Girls Lacrosse Wins Fifth Straight FCIAC Title

By Will Pegler

The girls lacrosse team capped off a strong conference season with an overtime win in the FCIAC Championship on Thursday, May 26th at Brien McMahon High School. The girls took down New Canaan just hours before the boys did the same, finishing off what was a great night for Darien Lacrosse. In a back and forth offensive match up, the majority of the wave's scoring came from seniors Laura Murphy and Katie Cronin, as well as junior Emma Lesko, who each had three goals.

Senior Susie Ropp had the biggest performance, though, as she scored a goal late in regulation to the send the game to overtime. After a long period of sudden death OT, she scored again to give the wave their fifth consecutive FCIAC title, and equally important, a huge win over New Canaan.

MVP of the day, senior Susie Ropp (Photo Courtesy DAF) 

Boys Lacrosse Brings Home Third Straight FCIAC Title

By Will Pegler

The boys lacrosse team took down arch-rival New Canaan last night at Brien McMahon high school, winning 9-5 and bringing home yet another FCIAC title. Going into halftime the wave led 3-2, but came out even stronger in the second, scoring five unanswered goals and jumping out to a quick 7-2 lead. This offensive burst was led by senior Colin Minicus, who finished the game with a total of four goals.

Junior goalie Ryan Cornell shut down virtually all of New Canaan's offensive efforts, stopping fifteen shots. Senior Jake Kirby also had a strong game, scoring two goals, while seniors Jack Kniffin and Liam Rischmann each netted one.

The wave is now 19-0 on the season and looks to continue their success in the upcoming state tournament.

Junior goalie Ryan Cornell leading the team in the handshake line (Photo Courtesy Stamford Advocate)

Girls Track Places Ninth at FCIAC's

By Rory Washecka

On Saturday, May 21st at Bethel High School, the girls track team attended the FCIAC Championship Meet.  Although the girls placed ninth, there were many strong performances in both individual and relay track and field events.  
In field events, senior Laine Blummer placed third in shot put and fourth in discus.  Sophomore Sophia Vivenzio also placed seventh in the triple jump.  At her third meet, junior Sam Aparicio tied for seventh in pole vault.  

Many girls also performed well in track events.  Senior Laura Schwartzman placed sixth in the 400m and freshman Marley Garfield sixth in the 800m.  Sophomores KC Grady and Abigail Cragin both made it into the finals and placed eighth, Grady for the 100m and Cragin for the 100m hurdles.  Both the 4x400m and 4x800m relays also improved their seed times, and the 4x400m relay placed sixth.  

Overall, the girls had a great meet. “Although we didn’t place as high as we expected, I think everyone did a really good job,” said sophomore Brielle Raccanelli, who threw both javelin and discus at the meet.  “We’ve had a great season so far… I’m proud of my performance as well as those of my teammates.

Senior Laura Schwartzman gave the team a strong lead in the 4x400m 

DHS Rugby Playing Well of Late

By Will Pegler

In the words of Justin Canelli; "The DHS rugby team is no longer a losing only program". The team finally picked up their first win over Greenwich High School last week, beating them 31-20. Scoring came from mostly seniors, as Kyle Canelli, Matt Smith, Jack Thatcher, and Jack Wells all put points on the board. Junior Brendan Mahoney also picked up a late match score to contribute to the win.

Looking to carry the momentum from their last win, the team faced off against Ridgefield on Tuesday, May 17th, which also happened to be Senior Day. Both forward packs played very solid games, but the talents of Ridgefield's back line prevailed, winning by two scores. Darien scored off of a powerful Justin Canelli run, as well as an elusive Jack Wells long score. Unfortunately, these scores were not enough to give the wave a win. One positive that came out of this game was the fact that former pro rugby star Gerald Lyons of the New York City Rugby Club.

The rugby team's next game will be on Thursday, May 26th, at Fordham Prep. So come out and make the trip to support the squad.

Sophomore Justin Canelli, dialed in. 

Boys Lacrosse Beats Greenwich High School in Overtime

By Kallie Coughlin

Last Saturday on the DHS stadium field, the Darien Boys Lacrosse team beat Greenwich High School,13-12, in an exciting overtime game. Senior Jack Kniffin scored five goals including the overtime winning goal four minutes into the overtime portion. Senior Jack Book had three goals, while junior Kevin Lindley had one goal and seven impressive assists. 

