Darien wins seventh FCIAC girls hockey championship
DARIEN — It has been a long wait for the seniors on the Darien girls hockey team, but the Blue Wave are back on top of the FCIAC.
No. 1 seeded Darien defeated No. 2 New Canaan 3-2 in the FCIAC Championship at Darien Ice House, winning their first title since 2020.
It is Darien’s seventh FCIAC championship.
“It feels amazing, we worked so hard for this and I am so excited right now,” Darien senior Chelsea Donovan said. “It is so hard to beat a team three times and we had to come out with intensity and take it to them.”
Darien (17-1-0) beat New Canaan (17-4-1) twice this season, including a 7-0 drubbing back in December. That loss seemed like a distant memory as New Canaan battled Darien to the final horn, possessing the puck and getting a few looks at the net in the final 30 seconds.
“The way we started this season with no goaltender and graduating six all-county forwards and nine seniors, and everyone had us for dead,” New Canaan coach Rich Bulan said. “Since (goalie) Ashton (Pinkernell) took over, she is 11-2-1 and she saved our season because everybody started playing harder knowing they could make a mistake because we had somebody backing us up.”
Darien scored first on a goal by Parker Krotee, assisted by Skyler Ravosa with 9:11 to go in the first.
New Canaan, the twotime defending FCIAC champions, got the equalizer in the second period on a power play goal by Lexie Tully.
The Blue Wave retook the lead with 6:23 to go in the second when Morgan Massey found the back of the net.
Darien would go up 3-1 on a goal by Donovan 30 seconds into the third period,
New Canaan got within one with 4:17 to play on a
goal by Maddie Tully but could not tie it up again.
For the Darien seniors, winning the FCIAC is just the first piece of the puzzle with the state tournament looming.
“It means a lot to these seniors winning tonight,” Darien coach Jamie Tropsa said. “This group had a rough go of it with COVID, we had a really good team when they were freshmen but we got shut down. Then we had a couple of bad years and things didn't go our way and we lost the five-overtime game. It's nice to see them go out on a high note but they are not finished. The state championship is what they are really focused on.”
The last time Darien won the FCIAC in 2020, the state tournament was canceled before the championship game, so, while the seniors did experience a FCIAC win as freshmen, a state championship trophy has never been lifted over their heads.