The FCIAC has long had a tradition of annually having several of the elite field hockey teams in the state.
That is acknowledged in the archives of many previous state tournaments with the high number of championships won and championship game appearances by FCIAC schools.
And by the looks of the Connecticut Coaches Field Hockey Top 10 poll for Week 2, that tradition holds true during this 2021 fall season.
Undefeated conference teams Darien and New Canaan are ranked first and second, respectively, for the second consecutive week in the state poll voted on by six coaches and released Sept. 28.
Darien received five first-place votes and 114 polling points. New Canaan received the other first-place vote and 110 points. Both teams had 6-0 records through Sept. 27.
The next four teams were also unbeaten and untied – third-ranked Valley Regional (8-0), Guilford (4-0), Farmington (5-0) and sixth-ranked Wethersfield (6-0).
The FCIAC had the top three ranked teams in the previous Week 1 poll and have those same three teams now ranked among the top seven. Darien’s 2-1 victory at home over Staples on Sept. 22 was the main reason defending Class L state champion Staples (4-1-1-0) dropped four spots from No. 3 down to No. 7.
The teams ranked 8-through-10 are Hall (4-0), Pomperaug (5-0-0-1) and Old Saybrook (6-1-1-0).
There were five FCIAC teams among the top 12 in polling points received as Greenwich (4-1-0-1) and Ridgefield (4-2) were the first two teams in the “Others receiving votes” category.
Darien has won two home games and has two upcoming home games against the four other conference teams among those 12 teams.
Darien has recorded victories of 4-1 over Ridgefield and 2-1 over Staples. Darien’s Blue Wave hosts Greenwich on Oct. 18 and four days later hosts second-ranked New Canaan on Oct. 22, a Friday afternoon with a 4 o’clock faceoff.
New Canaan defeated Greenwich, 1-0, at home on Sept. 25. The Rams visit Ridgefield on Oct. 14 and host Staples on Oct. 26 in the last game of the regular season for both teams.
Staples earned a 3-1 victory at Ridgefield on Sept. 20 and the Wreckers host Greenwich on Oct. 5.
Ridgefield defeated host Greenwich, 4-3 in overtime, on Sept. 15.
Staples defeated Darien, 4-2, in the championship game of the 2019 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class L Field Hockey Tournament
The FCIAC had six of the eight teams in the quarterfinals.
All four teams in the semifinal doubleheader were FCIAC teams. Darien defeated Ridgefield, 4-1, in the first game and eventual champion Staples advanced to the final with a 3-0 victory over Norwalk.
This current poll was released one day after Darien coach Mo Minicus won a milestone 400th career victory with a 10-0 victory at Fairfield Warde in which junior forward Ruthie Miller scored three goals to lead the potent and balanced scoring attack. That improved Darien to 7-0, occurring after voting for the current poll had already taken place, and was the 333rd victory at Darien for Minicus since she became the head coach in 2000.
Minicus was previously a head coach at Tufts University, Bowdoin College and Rye Country Day. Darien has won nine conference championships (2003, ’07, ’08, ’12, ’13, ’15, ’17, ’18 and ’19) since 2003 and eight state championships (2007, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’12, ’13, ’14 and ’16) since 2007.