Whenever the Ridgefield High girls soccer team scores first, head coach Iain Golding usually notices a spike in his confidence level. It’s what happens when you have a defense that concedes less often than Florida politicians.
But Golding found himself unable to exhale after Tasha Riek’s goal less than three minutes into the second half staked seventh-seed Ridgefield to a 1-0 lead over 18th-seed Darien in Friday afternoon’s Class LL state tournament quarterfinal at Tiger Hollow.
“Darien was putting us under a lot of pressure,” said Golding, whose team improved to 19-2-1. “I wasn’t feeling as good as I normally do when we get the first goal. I was still nervous.”
Although the Blue Wave pressed for the equalizer, they were limited to three shots on net in the second half by omnipresent center back Claire Middlebrook and the rest of the Ridgefield defense. Goalie Lauren Castle stopped those attempts — two with ease, the other with a second effort —to preserve the Tigers’ 1-0 triumph.