State of Grace
Senior goalie Gilman anchors New Canaan’s tough defense
At times this fall, New Canaan’s Grace Gilman has faced a relentless of barrage of shots in a relatively short period of time.
And that’s just from her field hockey teammates.
“For much of the season she’s been the only goalie on our team, so she gets peppered with shots all practice long from some really good forwards on our team,” New Canaan coach Mary Clare Snediker said. “She is such a talented goalie.”
Gilman’s blend of skill, athleticism and anticipation have comtonbury to help turn the Rams’ 2021 season into one of the best defensive performances in the storied program’s history.
The Rams’ defense has allowed just five goals in 21 games and has never surrendered more than one goal in a game, while Gilman has collected 16 shutouts.
New Canaan, the second-ranked team in the coaches poll and the No. 1 seed in Class L, held off Greenwich in a thrilling quarterfinal game 1-0 in double overtime at Dunning Field on Saturday. Gilman made four saves, and was active around the circle, cutting off numerous chances for the Cardinals.
That victory put New Canaan in the state semifinals for the first time since it was the Class M runner-up in 2017. The Rams face No. 5 Glasbined in the semifinals at 6 p.m., Tues., at Pomperaug.
Gilman has had a lot to celebrate off the field, as well, signing her National Letter of Intent to Lehigh University during a ceremony in Waveny House last Wednesday.
“From my freshman year I knew that I wanted to play (in college),” Gilman, who plays for the AGH club program, said. “My club team sends a lot of people to college for field hockey, so I kind of knew what I wanted. I didn’t know the caliber, but I knew I wanted to play in college.
Gilman said she felt comfortable at Lehigh and with the Mountain Hawks’ Div. 1 program, which is led by coach Cailtin Dallmeyer. She’ll be joining her older brother James at the school.
“Immediately when I started talking to the coaches they made me feel like Lehigh was such an amazing school,” Gilman said. “And when I went to meet the team, they were so kind. Everything just felt like home to me.”
“She’s going to be phenomenal there,” Snediker said. “We just had her signing day so we’re really excited to celebrate her commitment. She is just so mentally tough, so athletic, so quick in the cage. We’re really going to miss her next year, but our loss is Lehigh’s gain for sure.”
Gilman gives a lot of credit to her defensive corps, which features Kiera Cooney, Zoey Bennett, Rachel Gilio and Sunny Jane Holland.
“My defense is incredible,” Gilman said. “I couldn’t do it without them.
Kiera Cooney, our centerback, does a great job of communication. Our line has been playing together for two years now and we really jel as a defense.”
The Rams allowed just one goal in their first 14 games, that coming in a 6-1 win over Ludlowe.
The second goal allowed came early in the second half at Darien on Oct. 22, but New Canaan rallied behind goals from Izzy Schuh and
Shawna Ferraro to win 2-1.
That game featured a stellar performance from Gilman, who racked up 12 saves, including eight during the first half.
“She’s come up so huge for us in all of our big games,” Snediker said after the win. “She is just a brick wall back there and it allows my Ds to push up more offensively and help us keep the ball on offense.
“We trust her so much back there.”
The Rams faced Darien again in the FCIAC final and lost a heartbreaker 1-0 in double overtime.
The winning goal came after the ball bounced over a defender’s stick, giving the Wave a 2-on-1 breakaway, with Blake Wilks scoring off a pass from Molly McGuckin. Even on that play, Gilman dove to her right and nearly made an incredible save to keep it scoreless.
The Rams have won two straight since that loss, and the defense is back to posting goose eggs in the first two rounds.
Gilman said losing in the conference final has only made New Canaan more determined in the state playoffs.
“The loss was upsetting,” Gilman said. “But that makes us even hungrier now and we’re going to come out even more powerful for the state tournament. We hope we can get to the championship and if it ends up being the same two teams, we really hope we’re the one on top.”