Time had expired, but Friday’s game between FCIAC field hockey rivals Greenwich High School and Wilton was prolonged due to the completion of a Cardinals penalty corner, which GHS was determined to capitalize on.

“We all were locked in, we were not willing to end this game without the ball in the goal,” Greenwich coach Megan Wax said following the Cardinals’ matchup against Wilton at Cardinal Stadium.

The Cardinals did, indeed, end the game with the ball in the goal, pulling out a dramatic victory.

Positioned at the left post, Niene Boezen got her stick on the ball off a rebound and knocked it into the cage, giving Greenwich an exciting 2-1 win over visiting Wilton with no time remaining in regulation.

“It was awesome, I never thought I would score on this team, because I’m a defender,” said Boezen, a junior, who is in her first season on the team. “It was a really good dribble from my teammate and she got a corner and we scored. It’s great.”

There was a discussion between the officials regarding the goal off the penalty corner, but the goal was allowed and Greenwich had its win – its fourth of the season. The triumph was Greenwich’s fourth of the season and its second in a row.

Greenwich’s record stands at 4-3 and it has defeated four FCIAC opponents – Fairfield Warde, Danbury, Norwalk and Wilton. On the game-winning goal, junior Emilia Arroyo drew the penalty corner as time expired in the fourth quarter.

“A great job by our whole team to stay mentally locked in,” Wax said of the penalty corner to end the game. “We were down a person for five minutes. Instead of deflating, we did a good job of getting possession of the ball and understanding clock management.”

“Emi (Arroyo) did a fabulous job of pushing the breakaway and being aware of time, counting down in her head and knowing that she needed to get a corner, because she couldn’t get a shot off fast enough,” Wax continued.

Senior Kate Donnellan, one of the Cardinals’ captains, gave GHS a 1-0 lead with a goal at the 3:42 mark of the first quarter.

“We came into the game pretty hot with a goal and then we lost a little momentum when they scored,” said Donnellan, who captains the team along with seniors Sofia Klingbeil, Isabel Pol and Stella Thibeault. “But toward the third quarter we got our momentum back and we were back into the game.”

The Warriors knotted the score at 1-1 when senior Mary Sylvester tallied with 4:10 remaining in the second quarter.

“Wilton is a phenomenal program, we’re evenly matched and it could go either way,” Wax said. “We love playing them. Both teams played with a lot of fire. When they would be a little bit faster, the next five minutes, we would be a little bit faster. The whole game went that way until the clock literally went to zeroes.”

Claire Moskowitz, a junior, got the win in goal for the Cards, who were paced defensively by Niene Boezen, junior Lillian Evers, junior Julia Lattuada, senior Lexi Carino and others.

Wax was pleased with the Cards’ performance throughout this back-and-forth matchup.

“We were playing fast and we were moving the ball fast,” Wax noted. “We actually had to play a little bit smarter in the second half and not necessarily send the ball as soon as we had it. We needed to draw the defenders out and I think we made that adjustment well in the second half.”

Niene and her sister Anne Boezen, a sophomore, are from the Netherlands.

“I really like it, it’s a lot different than I’m used to,” Niene Boezen said of her first season on the squad. “It’s a new experience. There are a lot of nice girls and they support me.”

The upcoming week will be busy for GHS. They will host rival New Canaan on Tuesday, visit Ridgefield on Thursday and host Westhill Saturday.

“Darien was a really tough loss, we had a rough first quarter and we had to come back from it the rest of the game,” Donnellan noted. “The rest of the game we were playing just as good as them. We need to keep the momentum from this win and our past win.”