Boys Soccer...Undefeated...?

By Jay Alter - The Boys Soccer team went to Westhill to open their season against the Vikings under a new coach Jon Bradley, looking to turn the program around. They left the field with a 7-1 loss and an 0-1 record. The wave brushed off the lost and went on to win the next four games and tie the fifth, making their record 4-1-1. The boys had successfully forgot about the 7-1 loss, it was if the game never happened. Well now it literally never happened. The game will forever be remembered as a forfeit by Westhill because of their use of an ineligible player. Westhill must vacate their first three victories, including the one to Darien as the Wave improve to 5 wins and 1 tie and 0 losses. Westhill has appealed to the CIAC, but as of right now the Boys Soccer team stands undefeated and will take on winless Harding this friday (9/30) at home at 4pm.

Darien Field Hockey Beats #1 Ranked Team in Country

By Marguerite Morgan - Despite the loss of thirteen seniors, ten of which were starters, the Darien Varsity field hockey team has thus far continued their winning streak. One of their highlights came this past weekend in Lakeland, New York when the girls defeated the New York team in a tough game with a final score of 4 to 3 on Saturday night. Lakeland had been seeded number one in the country according to the Top of the Circle. A sea of Lakeland fans, all dressed in white, came out to watch their undefeated team battle against the Darien Blue Wave.
The game started off to a shaky start when Lakeland scored the first goal off of a corner shot within the first four minutes of the game. However, sophomore goalie Danika Hornick, kept Darien afloat by denying six continuous shots by Lakeland. Darien retaliated even further when senior Galen Rohn drove the ball from the top of the circle and junior Kat Huber tipped it in for a score of 1 to 1, twelve minutes into the game. Sophomore Hollis Perticone followed suit with another Darien goal. Rohn continued with two more drives–one tipped in by junior Sam Wright and another by Perticone again. Lakeland responded with a drive into the net, but refs declared it was not a goal because it was too high of a shot off of a corner play. Darien was winning 4 to 1 at half time, on their way to continue the nation’s longest unbeaten streak of 69 games.
The second half brought further challenges for Darien as Lakeland’s coach changed her game plan to emphasize on the opponent’s weak spots. Lakeland scored within the first ten minutes of the second half, bringing the score to 4 to 2 Darien. Hornick continued to lead her team to victory when she denied another Lakeland shot and the rebound went wide of the cage. With only two minutes left in the second half, Lakeland scored another goal, bringing the score to 4 to 3. Hornick made another amazing save. Darien rejoiced in victory when the final whistle blew; it was a hard-fought win for Darien. The girls hope to continue their winning streak throughout the remainder of the season. Come support them in their next game against Fairfield Warde at 4:00pm this Friday afternoon in Fairfield!

Girls Soccer Beats Stamford after 2 Losses

By Melanie Tzenova

The Darien Girls’ Varsity soccer team beat Stamford High School 4:1 this afternoon (9/27) after two devastating loses in the past week against Westhill and New Canaan, proving they still have what it takes to maintain a good steady season. The first half started out great, with goals made by captain, senior Marieke Bravo, as well as by seniors Caity Dee and India Tibbetts, leading into halftime 3:0. All the action was kept on the side of the Stamford goal throughout the first half, keeping their goalie on their toes during the first half. The second half continued great with a goal made by sophomore Alex Sheldon, and a goal made by Stamford ending the game with the Blue Wave as clear champs at 4:1. Junior Vanessa Budd applauded the girls for playing well together, saying “We’re always on our feet about every team, and got pumped up for this game and played really well together.”
“Different girls scored goals than the usual, and this game gave the girls a chance to change it up, which benefitted the team as a whole,” Budd said.

The girls’ varsity soccer team will be playing against Trinity Catholic High School this Friday (9/30) at 4 pm. Go cheer the girls soccer team at this away game!

