Experienced Ridgefield takes down Prep
FAIRFIELD — A mere 10 months later, a lot of the faces in black and orange looked very familiar.
Colsey brothers putting the ball in the net. Big saves from Matt Shepard. Kai Prohaszka taking care of clears. Ridgefield had a lot of the band back together Saturday in a 14-10 season-opening win at Fairfield Prep, a rematch of last year’s Class L final.
“Nobody on the field today was a new guy,” Tigers coach Roy Colsey said. “The guys that are supporting them are new, but as far as the guys going out there, it’s the same crew.
“That’s why I have expectations that we won’t make as many mistakes as we did.”
Neither coach was thrilled with some of the errors, forced and unforced, at Rafferty Stadium. Each thought his team could have been tougher on ground balls, but Colsey and Jesuits coach Graham Niemi both liked the effort.
“We’ve got to make smarter decisions,” said Ridgefield senior attackman Ryan Colsey, Roy’s eldest son, who scored five goals. “We definitely had some dumb decisions, myself included, that we’ve got to clean up. It’s being smarter with the ball and smarter on clears.”
The Tigers are ranked second to Darien in the preseason GameTimeCT Top 10 Poll. Fairfield Prep, still young at some key positions, is one spot behind.
“We’ve had eight practices and three scrimmages, and I think we’ve gotten better,” Niemi said. “The Iona scrimmage was not good. I thought we were better next against Choate, better Wednesday against Darien, better today than Wednesday.
“We fouled a little too much. I don’t think we executed on offense the way I think we want to.”
The Jesuits were hit with four and a half minutes of penalty time in the first half; Ridgefield was 3-for-5 while a man up in the first 24 minutes. “Some were not supersmart by us, but they drew some fouls, and they’re tough turning the corner. They’re very physical with the ball,” Niemi said. “They’re senior-heavy, and it showed.”
Ridgefield won the Class L final 8-5 over Fairfield Prep on June 12 at Trumbull.
Like that day, Fairfield Prep had a lead early. The Jesuits scored the first two goals Saturday and led 3-1. Ridgefield scored the next four goals.
“Once we had the possession time in our favor, we started scoring a lot more,” Ryan Colsey said. “We knew that, going into this game, that nobody’s stopping our offense this year, so I think once we had possession, we were rocking and rolling.”
Both goalies, Shepard for Ridgefield and Greg Hilinski for the Jesuits, made a few tough saves.
Roy Colsey said the Tigers had a strange first couple of weeks of practice, with weather forcing them inside more than they’d like.
“That’s a tough opener but also a good opportunity, right? We’ve got some things to work on that were weaknesses, some things we knew were strengths,” the coach said. “If we get better every time we step on the field, we’ll be dangerous in the end of the year. That’s really all I care about.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Ridgefield senior attackman Ryan Colsey scored five goals and added an assist.
QUOTABLE
“That film is going to be really valuable for us to watch and improve on.” — Ridgefield coach Roy Colsey