Four teams will face off in the FCIAC girls ice hockey semifinals tonight at the Darien Ice House and you can catch both games on the HAN Network beginning at 5:50 p.m.
Coverage will start with a pregame show, followed by the semifinal opener between defending league champ Greenwich, the No. 1 seed, and No. 4 Ridgefield/Danbury at 6 p.m. The second game featuring rivals No. 2 New Canaan and No. 3 Darien starts at 8 p.m.
The games can be seen on the home page of FCIAC.net and at HAN.Network, or on Frontier Communications’ Vantage Sports Network (Chs. 600/1600). Frank Granito, John Kovach, and Kevin Coleman will be on the call.
After the games are completed, they will be available on demand by clicking here.
In two meetings this season, the Greenwich Cardinals (12-1-1 FCIAC, 16-2-1 overall) have shut out Ridgefield/Danbury (7-7, 8-11-1) twice, 6-0 on Dec. 27 and 4-0 on Jan. 29.
The Greenwich Cardinals not only enter the FCIAC tournament as the No. 1 seed, but are also the top-ranked team in the state.
The defending FCIAC champions defeated the Darien Blue Wave 2-0 in last year’s final, the Cardinals’ first title in program history.
The Cardinals will look to win back-to-back conference titles with talented players such as senior captain Jennie Piotrowski, junior forward Jennifer Kelly and sophomore forward Sydney Orzulek, with head coach Alex Lerchen leading the way.
The Ridgefield/Danbury co-op clinched a playoff berth as it knocked off the Fairfield co-op team 2-0 Monday at the Wonderland of Ice.
With the win, Ridgefield/Danbury finished its FCIAC regular season with 14 points, while Fairfield dropped to 12 points in the standings.
In their victory over Fairfield, freshmen Emily Stefanalli and Rebecca Gartner were the goal scorers meanwhile sophomore goaltender Kendal Mountain saved all 17 of Fairfield’s shots on goal to record the shutout.
New Canaan has beaten rival Darien twice this season, winning 2-1 on Dec. 23 and 2-0 on Jan. 24.
The Darien Blue Wave (11-2-1, 16-3-1) enter the conference tournament winning five out of their last six games. One of those wins was against Hamden, 3-2 in overtime on Feb. 10. The Blue Wave defeated Hamden last year, 3-2, to earn the second of its back-to-back state titles.
The Blue Wave is on a mission this season not only win states for a third year in a row but also reclaim the FCIAC crown which they won four years in a row from 2013 to 2016.
The Blue Wave will rely on the leadership and skill from senior co-captains Kiki Tropsa and Sally Cassidy but also will look to the young talent on this roster including freshmen Kate Bellissimo, who continues to shine in her first season.
The New Canaan Rams (12-2, 17-3) locked up the second seed with a 9-0 shutout of Wilton/Norwalk/McMahon on Monday.
In their 9-0 victory on the final day of the season, senior Liz McCarthy recorded a hat trick, Kelly Benson had two goals, Brooke Deane had a goal and an assist, Courtney O’Connell had a goal and two assists, and both Jess Eccleston and Katherine Reiss found the back of the net once
The Rams have won six out of their last seven games entering postseason play.
A balanced roster filled with upperclassmen skill and young up and coming talent, head coach Rich Bulan will look to get past their rival and punch a ticket to the FCIAC title game.
