Original Story: The historic rivalry between Darien and New Canaan hits the ice as the Rams host the Blue Wave in FCIAC girl hockey live on the HAN Network tonight, Wednesday, at 7 p.m.
You can watch the HAN Network’s live pregame show from the Darien Ice House at 6:50 p.m., and the game live at HAN.Network, or on Frontier Communications’ Vantage Sports Network (Chs. 600/1600). Frank Granito and John Kovach will be on the call.
New Canaan had the upper hand in the rivalry’s first game this season, having beaten Darien 2-1 on Dec. 23. That was the Rams’ first win over the Wave since the 2013 season.
Last season these two teams fell to conference champion, Greenwich in the FCIAC tournament, with New Canaan losing 4-1 in the semifinals and Darien losing 2-0 in the final.
The Rams (11-2 overall, 7-1 in the FCIAC) have gotten off to a great start this year thanks to senior leadership from captains Gianna Bruno, Brooke Deane, Liz McCarthy and Zoe Jones. The Rams have only lost to Amity-New Haven-Cheshire, 3-2 in overtime on Dec. 15, and to Greenwich, 4-1 last Monday.
New Canaan’s scoring has been led by Bruno (7 goals, 10 assists) and freshman Anika Curry (7 goals, 7 assists).
New Canaan junior goaltender Kara Fahey has been strong in net so far for the Rams this season. She’s coming off consecutive impressive performances against Wilton-Norwalk-McMahon, a 6-1 win last Wednesday, and a 4-0 shutout of East Catholic-Glastonbury-South Windsor on Saturday.
Freshman goalie Blythe Novick has also looked solid between the pipes and was in the net for the first win over Darien, making 18 saves against 19 shots.
Head coach Rich Bulan has a very balanced roster with underclassmen shining early on in the varsity careers.
The Blue Wave enters Wednesday’s rivalry matchup 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the FCIAC.
Darien is led by senior captains Kiki Tropsa, Corinne Bevill, Elise Maro and Sally Cassidy. Junior Shea van den Broek has been the team’s top scorer with 16 points on six goals and 10 assists, while Nelle Kniffin has 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists), and Kate Bellissimo has 12 points (8 goals, 4 assists).
Sophomore goaltender Hallie Kreppein has been a spark on and off the ice for the Blue Wave this season, and has a save percentage of better than 90% and a goals against average of 1.38. Darien has won its last six games and in those victories, Kreppein has only allowed four goals.