Photo Caption: Senior Caity Dee (#3) kicks the ball past the Stamford goalie in the first half

Photo #2: Sophomore Dillon Schoen making a pass during the first half

DHS BOYS CROSS COUNTRY TEAM DEFEATS STAMFORD, RIDGEFIELD AND ST. JOSEPH HIGH SCHOOLS

DARIEN, September 27, 2011 – The 2011 Darien High School Boys Cross Country Team continued rolling over opponents in its latest quad meet, defeating squads from Stamford, Ridgefield and St. Joseph High Schools. These latest victories, posted at Tuesday’s meet at Trumbull’s St. Joseph High School, extended the team’s undefeated streak, moving their 2011 season record to 8-0.
The Blue Wave’s strong team performance at the meet sealed its victories over the other runners. Darien defeated Stamford 15-50; Ridgefield 15-47, and St. Joseph 15-50.
The Blue Wave had the first five runners to cross the finish line. Co-captain and senior Michael Johnston and freshman Alex Ostberg finished together in 17:17. Co-captains and seniors Charlie Baird and Michael Coe finished third and fourth in 17:34 and 17:40, respectively. Sophomores Marshall Huffman and Peter Kreuch finished fifth and seventh, in 18:07 and 18:12; Co-captain Eli Converse finished 8th in 18:13.
“It was humid so times weren’t great. That’s ok. We just wanted to go in, take care of business and get out,” said Tyson Kaczmarek, DHS head coach.
“We had a very strong showing today,” commented co-captain Michael Coe. “I’m very proud of everyone’s performances. We’re reaching the middle of the season, which can be tough, but as always, we remain optimistic and hardworking.”
The public is encouraged to attend and cheer on the team at next week’s meet at 4 PM on Tuesday, October 4 at Waveny Park in New Canaan, against New Canaan, Fairfield Ludlowe, Harding, Westhill, and Brien McMahon High Schools.

BWXC Breaks Tie to Bring in the Win

By Kat McKay - Tuesday September 27th, the girls cross country team brought home its most important win of the season by beating FCIAC rivals Ridgefield in a nerve-wracking tie. The 3.1 mile race took place at St. Joe’s in Trumbull. Coach Steve Norris described the win as being “in the closest meet you could possibly have.”
Junior Grace Loh pulled in first for the Wave, and second overall, with an unofficial time of 20:50. Junior Sarah Colon finished third overall and second for Darien with a time of 21:04.
In cross country, the first five runners from each team score points. The first place runner scores one point, the second two, and so on. The team with the lowest score wins. At today’s meet, Darien and Ridgefield were tied at 28. “In this case,” said Norris, “the team with the fastest sixth runner wins, and we had the sixth runner with the better time.”
Rounding out the top six in Darien were junior Ellen Bauer (6th place, 21:54), senior McKinley Stauffer (8th place, 22:23), junior Sophie Long (9th place, 22:29), and senior Alex Pear (10th place, 22:30).
Injured senior captain Meredith Ott said, “It was our toughest competition coming into the race and everyone did really well!” Loh, who is one of the league’s best runners, said that “I think we can take the closeness as a good thing. It’s a confidence booster for FCIACS.”
The team, which remains undefeated in its division, races again next Tuesday.

Boys Soccer Unable to Overcome Penalties, Ejection

By Jack Rehm - After such a fast start to the 2011 season, the Blue Wave Boys Soccer team suffered a little bump in the road against Danbury on Monday (9/26). The two teams tied (3-3) but it was not without controversy. After falling behind by two goals early in the game, the Blue Wave stormed back to tie the game following goals from senior captain Elliott Helgans and junior Spencer McMullin. The teams played evenly the rest of the match with Darien able to go ahead in the second half behind another goal from McMullin. Tensions were clearly high on the Blue Wave side following a yellow card from another senior captain, Eric Kanigan. Late in the second half, junior Brennan Branca was given his second yellow card of the game from the official and forced him to be ejected from the game and forced Darien to play the rest of the game a man down. Branca will also not be allowed to play in the team’s next game because of the card. With 45 seconds remaining, the official made, what senior Danno Rizzuto calls, “a highly questionable call” on senior captain Matt Collier. Danbury was awarded a penalty kick and was able to convert to tie the game at 3. The Wave is now 4-1-1 on the season and returns to action this Friday (9/30) at home where they hope to rebound against Harding.

