For only the second time in DHS Boys’ Soccer history, the Wave competed in an FCIAC title match. 2015 the team made it to the big game but fell short against the Fairfield Ludlowe Falcons. 2022 brought a new squad and new hope for Blue Wave Soccer fans.

Coming off a heroic win Tuesday night at Ludlowe against second-seeded Norwalk, Darien would take on top-seeded Trumbull in the 2022 FCIAC Championship.

Darien was ready to make history and bring home the first-ever FCIAC crown in school history, coming in with all the momentum and ready to take down the Eagles.

All the anticipation and hype going into this one match at Norwalk High’s Testa Field.

As fans were still trickling into the stadium on this picture-perfect night, Trumbull’s Stefan Cordas got a look for the Eagles. Just four minutes into play, Cordas got space for a flick on the net, beat Branca, and go in for a Trumbull score. Just like that, it was 1-0 Eagles.

Moving along in the first half, Bobby Whittaker got a through pass. He was tripped up by Trumbull’s Sean Racette, and Whittaker was awarded the PK.

Whittaker gave the run-up and went to the goalie’s right. But a leaping Connor Hughes made the stop and turned away the Wave.

In the 15th minute of play, Jack Peattie sent a ball splitting the Trumbull defenders. Matthew Kennedy was on the receiving end and sticking his foot out guided the ball past Hughes for the score. The Darien senior came up clutch getting the equalizer.

Trumbull was coming back the other way as Sebastian Mesa had possession inside the circle when Kennedy came over for the tackle. The tackle caught a bit much according to the referee, and the PK was awarded.

Branca would guess left but watched as Mesa rolled the ball on the ground to the right. It was an Eagles score making it 2-1 after 23 minutes.

That is where the score would stay heading into the halftime huddles. A mostly defensive battle in which Darien had some looks but couldn’t seem to finish.

Stefan Cordas would strike again as he had the ball off a deflection in the box. Cordas turned around rifled a shot on the net and beat Branca scoring for a second in the match. With 23 minutes left to play Darien found themselves down 3-1.

Sebastian Mesa showed off the moves in the second half faking out DeSantics, Peattie, and Comey before Comey would commit the foul and award another PK to Mesa and the Eagles.

Trumbull converted, and Sebastian Mesa scored another goal giving Trumbull the 4-1 advantage.

Darien saw more opportunities in the second half, but Hughes was unstoppable making save after save, and after 80 minutes the Trumbull Eagles celebrated as FCIAC Champions for 2022.

A crushing defeat for the Wave as they were the hottest team in the FCIAC to this point, and their magic ran short. Darien now is 0-2 in FCIAC Championship matches in program history and left Testa Field empty-handed.

It was still a great season for Darien as they had one of the program’s best seasons as 10-4-2 in the regular season and then as the 3 seeded making it to the title match.

Darien will enter the state tournament as the 11 seed and host the Conard Red Wolves at DHS on Monday in the first round of states. For Darien, the dreams of a first-ever FCIAC trophy remain, but the chase for the first-ever state trophy starts on Monday!

TRUMBULL 4,

DARIEN 1

DARIEN 1 0 — 1

TRUMBULL 2 2 — 4

Scoring:  T – Stefan Cordas (4′); D – Matthew Kennedy (15′); T – Sebastian Mesa (23′); T – Stefan Cordas (57′); T – Sebastian Mesa (73′)

Goalies: D – Tommy Branca 5 saves;  T – Connor Hughes 9 saves;

Records: Darien 12-5-2, Trumbull 18-1-0.