When Sacred Heart Greenwich’s Varsity A lacrosse team faced Darien in 2023, the Blue Wave pulled out a one-goal win, scoring the game-winning goal with only eight seconds remaining and in 2024, Darien was victorious in a tight, two-goal matchup. However, the third time was, indeed, the charm when the Tigers hosted the Blue Wave at Sheehan Field for another lacrosse showdown on May 6.

In an intense, physical duel in which both teams had their moments, Sacred Heart Greenwich’s Varsity A team earned a win that it was hoping to attain for quite some time.

Receiving a team-high four goals from senior captain Daphne Fallon, two goals from freshman Peyla Carcaterra and a one-goal, 10 draw control effort from senior Charley Bacigalupo, Sacred Heart topped Darien, one of the top-ranked teams in the nation, 9-8.

“We’ve been waiting for this moment for the last three years,” said Bacigalupo, a midfielder/captain. It’s such a good feeling, we were so prepared and so excited for this game. Going into it, we had so much energy and I’m so proud of the girls.”

With the Tigers holding a 9-8 lead and the Blue Wave with possession in the final 30-plus seconds of play, the hosts made a big defensive stand, with each defender focused on the task at hand and goalie Olivia Franco poised and prepared.

“It’s such an awesome feeling, the past couple of years we’ve come so close and Darien is such a talented team and it’s been such a challenge to be able to get the win,” said Fallon, a captain, who sparked the Tigers’ attack throughout this back-and-forth matchup. “To be able to come together this year and stay super disciplined is such a rewarding feeling.”

The dramatic victory against one of their rival opponents raised Sacred Heart’s record to 12-2 heading into their Senior Day game versus Taft Schoon on Saturday (May 10).

“The team’s motto for the year is ‘want it more,’ and I don’t think they ever gave up in this game,” SHG head coach Jackie Goldmann said. “This is a game that we come in confident and in year’s past we’ve fallen short. They bought into a plan, they were dialed in and our goalies played phenomenal. We contained them in their offense. We’re really proud of them.”

Coached by Lisa Lindley, Darien entered the game ranked No. 3 in the USA Lacrosse High School Girls National Top 25 Rankings and now holds a record of 11-2 for the season. Senior attack Caleigh Cummiskey recorded a team-best four goals, while Hope Hapgood, also a senior tallied twice for the Blue Wave, who trailed the Tigers, 6-5, at halftime.

Immediately after stopping Darien on its last possession and the buzzer sounded ending the game, it was time to rejoice for SHG, which had the Blue Wave marked on their team schedule all season. Sacred Heart’s defenders knew they had to be at their best against Darien’s potent offense – especially in the waning moments when the visitors were trailing by one goal.

“You know they are going to drive, so it’s all about getting your footwork right, instead of just giving them the easy pass on the doorstep, everyone needs to be where they are,” Sacred Heart senior defender/captain Maddy Hartnett said of the mindset defensively in the final moments of action.

Junior midfielder Georgia Lillis assisted on four goals, sophomore midfielder Maggie Sweeney had one goal and one assist and sophomore Addy Callaway, a defender, also had one goal for the Tigers. Eighth grader Lily Sullivan, who took the Tigers’ draws, had two draw controls, helping teammates such as Bacigalupo, gain the draw controls.

“It was just confidence that Charley was going to be able to get it and trusting that our circle that we were going to outwork them,” Sullivan said. “We put in so much practice and we knew this was our time to show out what we practiced.”

Goldmann has appreciated Sullivan’s effort and performance at the circle.

“The key to the game is possession,” Goldmann noted. “Lily Sullivan, once again, holding owning the draw circle – you wouldn’t think she’s an eighth grader. Her poise in their – as a coach, you are really proud of her at that age and it’s a really big stage to be on. She came up with some draw controls and took care of the ball.”

Junior Addy Flinchbaugh made four saves in the first half and sophomore Olivia Franco stopped six shots in the second half for Sacred Heart. The duo stepped up in key moments, making several saves off Blue Wave 8-meter shots.

“I’m obviously really happy, one of my goals at the beginning of the season was to beat Darien, so it’s definitely big for us to achieve that goal,” Franco said.

Hartnett, Callaway, senior Morgan Sfreddo, junior Mackenna Kelly, junior Casey Smith and junior Torin Witek were among some of the defensive standouts for SHG in this down-to-the-wire matchup.

“We’ve had the potential to play like this all year and obviously, it worked out,” Sfreddo said. “It was so much fun, that was what we were looking forward to all season. We like the high competition game. What was key for us today, was just to play as a team.”

