Of all the teams the New Canaan High School field hockey team could have drawn in the first round of the state tournament, they were matched up against FCIAC rival Wilton. They couldn't have been happier.
Since going 2-3-1 in September, including a 1-0 loss to Wilton, New Canaan has been one of the hottest teams in the state. The Rams finished their schedule going 7-1-0-1 and seem to have nothing but returning to the state championship game on their minds. The Rams played with a vengeance and took down the favored Warriors, 2-0.
"We definitely used that loss to fire us up and we wanted some revenge," captain Caroline Falcone said. "Tonight shows how far we've come as a team since then. We played the full 60 minutes tonight and didn't back down at all."
New Canaan got on the board just three minutes into the match, taking advantage of a crucial penalty corner. Alexandra Jonker fired a shot that was deflected, but Falcone was there to collect the rebound and give the Rams all the scoring they needed. Austin Ready added the all-important insurance goal 10 minutes into the second half off a nice pass from Abbey Buckenheimer. Wilton controlled the time of possession, had a 13-6 advantage on penalty corners, and outshot the Rams 4-3, but the defense stayed strong.
"We knew we could beat them if we got another chance," Ready said. "We've really come together as a team. We didn't always play together in the beginning, but it all worked tonight."
As the 12th seed in the tournament, New Canaan will once again have to come up with some huge road wins if they want to return to the state championship for the second straight year. The Rams travel to Avon for a 2 p.m. quarterfinal game Thursday.
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