Though Darien came out with a win, halftime was not looking to good. Darien was up only by one goal, at 8-7, soon Greenwich came back with three quick goals. The score was now 10-8 in Greenwich's favor. Darien scored another goal, but then Greenwich came right back scoring two more. Darien was down 12-9, but the team knew what to do. Senior Colin Minicus scored a goal and shortly after Jack Kniffin scored top corner. With a minute left in the game, Darien was down 12-11. Doing like the team does in practice, Lindley fed Kniffin the ball from behind the net, and he scored tying the game 12-12. Darien ended up winning 13-12 in an exciting overtime session. 

Senior Georgia Cassidy, who was at the game stated that, “You can really tell how much the boys care about this team. They were all so determined to win and they did just that.” 

Darien player barging through the Greenwich defense line (Photo courtesy DAF) 

Darien Baseball Beats Trinity Catholic 7-1

By Sam Hickey

Last Wednesday, May 11, the Darien varsity baseball team took on Trinity Catholic who had won just one game coming in. With a record of 11-2 and just having clinched a spot in the FCIAC playoffs the Blue Wave expected a victory, and that's exactly what they got. Darien was again lead by a strong pitching performance, this time from senior Richard Brereton. He also received plenty of run support with 3 runs coming in the first inning. 

When asked how the team was able to provide the offensive support necessary to win the game, junior Cord Fox replied; “We were able to string enough hits together to put up some serious runs later in the game”.  

The team celebrating after their win 

Girls Varsity Tennis Remains Undefeated after "Competitive" Match against Greenwich

By Madeline Ostertag

On Thursday, May 12th, Darien High School’s Girls Varsity Tennis Team took on Greenwich away, winning 7-0. Co-coach Anne-Lise Brown, however, notes that “a couple of the matches were closer than the score would indicate. All four singles matches and first doubles won in straight sets while two and three doubles went the distance, but winning in three sets. We have had very few competitive matches so one like this is a welcome change and good for the girls to have to produce a higher level game.” DHS’ Girls Varsity Tennis Team came into this match with great expectations taking into account its success so far in the season. The team currently is 14-0 and the only undefeated team in the FCIACs. 

Be sure to check out the girls’ next match today when the girls take on St. Joseph's away at 2:00 p.m., their second to last match before FCIAC Playdowns on Wednesday, May 18th. 

Senior captain Anna Barsanti playing doubles against Greenwich 

Varsity Rugby Puts Up Good Fight Against Fairfield

By Jack Tierney

The Darien Varsity Rugby team squared off against a mighty Fairfield side last Friday. Darien (0-5) has not yet recorded a victory so far this season, but they've managed to maintain composure in all games and have grown a lot as a team.

Fairfield (undefeated) is considered one of the strongest teams in the FCIAC this season, as they have a very large program made up of both Warde and Ludlowe players. This combination of both schools makes for a lethal group of players. Darien fell behind early to this talented team and struggled to come back, eventually losing 13-34, but as Justin Canelli (sophomore, player, and emotional leader) pointed out; "We learned a lot, and got some great experience especially for me and some of the younger guys".

Sophomore Connor Henry had a solid performance, flashing great potential off the bench, making several key tackles and winning scrums. Senior Sam Giorgio showed great leadership, leading his men on and off the field.

Darien looks to capture their first victory in the upcoming weeks. Although they have struggled of late, this team certainly has a bright future ahead of them.

Senior captain Sam Giorgio coaches up sophomore Justin Canelli 

JV Baseball Defeats Norwich Prep In A Nail Biter

By Will Pegler

The Darien High School JV Baseball team took on a strong Norwich Prep squad this past Thursday. Norwich came out hot on both sides, scoring five runs in the first two innings and shutting down the wave hitters. Darien's defense settled down when junior pitcher Sam Hickey came in and threw three scoreless innings, but the offense remained quiet until the sixth. The wave finally started scoring when sophomore Fin Batson hit a two run home run over the left field fence. Sophomore Chris Davey  followed suit with a three run homer of his own, all of this setting up a dramatic final inning of baseball.

Going into the bottom of the seventh inning tied at five, all the wave needed was a run. Sophomore Harry Rayhill delivered, ripping a single up the middle that scored Jackson Vaught from second, and won the game for the wave in walk off fashion. The final score of the exciting match up was 6-5.

Stop by the JV Baseball field on Monday, May 2nd to see the team's next game against Wilton.

Sophomore Fin Batson on the mound