TThe first weekend of the new year brought an out-of-league game for Darien girls’ ice hockey. The girls took to Terry Conners Ice Rink in Stamford for a showdown with the NEPSAC’s premier team, the Greenwich Academy Gators.

In the tenth all-time meeting between the Wave and Gators, Darien was looking for some serious competition as Jaime Tropsa’s squad had outscored opponents 36-3 in the first six games. This has been a classic over the years, and 2023 brought the latest chapter to the rivalry.

A back-and-forth contest provided minimal offense and much of the goaltenders and defenses shining. For Darien, the senior Katherine Kahn is in her first year fully starting for the Wave, and on the other side the 2nd year senior captain Liana Seeley. Both are talented goalies in their own right, and both knew coming into Terry Connors, it was going to be a low-scoring affair.

The first period went by in a breeze. 0-0 the score with neither team dominating, but rather equal across every stat. The blocking abilities of Kahn and the glove work of Seeley proved to be too strong.

The second period saw the Gators go on the power play but failed to convert on the opportunity. The Wave started gaining some momentum towards the later part of the second period. The freshman Lila Fiorita gained possession of the puck off the boards. Skating around past four Gators defenders and taking a strong shot. This puck would go top shelf and past Seeley for the first score of the afternoon. A big-time goal by the Darien freshman, and this set the Wave up 1-0 in the second period.

Darien continued on the offense, as with seconds left in the period Sarah Kellogg would get a look. Kellogg moved the puck past a few Gators and eventually found her way to the one-on-one with Seeley. Going to Seeley’s right, Kellogg was stopped and turned away leaving the score at 1-0 after two periods.

Some more opportunities and looks from Darien came in the third period when the Gators’ defense started loosening the coverage. The Gators would get another opportunity after a 2-minute minor penalty would go against Kelsey Brown for Darien. This would be the first of two GA power plays that were unsuccessful in the third period. Kahn had shown to be lockdown in net making the double-digit saves and having a shutout with minutes to play.

3:14 left in the game, Darien got issued another two-minute minor penalty, this time against junior Kate Brown. The timeout was taken by GA coach Erin Brawley and the Gators as they talked over strategy on their fourth go on the power play.

The Wave started the kill effort with a nice clear, but the Gators came right back firing. A shot from Ellie Volpe would be stopped by Kahn, and a scrum between Darien’s Lila Fiorita and GA’s Ella Zea in the crease would knock Kahn to the ice.

Laying on the ice and the entire upper half of the goal wide open, Gators junior Peyton Williams swooped in and chipped a shot over Kahn on the ground for the score.

The refs conversed to debate a possible interference call for knocking Kahn to the ground and to overturn the goal, however, after a long discussion, the refs left the play stand and called it a 1-1 game.

As the final 2:40 ticked off the clock, the defensive stalemate continued as, after 45 minutes of play, Darien and Greenwich Academy would leave Terry Conners with a tie.

This was a disappointment for Darien, having led most of the way and just made one minor error on the defense that couldn’t have been prevented. It was a tough way to tie, but Darien was happy to see some tough competition in the early goings of the season.

Since this was a game between a CHSGHA’s team in Darien and a NEPSAC team in Greenwich Academy, this game did not count for any standings regarding the FCIAC or state playoffs for the Wave.

Darien is unofficially 6-0-1 after this tie, but according to the state, playoff standings are still undefeated at 6-0-0.

Nonetheless a great game for both sides, and one that was a great experience for both teams.

2023 will bring two meetings between the Gators and Wave, this was the first, and the second will be on February 1st inside the Darien Ice House, as somebody will look to take home the regular season rivalry crown.

GREENWICH ACADEMY 0 0 1 — 1

DARIEN 0 1 0 — 1

Goals:

D – Lila Fiorita (Unassisted) 2nd, 9:20

GA – Peyton Williams (Unassisted) 3rd, 12:20

Goalkeepers: GA – Liana Seeley 25 saves; D – Katherine Kahn 18 saves.

Records: Greenwich Academy 2-5-2 (1-5-1 NEPSAC); Darien 6-0-1 (4-0 FCIAC)