Profile of Boys XC Phenom: Freshman Alex Ostberg

By Jenn O’Neill
Be on the lookout for red headed freshman, Alex Ostberg, the newest member of the boys Varsity cross country team. He’s known for his incredible speed, endurance and race times and is a great addition to the team. Ostberg began training seriously at the end of sixth grade and has been working hard ever since as a member of the Wilton cross country team (because Middlesex Middle School didn’t offer XC as an extracurricular). He has seriously shocked the community with his running ability since the beginning of his career. He has done so many races. A few notable ones would include his wins in the USATF (USA Track and Field) Connecticut and New England cross country races both in 7th and 8th grade.

Last year, he went to nationals and finished 10th overall, but crossed the line as the first 13 year old finisher in the country. According to Alex, it was an awesome experience. “I was the youngest in my age category last year, I ran in the "youth" category, which includes grades 8 and 9,” Ostberg says. “I also have run in the Hartford Half Marathon twice, my best time being 1:18:47. I did the Darien Road Race last year in 36:08, finishing 2nd overall and I improved my 5K time to 17:09. This past spring I broke 5 minutes for the mile running 4:56. As you can tell, I'm definitely what you would consider a "distance guy." I'm a terrible sprinter/short distance runner,” he adds.
Ostberg is super excited to be such a huge part of the cross country team. “I'm definitely excited for the rest of the season, because our team has some great runners. I'm also really enjoying all of the new friends I've made on the team. It's really a great group. The coaches are great as well,” he concludes. All in all Alex is one to look out for and will be a great addition to the Boys Cross Country team this year.

BWVB Show Tigers Who’s On Top: Girls Volleyball Beats Ridgefield

By Emily Caccam

The Girls Varsity Volleyball team won again this past Wednesday (September 21, 2011) in a home game against the Ridgefield High School Tigers, continuing its winning streak of 4-0 this season. Darien won in three games – 25-17, 25-17, and 25-18 – giving Ridgefield its first loss of the season. Co-captain Katie Stueber (senior) served 5 aces and 13 winning points, a new record for her this season. Katie also made the point that finished the game for Darien with a kill, one of her seven throughout the game. “I thought we played really well,” co-captain Amanda Sommi (senior) said. “We were really pumped to play them because they’re one of our major competitors in FCIACs…Yesterday (Tuesday, September 20th) we were really excited because Coach [LaRusso] told us that Ridgefield was ranked as the top volleyball team in FCIACs. We were really revved up to play them and excited to go in and show that they’re not going to be the dominant team.” Despite the win, the Ridgefield Tigers are not yet in Darien’s past. “We’re most likely to play [Ridgefield] in FCIACs and they’re in our same division for States, so we have the potential to play them a lot,” Amanda said. “Hopefully we made a statement.” The team’s next game will be today (September 26th) at 4:00 p.m. at Norwalk High School.
Caption: Juniors Kelly Kosnik (#11) and Lauren Pryor (#8) take a leap to block a return hit by Ridgefield during Wednesday’s game.

Branca and Bandits keep the Tidal Wave rolling

By Jay Alter - Blue Wave Soccer is shocking the world as they advanced to 4-1 on the season with a (5-1) win over St. Joe's saturday (9/24). Junior, Jonathan Gill started off the scoring with a free kick wonder strike that went over the wall of defenders. That goal set the tone for the scoring frenzy. Junior, Ben Highton set up many opportunities to score as he was able to draw two penalties inside the box, leading to two goals courtesy junior, Brennan Branca. Branca had a hat trick, three goals, for the Blue Wave as they advanced to the top of the FCIAC east division with the win. The play of the game, was the defense putting their attack caps on. A beautiful combination play between the "back four bandits" - seniors, Danno Rizzuto, Elliot Helgans, and Eric Kanigan - as they facilitated the ball up field and eventually Kanigan found a sprinting center defender, Geoff Hubbard. Between Gill's free kick, a hat trick from Branca, and Hubbard's strike the Wave put up five goals on the board. It wasn't all good for the wave as they conceded a goal and striker, Andres Mores, received a yellow card for kicking the goalie. The wave was without senior captain, Lewis Clarke, but his absence went unnoticed as the wave continued to win, their third of the week and fourth on the season. "The confidence is beginning to show in the games. Hopefully this winning streak carries into next week," said Senior Captain, Matt Collier. Senior, left-midfielder, Aidan Hickey and senior captain, left-defender, Elliot Helgans had a strong showing on the left side as they continue to set the tempo for both the offense and the defense. The wave will look to continue their winning streak next week against Danbury and Harding.