Junior Anna Von Kennel scored the game’s first goal, converting a free position attempt, giving Darien a 1-0 lead. After Sacred Heart tied the score at 1-1 with a shot off an 8-meter attempt, went ahead, 3-1, on two straight goals from Cummiskey, the second of which came with 5:45 remaining in the opening quarter.

Capitalizing on a Blue Wave turnover, Bacigalupo converted a shot, then tallied in transition, knotting the score at 3-3 with just two seconds left in the first quarter. At the 8:53 mark of the second quarter, Carcaterra gave SHG its first lead, scoring off a pass from Lillis, making it 4-3.

Lillis set Fallon up for a tally with 5:50 to go in the second period, making it 5-3 in favor of the Tigers.

“Their defense plays a very high pressure backer and it’s really hard when you’re tired to keep moving and everyone did a great job the whole time of moving the ball and moving their feet,” Bacigalupo noted. “It’s not an easy defense to go up against.”

Darien scored two consecutive goals off 8-meter shots following Sacred Heart fouls, tying the score at 5-5. Cummiskey converted the second shot, which knotted the score with 48.5 seconds left in the second quarter.

Yet the Tigers went into halftime with the lead, courtesy of Fallon, who scored on a free position shot with 25.9 seconds remaining in the second period.

The home team played from in front during a low scoring second half, which saw each team score three goals.

“We started a new defense, which is rover, we actually used it a lot last year, but we were able to apply it this year and we really held them down, which was one of the keys that we were practicing in our pregame practice,” Hartnett said of the Tigers’ defensive game plan.

“Every player on their attack is a threat, so our job is to hold them,” Goldmann noted. “We fouled a little bit, but in the second half we were moving our feet a little bit more. We were a little more disciplined.”

Fallon scored off another Lillis assist at the 7:05 mark of the third quarter, putting the Tigers on top, 7-5. A goal by Sweeney with 4:54 left in the third quarter upped Sacred Heart’s advantage to 8-5. Hapgood brought Darien to within 8-6 with 2:44 left to play in the third period, but Fallon gave SHG the momentum heading into the final quarter with another goal with less than a minute remaining, making it 9-6.

Senior Katie Walsh and Hapgood scored in the fourth quarter, cutting Sacred Heart’s lead to 9-8, making the final moments of the game especially dramatic.

Sfreddo gathered a key ground ball in the final minutes of action and the Tigers’ group of defenders came up clutch, along with Franco in goal.

“Nothing is possible without defense and they gave us the energy to carry through the whole entire game we were firing each other up and we were all there to support each other,” Franco noted.

Said Witek, who was also active on defense throughout: “It was a great game, it was really intense. Obviously, Darien is a strong team, we knew that coming in. But I think as a team we did a great job of preparing for them. We watched their games, we scouted them, we were ready to play them. As a team, we did amazing under pressure, we listed to our coaches and played disciplined.”

“This was a win that we deserved,” Witek continued. “For me, the emotion was high, especially when you play on defense. When you let up a goal you get upset, but you just have to play as a team, understand that mistakes happen and that you just have to keep pushing no matter what.”

Said Fallon: “In the last minutes we had the ball, it got turned over a couple of times, but we just stayed calm. I had total trust in my defense, even though Darien had the ball, I knew we were going to come out with the win. They were going to stay strong and stable. It was super exciting in those last seconds to know that we were going to get the win.”

Sacred Heart hosts Taft on Senior Day May 10 at 3 p.m. The Tigers will then travel to Hotchkiss School on May 14.

“We want to finish strong, we have a week-and-a-half left and we want to use every opportunity to play our best,” Sfreddo said.

“It’s been a close game the past three years that we played them, this is our first win, which is super exciting,” Bacigalupo said. “Every year it’s a great game and I’m super happy that we came out on top this year.”

Photos by Antonio Monteiro/06878 Photography: To the left, Sacred Heart’s defense at work. To the right, SHG goalie Addy Flinchbaugh makes a save against Darien.

Photos by Antonio Monteiro: To the left, Mackenna Kelly of Sacred Heart in action versus Darien. To the right, Addie Callaway (No. 4) and Charley Bacigalupo (No. 3) get ready for Darien to take a free position shot.

For even more pictures from Sacred Heart Greenwich’s lacrosse game against Darien, click on the following link https://www.06878photography.com/lacrosse—sacred-heart-greenwich-varsity-girls-vs-darien-high-school-varsity-girls-at-sacred-heart-