Top-seeded Greenwich held a significant possession advantage against eighth-seeded Ridgefield in the quarterfinal-round of the FCIAC Boys Soccer Tournament, yet the teams were even on the scoreboard at halftime in this scoreless postseason matchup.

However, on this day, one goal would be enough for the Cardinals, who have made shutting out the opposition a habit.

Senior Matthew Maloney’s goal in the 50th minute lifted No. 1-seeded Greenwich to a 1-0 win over eighth-seeded Ridgefield on Wednesday at Cardinal Stadium. The one-goal win propelled the Cardinals into today’s 5 p.m. FCIAC semifinals, where they will play fifth-seeded Brien McMahon at Fairfield Warde High School. In the other FCIAC semifinal, sixth-seeded Danbury plays seventh-seeded Stamford, also at Warde, at 3 p.m.

Greenwich enters the FCIAC Tournament semifinals unbeaten with a record of 12-0-3. The Cardinals are riding a seven-game winning streak, while winning all seven games by a shutout in the process.

“That is our sixth or seventh clean sheet in a row, it shows the backline is holding up,” Greenwich coach Kurt Putnam said of his squad’s shutout streak.

Maloney, one of the Cardinals’ captains, scored the game-winning goal in the 50th minute – 30:25 remaining in the second half – off a well-executed cross from senior forward Santiago Lattuada. A midfielder/forward Maloney finished off Lattuada’s cross nicely, depositing his header from the right side inside the left post, giving Greenwich a 1-0 lead.

“The first half, I feel like we dominated the play, we just couldn’t finish,” Maloney said. “But in the second half I got the lucky ball from Santi (Lattuada).”

“Santi is dangerous on the wing, he gets by everyone,” Maloney continued. “When he gets to the corner with the cross coming in, they’re usually pretty good and I just put it in. It felt great, to put my team up in the first FCIAC game and put us into a win felt great.”

The scoreless opening half saw Maloney and Lattuada help the Cards keep the pressure on the Tigers, with Lattuada and Maloney creating several chances. Ridgefield defenders Liam Kristan and Roman Holian were kept busy throughout the matchup, with GHS efficiently generating shots on goal and scoring chances.

“They played a good game, they came with a good game plan,” Putnam said of Ridgefield. “They tried marking and were physical. We went into halftime at 0-0. I thought the first half we played really well. I don’t think we played as well in the second half as we did the first half. They started to creep into the game a little bit more.”

Though the Tigers had a couple of opportunities in the second half, they couldn’t light the scoreboard, as GHS posted yet another clean sheet. Greenwich has shut out seven straight opponents and has 11 clean sheets on the season.

Senior captain Miguel Leon earned another shutout win in goal for the Cards, while senior Finn Hugh-Jones, senior Pietro Carvalho and senior Juan Bruzzone were among some of the athletes that led Greenwich’s defensive effort.

“The midfielders played a great game, we played good out of the back and the team is clicking,” Maloney said. “Moving forward, we have to work on that final ball, the final finish.”

“I think we deserved to win, we just didn’t do it in a way that would have been a lot less stressful than what it needed to be,” Putnam noted. “But I can’t ever fault the boys for their effort or work rate. “I just think when we get ourselves in those positions we need to capitalize a bit more.”

And the Cardinals hope to create and capitalize on those opportunities in today’s FCIAC semifinal versus Brien McMahon.