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Two games into the season, Darien High School's field hockey team has announced itself as a threat to win its fourth straight Class M state championship. Two days after beating Stamford, 9-0, the Blue Wave stopped Norwalk, 7-0, on Thursday at Testa field.
"I'm glad that we came out in these two games, and we played our game,'' coach Mo Minicus said. "There's always things we can improve upon: specifically, our recovery defense. We let Norwalk have some breakaways."
Alex Iqbal scored two goals to lead Darien, including a beautiful deflection off a penalty corner for the game's final goal. Sophie Waters, Leslie Gill, Lilly Cassidy, Ellie Riegel and Maddie Gill also scored for Darien. The Blue Wave has outscored opponents 16-0 through the first two games. Sam Johnston had two assists. Waters, Courtney Wynne, Riegel and Caroline Kapustynski also had assists.
Darien dominated the first half. Norwalk barely crossed the 50-yard line, and Darien's early pressure resulted in goals by Waters and Leslie Gill before the game was 10 minutes old. Iqbal scored off a set play for the third goal, converting a beautiful pass from Wynne, and Cassidy made it 4-0 with a goal with 5:55 remaining on a defensive breakdown by Norwalk. Riegel converted a penalty shot 4:19 into the second half.
"We did come out with early pressure,'' Minicus said. "We were able to control the ball and keep it in the offensive end."
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