FCIAC

Trumbull nips Ludlowe in 5 to reach FCIAC Volleyball final

FAIRFIELD—A berth in the FCIAC Girls Volleyball final is a worthy reward.

Trumbull High School earned its chance to play for the 2018 league crown Thursday night by outlasting Ludlowe High, 25-15, 23-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-10 in the FCIAC semifinals before a passionate crowd at the Ludlowe High gym.

The win means No. 2 seed Trumbull will face No. 1 seed Westhill (20-2) on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Ludlowe’s gym for the FCIAC Championship. Westhill held off Darien, 3-2 in Thursday’s early semifinal.

“Every night in FCIAC volleyball is a battle. This was fun,” said Trumbull’s first-year head coach Nicole Trommelen. “How did we do this? With our fight. With our resilency. Ludlowe beat us in the regular season. And we could have gotten down after losing Game 4 to tie the match. But our team responded as it has all year against adversity.”

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Ludlowe beats Danbury to ensure winning season

FAIRFIELD — Another game, another heart-pounding win for the Fairfield Ludlowe football team.

The Falcons, who came into this season with three wins combined over their previous three seasons, has now doubled that mark this season and, like it has in four of their six victories, it came down to the wire with Danbury before they emerged with a 44-39 FCIAC win over the Hatters on Thursday night at Taft Field.

On the strength of Colin Wilson’s five touchdown passes, three to Brian Howell, and an interception in the final seconds by Howell, the Falcons made sure they’ll have a winning record in 2018.

“Even though they haven’t had success in the past three seasons, they know how to win because they don’t blame each other when things go bad,” Ludlowe head coach Mitch Ross said. “They kept going and going and played a fantastic clutch game.”

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Darien edges previously unbeaten Staples for FCIAC title

In recent years the Darien and Staples field hockey programs have had several memorable showdowns, scripting a new rivalry in a sport where historically the Blue Wave have had the edge with the Wreckers having closed the gap over the past couple of seasons.

A new chapter was written Thursday night as the No. 2 Blue Wave re-established themselves as the best team in the conference, defending their FCIAC championship by knocking off the top-seeded Wreckers in a 2-1 thriller at Brien McMahon’s Jack Casagrande Field.

“Our goal was to get here and obviously playing Staples is always such a great, fun competitive game,” Darien head coach Mo Minicus said. “We wanted nothing more than to beat them and these girls played their hearts out.”

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OT goal by Weinstein gives Trumbull FCIAC championship

NORWALK—The seniors on the Trumbull boys soccer team had already felt the pain of losing in a final last season and the numbness of tying one two years ago.

Neither were emotions the Eagles wanted to revisit playing in their third-straight FCIAC Championship game.

This time, what Trumbull felt was pure joy as Jason Weinstein scored with in overtime, lifting No. 2 Trumbull to a 1-0 win over No. 1 Danbury at Testa Field in Norwalk.

It is Trumbull’s second title in three years, but this one only belongs to them.

“I was dreaming of this today. This is my third time here and the third time is the charm. Started as co-champs, then a loss and all that was left to do was win,” Weinstein said. “Chris Prizio (Trumbull keeper) was the reason we got to overtime and we got the job done in overtime.”

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Greenwich repeats as FCIAC swim champions

GREENWICH — Meet-record performances, personal-best times, school-record efforts — Thursday’s FCIAC Girls Swimming Championships had it all, including a repeat team champion.

And the team that earned the sweet repeat is the squad that ended the meet in style.

Winning the final event — the 400-yard freestyle relay — in an FCIAC meet record time of 3:31.28, put the finishing touch on a championship night for Greenwich, which won the conference title for the second straight year.

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Westhill volleyball tops Darien in 5 to reach finals

FAIRFIELD—In the FCIAC Girls Volleyball Playoff semifinals, victory is not about sheer talent.

The metrics are heart, character and trust.

In a five-set battle worth far more than the price of admission Thursday night at an electric Ludlowe High School gym, Westhill High School rallied from the brink to outlast a resolute Darien High squad, 25-23, 17-25, 16-25, 25-23, 16-14.

The win means No. 1 seed Westhill (20-2 overall) will meet either No. 2 seed Trumbull or No. 6 seed Ludlowe for the 2018 FCIAC Volleyball Championship Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Ludlowe gym.

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Westhill sweeps Staples to reach FCIAC volleyball semifinals

STAMFORD — The magical journey of the Westhill High School girls volleyball team marched on Tuesday night as the No. 1 seeded Vikings rolled to a 25-14, 25-14, 25-20 home triumph over No. 8 seed Staples High in the FCIAC playoff quarterfinals at the J. Walter Kennedy Athletic complex.

The victory means Westhill (19-2 overall) will battle No. 5 seed Darien in the 5 p.m. semifinal on Thursday at the Ludlowe High gymnasium. Darien ousted Greenwich, 3-0 on the road Tuesday night. No. 6 Ludlowe and No. 2 seed Trumbull will meet in the 7 p.m. semifinal Thursday.

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Darien defeats Greenwich in FCIAC field hockey tourney

NORWALK — Darien senior Shea van den Broek gave her team a big boost of momentum by scoring three first-half goals against Greenwich in Monday’s FCIAC Field Hockey Tournament semifinals.

As it turned out, the Blue Wave needed each one of those goals.

Seizing a three-goal lead, second-seeded Darien held off a spirited surge from third-seeded Greenwich and held on for a hard-fought 3-2 win at Brien McMahon High School.

Defending FCIAC champion Darien advanced to the conference tournament’s championship game, where it will play top-seeded Staples at McMahon on Thursday at 7 p.m. Staples eliminated fifth-seeded Norwalk in Monday’s other semifinal matchup.

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Trumbull turns back Staples in penalty kicks

FAIRFIELD — After 100 minutes of scoreless soccer Monday night at Taft Field — 200 minutes with the clock running in the playoffs now — Trumbull boys soccer goalie Chris Prizio finally got to the fun part.

“Penalties are so fun. I live for this. I said it last time, I’ll say it this time,” Prizio said after he stopped three out of four Staples shots to help the Eagles advance to their third consecutive FCIAC championship.

Prizio stopped the last three Wreckers after Austin Sholes scored. Jason Weinstein, Dom Zaleski and Justin Horvath tallied for Trumbull.

The teams traded chances in 80 minutes of regulation and had fewer chances in 20 minutes of overtime.

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