77°
The harder Greenwich pressed, the more determined Fairfield Warde field hockey goalie Jessica Deutsch fought back. The senior kicked aside 21 shots Tuesday night to lead the third-seeded Mustangs to a 4-0 win over the No. 7 Cardinals in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference semifinals at New Canaan High School.
"We had our opportunities and we couldn't get it past her,'' Greenwich coach Ally Orrico said. "They were hungry for the ball and they executed."
Warde (11-4) will meet No. 1 Darien in the FCIAC championship game Friday at 4 p.m. at Brien McMahon High School. Greenwich (8-5-1-1) will await the start of next week's Class L tournament.
Darcy Berger scored two goals for Warde, while Lindsey Adams and Stacy Dileo had one apiece. Greenwich goalkeeper Mary Bacon also played well with 20 saves. Greenwich generated little offense in the first half, when the Mustangs took a 3-0 lead. Berger scored 2:45 into the game, the Adams' goal with 1:42 left in the half made it 3-0.
Greenwich came out determined to answer in the second half. Deutsch, however, stood tall. She kicked, swatted and dove to keep the ball out of the Warde cage. Orrico said Warde set the tone in the first half with its aggressive start.
"I feel like that it's really important in this league you have to control the tempo from the start,'' Orrico said. "I think Warde got out there and set the tempo and got us out of our game."
Click here to follow Daily Voice Greenwich and receive free news updates.