(Stats provided by T.T. Pollio and Sarah Frasier)

Like Jay Alter on Facebook and follow all Darien Sport updates @ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jay-Alter/152844991471366

Back Four Bandits Post Shutout as Darien beats McMahon

By Lizzy Steinborn - Within minutes of the start of the game junior Ben Highton - with an assist by Brennan Branca (pictured) - scored the only goal, winning the Boys Varsity Soccer game at 1-0 elevating the team’s to record 3-1, which already beats last years win total in a mere four games. The Boys’ victory was held at Brien McMahon High School Thursday night at 7 pm (September 22). The Blue Wave had a total of 18 shots at goal and McMahon had 16 but junior keeper Jack Fisher proved to be prominent force in the goal. Other tough players included junior Spencer McMullin who had most of the shots on goal, seniors Geoff Hubbard, Matt Collier, and Elliott Helgans at defense. Darien students, led by the Girls Soccer team and one rowdy editor of the sports blog, cheered for the boys and showed their school spirit by storming the track after the game. The boys are working for a good and strong season ahead, that they hope will bring them to FCIACs. DHS students can show their soccer and school support at the next Boys’ Varsity Soccer game at DHS Saturday September 24th at 11a.m. against Saint Joseph’s High School.

BOYS XC stuns Danbury and Staples

The 2011 Darien High School Boys Cross Country Team posted a huge victory in its second meet of the season, defeating the Hatters of Danbury for the first time since 2004. The Blue Wave runners also bested Westport’s Staples High School and Norwalk High School in the meet held yesterday afternoon at Staples. Darien is ranked #10 in the state and Danbury #4.

With the lowest score, the Darien squad defeated their conference rivals and perennial cross country powerhouse Danbury 20-35. The team also prevailed over Staples High School 20-41, and Norwalk High School 15-49. The team’s record now stands at 5-0. In cross country, the team with the lowest score wins the meet.

The Blue Wave’s stand-out performance was marked by its top five runners crossing the finish line in under 17 minutes -- with only a 23 second spread between them over the 5k course. While Danbury and Westport runners finished first and second, Darien runners dominated the top 10 overall, finishing inthird, fourth, fifth, six, and seventh.

DHS head coach Tyson Kaczmarek was really pleased with the team’s effort. “It was a solid win. Danbury’s number two runner was coming off an injury last spring and we knew that. Still, they are a solid program and you can never underestimate them. We came to run today. I’m proud of our guys, but we have to get better. I know Danbury will,” Kaczmarek observed.


Coming in first for Darien in 16:33 was co-captain and senior Charlie Baird. Co-captain, senior Michael Johnston was second for the Blue Wave in 16:34, followed by freshman Alex Ostberg in 16:36. Darien’s fourth runner was co-captain Michael Coe in 16:50; sophomore Marshall Huffman finished fifth for the Blue Wave in 16:56. Also scoring points for Darien were Peter Kreuch and Eli Converse, who finished 13th and 16th, crossing the line in 17:41 and 17:50 respectively.

"We were really strong as a team today,” commented co-captain Charlie Baird. “Our guys ran all-out all the way to the finish line. Danbury is always a great team, so to beat them is a fantastic start to our season.”

The public is encouraged to attend and cheer on the team at next week’s meet against St. Joseph, Ridgefield and Stamford in Trumbull. All Blue Wave boosters should circle their calendars for 4 PM, Tuesday, September 27 at St. Joseph High School, 2320 Huntington Turnpike, in Trumbull.

