The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Kudos pour in for No. 1 Ridgefield
Heading into the CIAC Class L boys lacrosse tournament, the burning question on everyone’s mind was: Could Darien be beaten?
The Blue Wave, the topranked team in the Game Time CT Top 10 Lacrosse Poll all season, entered the Class L final on Saturday against Ridgefield with a 22-0 season record, a 76game win streak and a shot at a fifth straight CIAC state title. But the Tigers, very familiar with the FCIAC rival Blue Wave, had a game plan.
Ridgefield coach Roy Colsey said the game plan (dominating ball possession and winding down the clock), plus a perfect storm of events within the game, allowed the Tigers to shock the lacrosse world. Wes Carpenter had four goals and Dawson Muller had three goals and two assists to lead No. 6 Ridgefield to a 9-8 win over No. 1 Darien at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk for the Class L title. The Tigers
“It’s been incredible all the people from around the country who have contacted me and congratulated us on the win.” Ridgefield coach Roy Colsey
(16-5) had to hold off a furious late rally by the Blue Wave, who scored four goals in 64 seconds late in the fourth quarter.
While first-place voting in the final GameTimeCT Top 10 poll was spread out among Ridgefield (6), Darien (3) and New Fairfield (2), for their effort the Tigers earned 105 points to finish No. 1. Darien ended up No. 2 with 98 points and New Fairfield, the only unbeaten CIAC team left in the state at 22-0, finished No. 3 with 87.
“It’s been a great couple of days and it’s been amazing,” Colsey said. “I’ve been blown away by the responses and all the texts I have received. I know this was a big win for our school and lacrosse and I know a lot of people in the lacrosse community. But it’s been incredible all the people from around the country who have contacted me and congratulated us on the win.
“Darien is a much more talented team than us, but we have guys with a great lacrosse IQ. We were locked in on every possession and held the ball as long as we could. Then a perfect storm of events happened that benefitted us. Darien put short sticks on two of our attackmen and that helped us. The draws overall were probably 50-50, but our face-off guy, Luke Gaydos, won draws at key moments to put pressure on Darien.”
Muller, Carpenter, Ray Dearth and Noah Gels were among the key players on offense for the Tigers. Defender Noah Isaacson led the Tigers’ defense.
“It’s all kind of sinking in, it’s kind of a glow,” Colsey said. “I’m not surprised other teams got first-place votes. Going into the game I told the players if we play Darien 10 times they probably beat us nine times. But you only have to beat them that one time for the title.
“What makes all this more special for us is Darien’s 76-game win streak. So much credit goes to them for creating a streak that was impressive and got national attention. Beating them for the title means so much more due to that streak.”
Colsey said finishing No. 1 in the Game Time CT poll validates all the hard work and effort the team put into the season.
“I’ve been talking to people about possibly being No. 1 in the poll,” Colsey said. “You never know how voting will go and there are so many good teams out there. But we’re very excited and proud to be No. 1. I know that the kids are going to be very happy about it.”