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Hoping for a fifth straight Class L State Championship, the Fairfield Prep Jesuits battled to the end on Saturday against Cheshire, nearly overcoming a three goal deficit with just under a minute left in the game. But in the end the Jesuits (15-5) came up just short, falling to Cheshire, 9-8, at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk in front of 1,500 fans.
Prep was defeated three times this season by the Rams (18-2), its biggest rival, with losses coming in the regular season and the Southern Connecticut Conference tournament championship.
"We had a nice run as a program. Eventually were going to have to lose," said Fairfield Prep head coach Chris Smalkais. "In the end we got beat by a high school team having a great season. But the sun will shine tomorrow. We'll continue on our way."
The Jesuits trailed, 9-6, with 47 seconds remaining, when senior Brendan Rotanz of Wesport scored. The Jesuits won the face off and raced down the field again. Sophomore Matt Mendencino connected on a goal, making it 9-8 with 25 seconds remaining. But Prep could not win the final face off and Cheshire was able to run out the clock.
The senior class for Fairfield Prep lost for the first time in the state tournament, having won three championships together. Again they led the way, with Rotanz and Griff McGoldrick of Norwalk each scoring three goals. Senior goalie Gil Long had 16 saves. Cheshire was led by Nick Carisio and Mike Jordan, who each also had three goals.
The Jesuits took more than twice the number of shots than Cheshire did39-18but only 25 of those shots were on net, with the Rams' Nate Gaudio making 16 saves. Many of those shots hit the goal posts.
Fairfield Prep appeared to take a 1-0 lead early in the game, but had the goal wiped away because of too many men on the field. The game was tied at 3-3 with just two minutes left in the half, but the Rams scored two quick goals, including one by Carisio with 2.9 seconds remaining to take a 5-3 lead into the break.
Smalkais said his team came out flat in the second half and it hurt them. Although Prep scored the first goal of the half at the 5:29 mark, by freshman Kevin Brown, Cheshire dominated the third quarter. Four unanswered goals increased the Rams' lead to 9-4. Rotanz scored to cut it to 9-5 heading into the final quarter.
He would score again early in the fourth, with 9:12 remaining, to make it 9-6, but then the Rams would slow the game down, setting up the Jesuits furious final push that came up just short.
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