Fairfield Prep is the new No. 1 and followed by four FCIAC teams – Staples, New Canaan, Darien, and Wilton, respectively – in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Boys Lacrosse Poll which was released April 26.
The FCIAC has six teams ranked within the range of No. 2 to No. 8 in this state poll, as Ridgefield is ranked seventh and Greenwich is eighth.
It is that strength of the FCIAC that played a role in Staples and Fairfield Prep flip-flopping spots from the previous poll. Wilton maintains its No. 5 ranking for the second straight week. Among Wilton’s three victories last week was a 6-4 home victory over previously-undefeated Staples on April 20, which was significant in enabling Fairfield Prep to leapfrog over Staples up to the top spot.
Fairfield Prep’s 7-1 Jesuits, who had won seven consecutive games since their season-opening 9-8 home loss to Darien on April 1, received 11 of the 13 first-place votes and 124 polling points.
Staples (8-1) got the other two first-place votes and 111 polling points, New Canaan (9-1) moved up one spot to No. 3 and had 101 points. Darien (5-4) dropped one spot to No. 4 and received 93 points, and No. 5 Wilton (7-2) was just three points behind Darien with 90 points. Each voter selects their top 10 teams in order and points are tabulated on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
All the top five teams will play in the 2023 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Boys Lacrosse Class L Tournament, as will seventh-ranked Ridgefield (5-4) and eighth-ranked Greenwich (4-4).
Sixth-ranked Cheshire (8-1) and ninth-ranked Daniel Hand (7-1) are Class M teams, while No. 10 Weston (7-2) is the defending Class S champion.
Wilton ascended from Class M last year to Class L this year. The Warriors rolled to a convincing 22-6 victory over Notre Dame-West Haven in last year’s Class M championship game on June 12.
Staples won its first state championship in school history on that same June 12 date with a 12-3 victory over Darien in the Class L final.
In last year’s championship game of the FCIAC Boys Lacrosse Tournament, Wilton scored a goal early in the fourth quarter to pull into a 6-6 tie with Darien and then Darien reeled off the final six goals of the game for a 12-6 victory which gave the Blue Wave its conference record 19th FCIAC championship.
The FCIAC West Division consists of all six of the conference teams ranked among the top eight in the latest state poll. New Canaan and Wilton were tied for first with 4-0 records, Staples and Darien were 3-1 while Greenwich and Ridgefield were 2-2 in this season’s divisional standings which were up to date through April 25.
There are a combined nine games still to be played among those six West Division teams during the last couple weeks of the regular season. All six teams are involved in three such showdowns, commencing with all six teams involved in three of those matchups this Saturday afternoon, April 29.
Darien is the home team for all three of its games, Staples and Ridgefield are home for two of them, New Canaan and Wilton each have one home game, while Greenwich’s Cardinals are the visiting team for all three of their games.
The dates, sites and times of those upcoming games are listed below:
April 29 – New Canaan at Darien, 1 p.m.
April 29 – Greenwich at Staples, 1 p.m.
April 29 – Wilton at Ridgefield, 4:30 p.m.
May 4 – Staples at New Canaan, 6:30 p.m.
May 4 – Wilton at Darien, 4:30 p.m.
May 4 – Greenwich at Ridgefield, 6:30 p.m.
May 11 – New Canaan at Wilton, 7 p.m.
May 13 – Ridgefield at Staples, 3 p.m.
May 13 – Greenwich at Darien, 4 p.m.