Throughout the first half of Tuesday's Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference field hockey semifinal, New Canaan's bench players warned teammates to watch out for Darien's No. 11, Leslie Gill.
The special attention didn't deter the Darien forward. She scored four goals, including the first one just 1:28 into the contest, as the top-seeded Blue Wave won, 8-2. Darien will meet No. 3 Fairfield Warde in Friday's championship game at 4 p.m. at Brien McMahon.
"All their players are hard to defend,'' New Canaan coach Erin Gildea said. "Their stick work is impeccable. They move the ball so well that it just takes one breakdown. They don't have a weak link."
Sophie Watters added two goals for Darien (15-0), which will be shooting for its fourth straight FCIAC title. Freshmen Hollis Perticone and Courtney Wynne also scored for the Blue Wave. Alexandra Jonker and Austin Ready scored for No. 5 New Canaan (9-5-1), which became the first team to score two goals this season against Darien.
"Darien is a wonderful team,'' Gildea said. "I think we had some breakdowns and we beat ourselves. I don't think the final score is a reflection on how close the game actually was."
Gill's second goal 4:08 into the game put the Blue Wave up 2-0. Jonker converted with 23:34 left in the first half to give the Rams momentum. Watters scored a beautiful goal just over four minutes later when she deflected blast by Gill past New Canaan goalie Amanda Milunovich (22 saves), who played well against the powerful Darien attack.
Despite the defeat, the Rams' effort impressed Darien coach Mo Minicus. "I said at the halftime that it didn't feel like it was a 4-1 game,'' Minicus said. "I give New Canaan a lot of credit. They came out and played us hard. They're a great team."
Click here to follow Daily Voice and receive free news updates.
