WAVE WINNER
Darien beats New Canaan for first FCIAC crown since 2019
GREENWICH — The Darien girls lacrosse team has won so many FCIAC championships that it’s somewhat mind-boggling that this year’s senior class had never won the league title.
After runner-up finishes the past two seasons, the Blue Wave is finally bringing the FCIAC crown back home after defeating rival New Canaan 11-7 in the conference final Wednesday at Cardinal Stadium in Greenwich.
Senior Chloe Humphrey scored six goals to earn MVP honors, and the Wave defense all but shut down New Canaan after the Rams had scored the first three goals.
It’s Darien’s first FCIAC title since 2019 and its 19 league crowns are more than the rest of the league combined. Wilton has six, New Canaan has three, including in 2021 and 2022, and Greenwich has one.
This year’s seniors didn’t have a freshman season and then fell to New Canaan in each of the last two FCIAC finals.
“It’s actually crazy to think that this is our first one,” Darien senior co-captain Kaci Benoit said. “But I wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else. We’ve grown as a team together over the past three years and this is an amazing feeling.
“We’ve experienced the losses, so it feels great to be on top.”
The top-seeded Blue Wave remains undefeated at 18-0, and has been ranked No. 1 in the Connecticut Coaches Poll and the Nike/USA Lacrosse National Top 25 since the preseason.
Darien coach Lisa Lindley didn’t mince words when describing this year’s team.
“It’s probably my best team so far,” said Lindley, who reached 500 career wins earlier this
month. “Top to bottom, every position I have pretty strong kids. I think what people don’t understand is how good my defense is. They really did a tremendous job tonight putting pressure on New Canaan.”
No. 2 seed New Canaan (17-3) had the early momentum behind goals from Caroline Underwood, Lexie Tully and Devon Russell in the first 3:28, but Darien rallied for a 7-5 halftime lead and then held the Rams to two goals in the second half.
“The wheels fell off for us,” New Canaan coach Kristin Woods said. “Darien did a great job on the defensive end, pressuring out and we lost composure there in the middle. The momentum changed and we never really got it back.”
Darien junior Kelly Holmes complemented Humphrey’s six goals with a hat trick and one assist. She scored the Wave’s first goal and also tied the game at 3-3.
Sadie Stafford gave Darien its first lead at 5-4 with 6:10 left in the first half, and after New Canaan’s Stella Nolan tied it, Ryan Hapgood and Humphrey scored back-toback for a two-goal lead at halftime.
Russell, who had a hat trick for the Rams, cut the deficit to one goal early in the second, but the Wave scored the next four to put the game out of reach.
Darien’s defense, led by Benoit, Maggie Bellissimo, Morgan Massey, Katie Demark and goalie Hope Schoudel (7 saves), was outstanding and allowed just three goals over the final 35 minutes.
“I cannot give enough credit to our defense,” Humphrey said. “I have never seen a defense in high school as good as they are. They’re the anchor of our team and our offense capitalizes on their defensive stops.”
“We do a really good job on pressuring out and then getting back in and that causes the attackers to get a little frazzled,” Benoit said. “We just shift as a unit and that really works well for us. I can’t wait to work even harder to win states.”
Player of the game
Kaci Benoit, Darien:
Humphrey earned MVP honors, but the Darien defense was also outstanding, with Benoit as one of the leaders. Holding the New Canaan attack to just two-second half goals kept the momentum in the Wave’s corner once they gained the lead.
Quotable
“I’m really proud of them. I actually did not know that (they had not won an FCIAC championship) until the end of yesterday’s practice when it was brought up by our assistant coaches. That’s really interesting and I feel really happy for them.” — Darien coach Lisa Lindley Darien 11, New Canaan 7 New Canaan ........................5 2 — 7 Darien .................................7 4 — 11 Scoring: New Canaan — Devon Russell 3g; Caroline Underwood 2g; Lexie Tully 1g; Stella Nolan 1g. Darien — Chloe Humphrey 6g; Kelly Holmes 3g, 1a; Sadie Stafford 1g, 1a; Ryan Hapgood 1g. Goalies: NC — Ceci Patterson 5 saves; D — Hope Schoudel 7 saves.