Branca reverses the tide for Boys Soccer

By Danno Rizzuto and Jay Alter - After defeating Fairfield Ludlowe in their home opener, 2-0, after two goals from junior, forward Brennan Branca, the Boys Blue Wave soccer team recorded its second win of the season against Fairfield Warde at Warde on Tuesday 9/20. The Blue Wave won 3-1 thanks to two more goals from junior Brennan Branca and one goal from junior Ben Highton. This brings the team's record to 2-1-0 under the direction of new coach, Jon Bradley, a good start following last year's poor season. Senior captain Eric Kanigan said "we're looking to continue our good run in the game on Thursday against McMahon, and Saturday against St. Joe's to come out with two more wins." The game Thursday will start at 7pm at McMahon.

Branca - 4 goals in 2 games (pictured)

Boys XC beats Danbury & Staples

More to come...

Girls Soccer off to Good Start

By Sara Shaker - The Girls soccer team won its third game yesterday (9/19) against Brian McMahon. The team came out strong scoring two goals in the first half, one goal from sophomore Dillon Schoen and the other from senior captain Marieke Bravo.
Much of the boys soccer team came to support the girls team, and due to too much Blue Wave pride, the ref had to stop the game to calm them down. However, despite this game stoppage and a goal from Brian McMahon in the second half, Darien stayed strong. “Even though Brian McMahon put up a tough fight, we definitely played our best and it showed in the score,” senior Elyssa Ganser said. Come support the team in its next game on Wednesday (9/21) against Westhill at 4:30PM at Westhill.

Field Hockey Narrowly Escapes

By Annabel Schneider - The girl’s varsity field hockey team started off its season with a successful game against Staples this Monday (9/19). Captain, senior Lilly Cassidy said, “I thought we played well, we do have some stuff to work on, but it was a great game to start out”. The girls finished the first half with a 2 to 1 lead. Then they finished of the game with a 3 to 2 win.
It wasn’t the girl’s normal “with flying colors” win, but they held their own. “Staples came at us hard, but we were able to . . . outscore them 3 to 2,” Cassidy said. The team did lose a few seniors from last year, but they are still optimistic. “I think that we have a great season to look forward to, although we are a young team this year we have depth and motivation.”
The girls’ next game will be tomorrow against Stamford at Stamford High School at 4:00 and then they will return to the DHS stadium to play Norwalk this Friday at 4:15.

DHS Cheerleading: New Season, New Faces

By Katrina Vassell - This afternoon (9-17) DHS cheerleaders supported our football team at its opening game against Fairfield Ludlowe. With new coaches Lauren Moore and Ashley Tiscia at the helm, the team is planning for a successful season. The team also hopes to be seen in a new light and gain respect as a DHS sport.

“All of the girls have been working hard, and we’re excited for a rewarding season this year,” said Coach Tiscia. Coach Tiscia and Coach Moore began as cheerleaders at Stamford High School and dreamed of having their own team. After pursuing cheerleading in college, they embraced the opportunity to coach DHS.

Senior captains Jordan Irizarry, Claire Linegar, Hannah Carmody, and Cameron Luttrell all hope on improving the team in both stunting and dance. The program is expanding and has over 26 cheerleaders this fall season. Now, there are enough bodies to attempt new stunts with success. The team is planning on embracing each athlete to craft new and unique routines for future games and competitions.

Blue Wave Prevails in Season Opener

By Cameron Van de Graaf

The Darien Blue Wave football team opened with a 38-13 rout of the Fairfield Ludlowe Falcons on Saturday (9/17) to begin the 2011 season.

On the first possession of the game, Darien drove down the field into Ludlowe’s territory, at which point junior QB Henry Baldwin threw a 41-yard TD pass. Ludlowe was unable to retaliate against the rock solid Darien defense, going 3 and out on its first possession. Darien scored again on a well-executed screen pass by Baldwin to senior Ryan Barthold. Throughout the first half, Ludlowe’s offense appeared stymied by Darien, unable to even attempt a field goal. After four more touchdowns by Darien in the first half, including a spectacular leaping grab by senior Michael Stovall, the Wave leapt out to a commanding 35-0 lead. Falcon’s senior Harry Gladstone was injured during the half, necessitating transport to the hospital with what appeared to be either an arm or collarbone injury.

