WILTON, Conn. The Wilton High boys lacrosse team held off the crush of the top-ranked Darien Blue Wave for the first quarter of Wednesdays Class M state semifinal, but that was as long as the Warriors could last.
After Wilton led 3-2, Darien scored 11 straight goals before the Warriors could find the net again. The Blue Wave got their revenge from last seasons state semifinal, drubbing the defending state champs, 13-4.
We overachieved, Wilton head coach John Wiseman said. Obviously you want to win, but when you sit back and look at what they did this year Im proud of the kids.
After Darien took an early 1-0 lead, Wilton answered with a pair of Chris Nugent goals and a Sean Carroll score. Darien fought back to tie the game at 3-3 midway through the second quarter when Wilton collapsed.
Dariens Henry West exploded for a hat trick in the final 1:17 of the first half to put momentum firmly in the Blue Waves corner. Wilton tried to answer, but Blue Wave goalie Phil Huffard was on fire.
The Darien sophomore stopped 11 Warrior shots. They struggled with second chances, as Huffard scooped up just about every Wilton rebound. Wilton would not score again until Nugents third goal with 33 seconds left in the game.
Wilton contained All-American attacker Case Matheis, holding Dariens all-time leading scorer to just one goal. The rest of the Blue Wave squad stepped up, however, sinking Wiltons hopes for a repeat as state champs.
We were ready for Case, but Henry came ready to play, to his credit, Wiseman said of Dariens attack. We played a little sloppy, and we got caught in transition. Just mental errors overall on our part.
Wilton finishes the 2012 season with a 15-5 record.
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