at Cardinal Stadium.

Yet the second half belonged to the Cardinals.

Sixth-seeded Greenwich opened up a lead in the second half, behind a big third quarter and never looked back, defeating Stamford, 13-6 in the Class LL Tournament opener.

Greenwich visits rival New Canaan today in the 3 p.m. Class LL quarterfinals. New Canaan, seeded third, beat Bristol Eastern/Bristol Central, 16-2, in its first-round matchup.

Junior attack Mike Brescia recorded three goals and four assists, while junior attackman Conrad Burki had a hat trick with two assists and junior attack Colin Zeller posted three goals to power Greenwich past Stamford, which played GHS to a 5-5 deadlock in the first half.

“It was a tale of two halves,” Lutz said. “That happened the first time we played them, but they’ve gotten a lot better from the first time we played them. They’re good. I teach at Stamford and I teach a bunch of those kids. They believe that they can come in and win and that’s how they played.”

The Cardinals topped the Black Knights, 12-6 during the regular season in a game that was also close in the opening half.

“Last time – it was 3-2 at halftime and them we scored eight goals in the third quarter and put it away, so this was similar to that,” Lutz noted. “We had our opportunities and the defense locked it down in the second half. No one scored until a few seconds left.”

Sophomore Dean Kim recorded a hat trick, while senior Andrue Borrelli registered one goal and one assist for the Cardinals, who received one assist each from sophomore Boden Farmer and senior Adam Kim.

The Cardinals and Black Knights were tied at 2-2 with just under two minutes remaining in the first quarter, then Stamford took a 3-2 edge into the second quarter. A goal at the 6:40 mark put the Black Knights up, 4-2.

Brescia converted a shot from a few yards out, making it 4-3 with 6:03 left in the second quarter. Zeller went top shelf with his perimeter shot, evening the score at 4-4 at the 4:03 mark.

Brescia’s shot found its mark as he was falling to the artificial turf, giving GHS a 5-4 lead. Stamford knotted the score with 1:26 in the second period, before Greenwich began rolling offensively and defensively, in the third quarter.

“It was our composure that helped us,” Brescia said. “At halftime, our coaches said, ‘we’re okay,’ stick to our stuff, stick to our game plan. We picked up the execution, fixed some little things, talked through some stuff and we played with a lot of heart and fight in the second half that propelled us to victory.”

Junior Ilan Amaro made six saves for Greenwich, which received nine faceoff wins from senior Lane Critchell.

“It’s a great way to send off our seniors, because it’s our last game at Cardinal Stadium,” Brescia noted. “We hope to continue on a high note at New Canaan.”

Stamford’s second half goal didn’t come until there were just several seconds left in the game.

“We really came out firing as a defense, we came out firing as a defense in the first half,” GHS senior defender Adam Kim said. “We knew they were a good back-cutting team, but I think it just slipped our mind when we tried to play a little over aggressive and not play how we usually play. The second half we calmed down as a defense and let the simple stuff we work on every day take over.”

“None of us we really nervous, we’ve been in that situation many times this year,” Adam Kim continued regarding the Cards’ second half surge. “It was just whether or not we would fight back and play with each other.”

Lutz appreciated the defense’s overall performance, especially the second half.

“No one scored until a few seconds left,” Lutz said. “Adam Kim is just fun to watch. He’s a pleasure to coach. He made Second Team All-FCIAC. I’m proud he got recognition for that.”

Lutz also discussed the Cards’ offense, ignited by Brescia.

“Mikey is a gamer, we get so much out of him,” Lutz noted. “Pound-for-pound he’s got to be one of the best players in the country. Colin stepped up and our team had a sense of calm and composure.”

“This was a good tune-up game for New Canaan,” Lutz added. “We battled, it was a good game against a tough Stamford team. I’m really proud of the team. I didn’t want the seniors to end with a home loss and I didn’t want them to end on a sloppy game. They battled, so it was fun to watch.”