In the second half, Darien started out promisingly with an interception by sophomore John Reed, returned for a 15 yard gain. However, the best the Wave could manage in the third quarter was a field goal. In the fourth quarter, Ludlowe got on the board after a short run for a TD, but Darien successfully blocked the PAT. Darien fumbled on its next drive, opening the door for another Falcon touchdown. However, it was too little too late for Fairfield, and with a QB kneel the game ended in Darien’s favor.

Darien goes on the road next week, with a game Friday (9/23) at Fairfield Warde.

Hold on its going to be a bumpy ride...

By Jay Alter - A high scoring game in soccer is traditionally 3 or 4 goals...well the Darien Boys Varsity soccer team lost 7-1 in their first game of the season wednesday (9/14) against Westhill. Darien has a new coach (http://bluewavesportsblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/girls-soccer-coach-leaves-to-coach-boys.html) after only winning two games last season and was really hoping this was the year to start winning with the new program being built by Jon Bradley. Well that re-building was put on hold until at least the second game of the season, this friday (9/16), against Fairfield Ludlowe. Junior stud, Ben Highton, and Senior Captain, Lewis Clarke were sidelined from the opening game with injuries and the starters were pulled after the Wave went down 4-0. The substitutes, led by seniors Andres (last name unknown), Russell Palmer, and Kevin Steinthal (who was yellow carded and ejected), held their own only allowing three goals and Senior Grayson Horan even put one in for the Wave's first goal of the season. Clarke said after the game, "losing in such fashion is never a good way to start the season but we must learn from this and shift our focus to this friday's game against Ludlowe." Although the game wasn't great with a blow-out with the magnitude of 7-1, but Westhill is a very good team in the FCIAC, the boys are still learning the new system, and it is only 1 game in a LONG 16 game season. Hopefully the boys can turn the ship around this friday with their home opener on the Oval against Fairfield Ludlowe.

Girls Cross Country Defeats Trumbull

By Lily Boe - Darien Girls Cross Country kicked off its season with a victory on Tuesday (9/13), defeating Trumbull 16-47. The course was 2.85 miles at Trumbull High School. Only one girl from Trumbull placed in the top 7. Junior Grace Loh finished first overall with a time of 20:06, with junior Sarah Colon close behind at 20:11. Senior captain Meredith Ott placed third, and junior Ellen Bauer came in fourth. After suffering a bee sting in the last half of the race, junior Katie Farren finished superbly. She came in sixth, following a Trumbull runner. Seniors Katie Donovan and McKinley Stauffer took seventh and eighth place, respectively. “We have a promising top 7 and I believe in all the girls on this team. I think this season will go really well,” said senior captain Emma Davis. “Even with bee stings to the eye with a mile left in the race, the girls finished strong, which is such an inspiration, and nothing makes us prouder as captains,” Davis said. Each of the captains was proud of what the team accomplished in its first meet. “I think we did really well and I think we’ll continue to do really well,” said senior Captain Livy Ashburne. The girls are proud of their victory and look forward to succeeding just as well in the rest of the season. The girls will be racing again this Saturday morning (9/17) at the Wilton Invitational, with the first race taking place at 9:30 a.m. Come support Girls Cross Country while it achieves its second victory!

Pictured: Senior captains Livy Ashburne, Emma Davis, Sherry Gilronan, and Meredith Ott eagerly prepare for their first race versus Trumbull.

Boys XC rolls

The 2011 Darien High School Boys Cross Country Team earned its first victory of the season, decisively winning its first dual meet held yesterday afternoon at Trumbull High School. The Blue wave was able to defeat Trumbull High School (16-45), and Bridgeport’s Bassick High School (16-50). The team’s record now stands at 2-0.

In Cross Country, the low score wins the meet. Scores are determined by adding the top five individual finishing places on each team. Points are awarded to the individual runners of each participating team, equal to the position in which they cross the finish line (e.g., first place gets 1 point, second place gets 2 points, etc.). Runners 6 and 7 can displace the top 5 on another team.

