When Darien cruised to a 42-7 victory over Fairfield Prep in the championship game of the CIAC Class LL Football Playoffs, that concluded this year’s run of what is an annual tradition of success with many combined state championships from FCIAC teams during the fall high school sports season.
There were 11 fall sports teams from the FCIAC who were crowned state champions.
In addition to Darien’s football team, the Greenwich and Darien girls swimming and diving teams, Greenwich girls volleyball team, the St. Joseph girls soccer and boys golf teams, New Canaan’s field hockey and boys golf teams, and Ridgefield’s boys cross country team all won state championships. The Staples and Wilton girls soccer teams shared the Class LL title as co-champions after they played to a scoreless tie in the final.
In the two sports in which races take place and the accumulation of most team points decide the state champion, the Greenwich girls swimming and diving team won the CIAC Class LL and State Open championship meets, Darien win the Class L title, and Ridgefield’s boys cross country team won the State Open.
New Canaan won the 2021 CIAC Fall Boys Golf Championship – Division I with a low score of 312 to lead a group of four FCIAC teams in the top five places on Oct. 18 at Chippanee Country Club in Bristol. Glastonbury was runner-up with 314 and followed by FCIAC teams Greenwich (316), Wilton (319) and Darien (321).
St. Joseph won the 2021 CIAC Fall Boys Golf Championship – Division II at Silo Point Country Club in Southbury on Oct. 18 with a low score of 317 to win by nine strokes over runner-up Berlin.
In the five sports in which teams play against each other to advance through the brackets, the FCIAC had a combined 65-39 record which computes to a .625 winning percentage. Those five sports are field hockey, football, boys soccer, girls soccer, and girls volleyball.
The FCIAC had a 5-3 overall record in the two largest of the four separate state class football playoffs. Darien won all three games while New Canaan was 1-1 in the Class LL playoffs, and St. Joseph was 1-1 in the Class L playoffs.
Darien avenged a 12-7 loss at New Canaan in the annual Thanksgiving Day rivalry game by winning the rematch, 24-10, in the Class LL semifinals on Dec. 5 at New Canaan’s Dunning Stadium. St. Joseph was dethroned in the Class L semifinals, 35-31, by Windsor.
It was the sport of girls soccer in which the FCIAC had its best overall record of 23-8 (a .742 winning percentage).
St. Joseph was the lone FCIAC team in the Class L tourney and the top-seeded Cadets won four games, culminating with their 2-0 victory over Simsbury in the final.
The conference was a combined 19-8 in the CIAC Class LL Girls Soccer Tournament.
Leading up to Staples and Wilton sharing the co-championship via their scoreless tie in the Class LL final which included overtime play, the FCIAC was represented with all four berths of the semifinals and it had six of the eight quarterfinal berths.
Wilton outscored Fairfield Ludlowe, 3-1 in penalty kicks, for a 2-1 semifinal victory. Staples advanced to the final with a 1-0 victory over Fairfield Warde. The Class LL championship was a rematch of the FCIAC championship won by Staples, 1-0.
Girls volleyball was another sport in which the FCIAC excelled, compiling a 15-9 combined record in Class LL tournament. No conference teams were in the three lower state class tournaments.
The conference had three of the four teams in the semifinals and both teams in the championship match which Greenwich won with a 3-0 victory over Fairfield Ludlowe by the scores of 25-15, 25-12, 25-17.
Greenwich’s second-seeded Cardinals advanced to the final with a 3-1 victory over third-seeded Darien (25-12, 25-20, 24-26, 25-22). Ludlowe, seeded 12th, defeated top-seeded Cheshire, 3-1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-22).
The conference’s dominance in field hockey is evident annually and such was the case once again this year. The FCIAC had five of the eight teams in the Class L quarterfinals, three of the four teams in the semifinals, both teams in the championship game and a combined 12-8 overall record.
New Canaan defeated Wilton, 3-1, in the championship after Wilton shut out Darien, 1-0, and New Canaan advanced with a 2-1 semifinal victory over Glastonbury.
The FCIAC had a 10-11 overall record in boys soccer, 10-10 in the Class LL tournament.
Staples went 3-1 and had the deepest run of the 10 conference teams in the Class LL tourney. The Wreckers lost to eventual champion Farmington, 1-0, in the semifinals. Darien and Norwalk both won two games prior to getting eliminated in the quarterfinals.