Girls Lacrosse Takes on Manhasset

Eva Crisculo

On the sunny afternoon of Thursday, April 26th, the Varsity and JV teams played a home game against Manhasset. The opponents traveled all the way from Long Island. The game was out of conference.The game did not count towards FCIAC's. Both the JV and Varsity teams played an intense game, however both lost by a mere one point. JV player, Brianna Lyons, conveyed, “It was a good game. We lost by one, but it was one of the better competitions we’ve had this season, because usually we win by a fair  number of points”. Varsity member, Kennison Harmon, agreed. She expressed,”We all really had to come together and try our hardest. It was a great team experience.” Although, neither team emerged victorious, both played challenging games, and will work to improve their strategies, and team playing for future games.

Sophomore Nicole Humphrey looks to make a play earlier this season. (Courtesy Darien Times)

Varsity Softball Beats Wamogo in Hard Fought Game

Isa Nuissl

DHS Girls Varsity Softball defeated Wamogo 6-5 on April 21th At Darien High School. Sophomore Rosali Pirone hit the walk off single to win the game after a 4 run deficit in the 7th inning. Other big hits in the 7th inning came from freshman Maddie Conte, junior Sydney Fagerstrom, senior Keilani Caruso, and senior Hailey King that helped aid the win.

“Wamogo was a difficult team to beat and I’m very proud of our team for coming back and winning. Our next focus is playing Stamford High School on Monday and we expect the same enthusiasm and energy from our team!” said senior Stefani Gentile.

Sophomore Rosali Pirone up to bat before a big hit. 

Girls Varsity Golf Toughs It Out Against Staples

Natalie Vasileff

The Darien High School Girls Varsity Golf team had a little bit of a rough start, consisting of delays and unsure schedules. Due to all of the snow and rain, the first game of the season game was only traveling farther into the distance. However, the girls survived the delays and brought their best to their match against Staples. Since their first match should have been almost two weeks ago, the team was able to bond and spend a little bit more time improving individual skills. After being very successful with high scores in their first game, the girls brought their hustle to Staples.

Pictured left to right in their interview for HAN Network
are captains Elizabeth Petner, Amanda Blaze, and Ashley Amirsakis. 

There were already a few obstacles that were in the way of the team, including the odd and strange weather that day. The day’s weather proved to be very inconsistent, raining on and off with very low temperatures. The team also carried the burden of losing seven team members, including their top two players from last year. On a bright note, though, the team gained five new players, all being led by team captains junior Ashley Amirsakis and seniors Amanda Blaze and Elizabeth Petner.

Despite coming back strong, the golf team fell short this time. This game was unfortunately lost to Staples. Still, the top leading scores were those made by Ashley Amirsakis (54), sophomore Charlotte Keane (54), and sophomore Eliza Koorbusch (58). After being brought down, team members believe that they will return strong next time.

After the loss, the team was able to proudly move on, knowing that they will have a better chance next time. “All of our players had scored pretty high this week,” said Amirsakis, “but I think we, as a team will come back stronger next week because we have great potential.”

Girls Varsity Lacrosse Wins Big Over Brien McMahon

Julia Clarke

DHS Girls Varsity Lacrosse defeated Brien McMahon 19-7 on April 18th at Brian McMahon high school. Jordan Vaught and Charlotte  both scored three goals, bringing the half time score to 11-4. Nelle Kniffin was a key player in the game for the draw, as Katie Ramsay is injured and couldn’t play. Nelle had five draw controls and proved she could play the position.

Sophomore Sarah Jaques looks to get a shot
on net earlier this season. (Courtesy Darien Times)

“The team had good shot placement and a tight defense” Team Manager Lindsey Wallach said. Maddie Joyce was a key player for defense and Katie Elders used her speed in the midfield, which granted our win. Sarah Jaques and Ashley Humphrey did an impressive job on attack.
Catch Blue Wave Girls Varsity Lacrosse next on April 21st against Long Beach Island at Cold Spring Harbor.

Girls Varsity Lacrosse Gets Big Win Over Garden City

Alix Platt

The Darien Girls Varsity Lacrosse played Garden City, Long Island Monday afternoon, April 16th. The girls won 15-13 against one of their biggest biggest girls lacrosse rivals. After a tough 3 years, DHS was dry with no win against Garden City, however, this game changed that streak. Junior Lily Kosnik, says, “It was an awesome game. I’m so happy for the team.” With 15 goals, sophomore Sarah Jaques scored 4 and junior Nicole Humphrey scored 3, along with junior Shea Van De Brooke, senior Christine Fiore, senior Katie Ramsay, senior Kendall Wisinski, and freshman Nelle Kniffin all scoring for the win.

