FCIAC

St. Joseph holds off McMahon to advance

TRUMBULL — Barely holding off an upset-minded Brien McMahon team for most of the first half, St. Joseph needed a momentum swing in a big way.

That turn came 34 minutes into the first, as Jessica Mazo connected with Maddie Fried on a textbook two-on-one chance to break the scoreless tie.

The second-ranked Cadets would go on to defeat No. 7 McMahon 2-0 at home in the FCIAC quarterfinals Thursday.

“For 20 minutes in the first half I really thought they were playing better than us,” said Cadets coach Jack Nogueira, whose team will play the winner of No. 6 Trumbull and No. 3 Ridgefield in the semis on Monday. “Once we scored the first goal I thought we weren’t as nervous and started playing a little bit better. Today we finished our opportunities. They had a couple opportunities they could’ve finished that they didn’t, we found a way to win a game that was very tough for us.”

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Westhill volleyball sweeps Ridgefield

STAMFORD — Taking care of business and reaping the rewards.

The Westhill High School girls volleyball team continued their magical 2018 season Wednesday night as the Vikings swept Ridgefield High, 25-20, 25-11, 25-22 before a thrilled home crowd at the J. Walter Kennedy Athletic Center.

The victory, Westhill’s third straight and seventh in its last eight matches, left the Vikings at 17-2 overall.

“The girls are playing together. They are communicating well on the court,” said Westhill coach Marianna Linnehan. “They are playing aggressive when it’s called for. And making the smart play when it’s called for.”

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Stamford tops Trinity Catholic

STAMFORD — One side was looking to the road ahead. The other side looked back at a hard road traveled.

The Stamford High School boys soccer team closed out its regular season Tuesday by downing intracity rival Trinity Catholic High School, 6-3, at the Crusaders’ Gaglio Field.

“It was a regular season filled with ups and downs. We had some brilliant moments. But our ledger was filled with inconsistency,” Stamford High’s veteran coach Mario Caminiti said. “Closing with a victory is nice. And we got the opportunity in the second half to play a number of junior varsity kids and look ahead to next season. The JV kids displayed some nice fluidity with the ball. And their composure was very good.”

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Staples caps undefeated season by beating St. Joseph

WESTPORT — Last season, as Zoe Barnett watched and bided her time behind a three-year starter and all-state goalkeeper, she took everything in and learned as much as she can.

This fall, as a senior starter, Barnett finally got her shot.

Barnett backstopped an undefeated Staples High girls soccer regular season, giving up just five goals in 16 games and recording her 11th shutout of the season in the Wreckers’ 1-0 win over St. Joseph on Monday afternoon a Loeffler Field.

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Ridgefield holds off rival Wilton in football thriller

WILTON — The Ridgefield High School football team’s defense had its back against the wall on two separate occasions in the fourth quarter Saturday against rival Wilton. Both times — with no margin for error — the Tigers came up big in preserving a thrilling 21-6 victory.

“We’re really proud,” Ridgefield senior Kurt Monahan. “Every year for Ridgefield, the defense is always resilient, and we always have a lot of heart. We work really hard, and it shows on the field.”

Monahan made a game-saving play less than a minute into the fourth quarter. Wilton’s Kyle Phillips scored on a 3-yard run to cut Ridgefield’s lead to 7-6. Rather than kick the extra point and tie the game, the Warriors decided to go for two, but Monahan had other plans. Wilton quarterback James O’Brien faked a handoff, rolled to his left, and spotted a receiver wide open in the end zone. Monahan, however, read the play perfectly and batted down O’Brien’s pass to protect the lead.

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Summers, St. Joseph trounce Knights

TRUMBULL — It was easily the worst thing that has happened to the St. Joseph High School football team this year. When all is said and done with this 2018 season, however, that 15-point loss to Darien last month just might end up being the best thing that could have happened to the Cadets.

With quarterback David Summers throwing for 182 yards and five touchdowns Saturday, St. Joseph walloped Stamford 42-0. The rout continued a recent trend for the Cadets, since they lost their No. 1 ranking in the state by Darien.

Saturday’s win over Stamford was the Cadets’ third in a row since the loss, their third consecutive shutout and third straight time they have scored 40-plus points. St. Joseph beat Wilton 47-0, Ridgefield 42-0 and Stamford 42-0.

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Bici leads Greenwich defense in romp over Westhill

STAMFORD—On Westhill’s first play from scrimmage on its 5-yard line, Greenwich linebacker Mozi Bici knew what play Westhill was going to run as it broke the huddle.

His anticipation was spot on with Bici blasting through the line, pouncing on the Westhill running back as soon as he got the ball, tackling him for a safety.

That play by Bici set the tone for the day as the Greenwich defense dominated Westhill, leading to a 53-0 win at J. Walter Kennedy Stadium.

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Thaw leads Staples past Norwalk

WESTPORT — Jake Thaw has come into his own as quarterback of the Staples football team.

The junior signal-caller amassed 245 of the Wreckers’ 447 total yards Friday night, rushing for four touchdowns and throwing for another while leading Staples to a 40-20 win over Norwalk.

The 6-foot-1, 175-pounder scored on touchdown runs of 1, 10, 14 and 42 yards and connected with wide receiver Kevin Rabacs on a 28-yard passing play to spark the offense.

“Jake played really well,” Staples coach Phil Treglia said. “He’s behind a good offensive line and he complements what we’re doing. It was just his time to shine tonight and he did.”

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Nicholas leads Trumbull past Danbury

TRUMBULL — The good news for Danbury is the Hatters’ running quarterback is also a pretty good passing quarterback. The bad news was that Friday night they went up against an even better dual-threat in Trumbull’s Colton Nicholas.

Danbury’s Malachi Hopkins, one of the leading rushers in the FCIAC, threw for 290 yards and three touchdowns, but Nicholas passed for 244 yards and three scores while also rushing for two, including an amazing 59-yard tackle-shaking run on a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak in Trumbull’s 37-26 victory.

“We knew we’d have to throw the football to beat Trumbull but we weren’t consistent enough,” Danbury coach Augie Tieri said. “Malachi is more likely to run for 300 yards than pass for 300, but at least he showed tonight that he can do both.”

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