Zoë L’Henaff, Sports Editor
@zoelcourant
Junior Caroline Underwood scored to break the 8-8 tie in the FCIAC final against rival Darien. Junior Stella Nolan added the clinching goal with 1:08 remaining to give the Rams their second consecutive conference championship, a 10-8 victory over the Wave at Norwalk’s Casagrande Stadium on May 25.
“Once we realized we actually had the ability to win this game, we were able to push through and even when we were down a few goals, we knew we had to pick it back up,” Stella said, “That underdog mentality helped give us the motivation to really pull through.”
The championship game was a re-match between the two teams who played in the regular season, where New Canaan lost 15-11. Sophomore Devon Russell saw this loss as useful, “The fact that we lost to them in the regular season was the best thing that could have happened to us.” Devon said, “We really had nothing to lose in this championship game so we came out guns blazing and ready to win.”
After Stella’s goal, the Rams’ defense pressed Darien away from the goal, and they couldn’t get a shot on goal in the final minute.
While Senior goalkeeper Claire Mahoney wasn’t tested in that final minute, she was a brick wall for the last 13:20 not allowing any Darien shots to reach the net. She left the championship with an MVP title and seven saves to end the game.
The key moment that turned the tide was Sophomore Lexie Tully’s hat-trick to tie the game. It featured an impressive dodge around Darien’s Emily Darby, Lexie sent it straight into the bottom left of the cage.
The last two goals of the game were results of strong passing. Junior Caroline Underwood, assisted by Senior Caitlin Tully, scored New Canaan’s ninth goal. Caitlin sent the ball from behind the net to a ready-to-receive Caroline who shot the ball past Darien’s All-American and Boston College commit goalie, Shea Dolce.
Finally, with a minute left of the game, Darien felt the pressure from New Canaan’s offense. Goalie Shea Dolce left the cage to try and defend Lexie Tully who sprinted past two defenders as well as Shea, and sent a pass straight to Stella Nolan. Stella received the ball and scored.
Five minutes into the second half of the game, Darien was up three goals, leaving the score at 4-7. Things were not looking too good for New Canaan until about 18:06, when Lexie Tully shot her second goal. Even with the major goal deficit, the girls were confident in their ability and training.
Despite losing the first draw to Darien, Senior Caitlin Tully led with the first goal for New Canaan, tying the teams 1-1. Only seconds later, Sophomore Lexie Tully scored the second goal. Senior Kaleigh Harden scored the third goal causing Darien to call a time- out at 15:55. This timeout was clearly in their favor, as Darien went on and scored two more goals in two minutes, tying up the rivals. “We knew we could beat Darien.” Lexie said, “We are such a close team and we all influence and inspire each other to do better so we just had to channel that to help us get the confidence to win.”
As if the FCAIC championship wasn’t enough, the girls faced Darien once more on June 11 to claim their CIAC title as well. New Canaan had an impressive 14-13 win over Darien, with four goals from Stella Nolan and seven draw controls from Kaleigh Harden.