Senior Katie Ramsay wins a key face off. (Courtesy DAF)

All Girls Lacrosse Teams Win Against Ridgewood

Brianna Lyons

Every athlete has a choice. Either fight till the finish, or give up and let the other team crush you like a bug. The first rule that any Darien athlete is taught, is that giving up is not an option. That is exactly the motto that the Darien Girls Lacrosse teams, freshmen- varsity, lived with while playing against Ridgewood.

For weeks the lacrosse teams prepared for one of the biggest games of the season. Hours were spent on the stadium field, going over plays and defenses, and watching the film from last season's game against Ridgewood. The only thing on any ones mind during the week, was crushing Ridgewood and demonstrating to the rest of the teams that Darien is a force to be reckoned with. We saw this thirst for winning during the three games that took place at the stadium field in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

The first team to play Ridgewood, was the freshmen team. Throughout the game we saw fluctuations in the score. Shot after shot was fired on the Ridgewood goalie. Out of the thousand that were shot, only 7 goals were not stopped by the Ridgewood Goalie. Thanks to the superb goalie skills of Cathy Hunter, the freshmen were able to keep only 6 goals from entering the net. Making the final score 7-6. Setting the tone for the rest of the Darien girls lacrosse team.

Second to play, was the JV team. Off to a strong start, the JV team made the score 3-1 in the first 20 minutes of game play. As time went on, the gap between the two teams score started to decrease until they were tied 4-4 at half time. With an inspirational speech by Amy Kniffen, the coach of JV, the JV team was able to pull ahead of Ridgewood, making the end score 7-6.

Senior Katie Ramsay jumps for a loose ball.
(Courtesy Darien Times) 

The last to play was the Varsity team. The game mirrored the JV team in the beginning. At half time, the varsity was tied with Ridgewood. Than after an inspirational quote by head coach Lisa Lindley, the varsity went on to win 12-10. Throughout the game, we noticed the unity of the Varsity team. They worked as one unit, which allowed them to win against an arch rival of the Darien team, Ridgewood. After losing to the team last year, the Varsity as able to prove once and for all that Darien does not give up.

“We played great and were very connected and aggressive.” Olivia Maniscalco, a sophomore, said concerning the performance of each team.

“I think we played really well as a team and everyone did their part.” Hallie Kreppin, a sophomore, said.

“Good defensive positioning and a bunch of forced turnovers.” Cate Droogan, a sophomore, said.

“Friggen Tubular with a side of saucy sauce.” Marley Macarthy, a freshmen, said.

With every loss, there is a chance to improve. The entire program of Darien girls lacrosse demonstrated today that Darien is here to win. We will not settle until the last whistle is blown. We may have lost against Ridgewood last year, but that did not stop the girls teams from stepping up and beating Ridgewood this year. In the end, all teams did an incredible job.

Varsity Baseball Gets First Win of Season; Beats NFA 1-0

Will Pegler

The Blue Wave Varsity Baseball team took down Norwich Free Academy at the DHS turf field in a pitching duel, winning 1-0. Senior Justin Jordan pitched five innings of near perfection, striking out six batters, walking none, and allowing just one hit. Senior Arthur Xanthos played well behind the dish as well. Jordan said about his catcher, "Arthur's great. He knows what pitches to call for at what time and has a strong enough arm to throw out anyone trying to steal bases."

Senior captains Max Gasvoda and Justin Jordan
look to get the ball in after a big hit from NFA. (Courtesy DAF)

Despite their strong defense, the Wave's offense struggled to put runners on base throughout the game. The only run of the game came in the fifth, when they were able to play some small ball and push Jordan across the plate. The rally started when Jordan and Xanthos were both walked and were moved over to second and third on a bunt by junior Mac Mclean. Junior Henry Williams was then able to loop a single over the second baseman's head, scoring Jordan and taking a 1-0 lead.

Henry Williams then took the mound in the sixth, he pitched two solid innings and the Wave were able to escape in a close one.

The Blue Wave are now 1-1 on the season, losing their first game to Fitch Academy 4-2. Hopefully they will be able to get their bats going as they take on New Fairfield this afternoon at the DHS turf, followed by a game on Saturday morning at Guilford High School.