Winning the varsity race in 16:09 was a ‘pack’ of four Darien varsity runners: co-captains Charlie Baird, Michael Coe and Michael Johnston, and Alex Ostberg. Marshall Huffman finished sixth overall and fifth for the Blue Wave in 16:29. Also scoring points for Darien were Peter Kreuch and Brian Davey, who finished 8th and 9th, crossing the line in 16:48 and 16:52 respectively. Co-captain Eli Converse finished 10th in 16:59.

DHS head coach Tyson Kaczmarek said, “It was a nice to start to the season, but we have work to do.”

"We had a very promising first meet,” observed co-captain Eli Converse. “We executed our strategy well, and the guys really stepped up.”

Swimmers and Divers Visit Cape May

By Julia Cobb - The Darien High School Girls’ Swimming and Diving team traveled to Cape May, NJ over Labor Day weekend. This was the team’s second year staying at junior Caroline Orem’s home in Cape May. During prior years, the team would travel to Block Island where they would stay at senior Galen Rohn’s home. The girls’ typical day in Cape May consisted of running, biking and swimming. The team also had time to relax at the beach in the afternoon and to shop on the boardwalk. The trip lasted three days; the girls departed from Darien on Saturday morning and returned on Monday.
Swimming senior captain Cammie Kirby described it as “a great way for the team to bond and kick off the season.” The girls participated in a variety of team bonding activities in Cape May. One of the activities was goal cards. Each girl was required to come up with a personal and team goal for the season. Swimming Coach Marj Trifone also filled the girls in on their team motto for this year: “Fill the bus”. This motto describes the need for each swimmer and diver to be supportive of the team and to always try her hardest. According to Kirby, “It’s a really young team; more than half the team is freshmen and sophomores. Everyone is really good and talented, though, and upperclassmen are talented as well and work hard so it will be a good year.”
The Darien High School Girls’ Swimming and Diving team will participate in its first meet at 3 p.m. on September 14th against Fairfield Warde at the Darien YMCA. Be sure to check it out!

Well...it wasn't a loss

By Jay Alter - Before the game, first year coach Jon Bradley noted that the boys have "come accustomed with losing" and that they need to break out of that psycho of "accepting losses". Well, the Boys soccer team did not lose! They tied Deerfield 1-1 this afternoon (9/5) as they continue to train towards their first game on the 14th against Westhill. Juniors, Spencer McMullin, Brennan Bronca, and Jonathan Gill tested the Deerfield goalie in the first half but were not able to put one in, making the halftime score 1-0 off an unlucky goal that got by junior keeper, Jack Fisher. In the second half, the Blue Wave answered their coaches distress call as McMullin blasted one past the Deerfield keeper, evening up the score. The defense led by Senior Captains, Elliot Helgans, Eric Kanigan, and Matt Collier shut out Deerfield, who had 14 wins last season, in the second half as the score stayed tied until the final whistle, although a free kick attempt by Bronca (pictured) came an inch away from giving the Blue Wave a victory.

DONT MESS WITH THE FAUX HAWK

By Jay Alter - The Soccer Programs at DHS have made the most news this summer as both teams have new coaches leading their programs this fall. Jon Bradley left the girls head coaching job to take the boys job, and Leigh Parsons assumed the Girls position shortly after Bradley's departure. As most DHS teams start making rosters in a quiet manner, having a few scrimmages, and participating in practices preparing for the season, the soccer team is not done making headlines. The Boys Soccer team has decided to add a fourth team captain, Eric Kanigan. Kanigan, a center defender, was passed over last fall when the ex-coach, Nicolae Piperea, named Lewis Clarke, Elliot Helgans, and Matt Collier captains. However, when Bradley took over the team, he deemed it necessary that Kanigan was made captain. Fellow senior captain, Collier said, "I've felt like he's always been deserving of the captaincy and Jon has made a good decision putting him as one of the captains." The Boys open against Westhill on Wednesday, September 14th.