On Thursday, April 25th, the DHS Stadium was packed with a sea of blue and white as well as black and red. The highly anticipated regular season matchup between the Darien Blue Wave (4-2, #6 in the nation) and the New Canaan Rams (5-1, #5 in the nation) brought the crowds from both towns, with many eager to see a glimpse of how this year’s Darien-New Canaan rivalry would play out. However, the ending was a disappointment for both teams.
The matchup started off with a bang for the Rams, ranked #2 in the state of Connecticut, scoring 3 goals within the first 7 minutes of the first quarter. The Wave, ranked #1 in CT, retaliated with Senior captain and Duke commit Sadie Stafford scoring in the second half of the quarter to end the Rams 3-0 run, making it 3-1.
The second quarter, as well as the whole game, was filled with defense. The only goal of the quarter was scored by Stafford on a free position, setting the score to 3-2 to end the half. Goalies Hope Schoudel of Darien and Ceci Patterson of New Canaan played astoundingly, both only letting in 5 goals the whole game. Schoudel, the Duke bound senior captain, racked up 8 saves for the Blue Wave while the junior Notre Dame commit Patterson saved 12.
The third quarter remained scoreless until the last few minutes of the game. First, the junior and Virginia commit Annabel Adams scored on Patterson with 3 minutes to go in the 3rd, tying the game 3-3. The momentum began to build with Adams’s goal, as the Wave went up 3-4 with less than a minute to go in the 3rd on behalf of a Kelly Holmes goal. Holmes, a senior captain and Yale commit, cut through the defense and was quickly able to score with the seconds winding down.
As the 4th quarter began, the tension and energy was high. Darien had a home field advantage as well as a home crowd advantage. The student section began to grow as the game went on and both teams were beginning to feel the nerves. With about 5 minutes left of the game, junior Maddie Tully scored the equalizer, tying the game up yet again at 4-4. Tully and her sister Lexie, a senior, are standout players for the Rams and are both committed to Cornell.
Just when things couldn’t get worse for Darien, New Canaan scored less than a minute later to gain the lead, making the score 5-4. New Canaan’s star player and BC commit Devon Russell scored for the Ram’s, causing the New Canaan fans to erupt and the Darien fans to bite their nails anxiously. As the clock wound down, everyone in the stands was on the edge of their seats. With a minute to go in regulation, Darien’s defense stepped up and caused a turnover, giving the Wave one last chance at the game.
The Wave passed the ball around as the seconds went by, struggling to find an open player. It looked like their fate was sealed for the Wave until junior Hope Hapgood streaked down the field calling out for the ball. Hapgood caught the defense off guard and was completely open as she received a pass from Adams. With less than 5 seconds to go in this nailbiter rivalry matchup, Hapgood scored, putting the Wave up 5-5 and sending the game into overtime. As someone who was at this game, I cannot exaggerate when I say the crowd erupted. Everyone from the people in the pressbox to the DAF Media announcers to the fans exploded. With only 2 seconds left in regulation, it was official, the game was going to sudden death overtime, with the first team to score taking the win.
Darien’s previous game against St. Anthony’s (#1 in the nation) went into triple overtime before St. Anthony’s scored and came away with the win. As mentioned earlier, this game was highlighted by the defense. The first overtime ended scoreless with big plays from the goalies as well as defenders. Junior and Richmond commit Quinn Kennedy forced a big turnover for the Wave, giving them an overtime hope. However, neither team was able to finish, sending the game into double overtime.
New Canaan won the draw and dominated the offense for the majority of the overtime. Schoudel made a key save for the Wave with 45 seconds to go in double OT, giving Darien a final shot at victory. On defense, New Canaan was forced to foul and sent the game into triple OT. This is where the disappointment comes. Instead of going into triple OT, the referees decided to end the game at double OT, calling it a tie. The announcement of a tie caused shouts of anger and confusion from both the Darien and New Canaan players and fans. The Darien-New Canaan rivalry is so fierce that both teams wanted to keep playing, no matter how long it took, until there was a winner.
While the ending of the game was particularly anticlimactic, fans enjoyed a terrific showout from both teams. The ending of this game will only serve as fuel and motivation for when these rivals meet next in the postseason.
