Wilton scored on its first six shots to go up 6-0 just over seven minutes into the game, and never gave Ridgefield much of a chance to catch up in a 20-5 win on Monday in the first round of the Class L girls lacrosse playoffs.
The ninth-seeded Warriors (12-6) play at top-seeded Glastonbury in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 5.
In Monday’s game, the host Tigers, the eighth seed, could not solve Wilton’s dominance on draw controls, as the Warriors won draw after draw in the first half, dominated possession time, and pulled farther and farther ahead.
The first 20 minutes were probably the best Wilton’s played all season, as the Warriors had a 14-1 edge in shots , won nine of 10 draws, and didn’t commit a turnover.
The result was a 9-0 lead with 13:12 left in the half.
“I think we came out really focused and ready to play,” said Wilton Head Coach Meredith Meyran. “We knew that Ridgefield was very talented and we weren’t going to take them lightly at all. So we came in here really, really prepared, really focused on our scouting report. We knew they were really aggressive on draws so that’s something we focused on, as well as assisted goals just to change up our attack a little bit.”
The Tigers finally got on the board with 10:31 left in the first half on a goal by Megan Hoban, off a great feed from Courtney Carbone. Allyson Myers came from behind the cage to score with 4:20 left to make it 10-2, but Wilton closed out the first half with goals by Laine Parsons and Sara Dickinson to lead 12-2 at intermission.
The Warriors got off 22 shots in the first half to Ridgefield’s four.
“Wilton’s a great team. It was unfortunate that we got down so much, so soon, but we’re really proud of them. They fight all the way to the end, and that’s all I can ask for,” said Ridgefield Head Coach Cece Berger. “(Wilton) really came up with those early possessions. It was hard to fight back, as much as they were maintaining control of the ball.”
The Tigers were able to win a few draw controls and get the ball early in the second half, resulting in a 3-0 run on two goals by Kimmie Weinstock and one by Myers, cutting the lead to 12-5.
Meyran called a time-out to re-focus her team, and the Warriors bounced back with a 5-0 run to go up 17-5 with 11 minutes left.
“Even though the lead seemed like a lot of goals, Ridgefield is so athletic and fast that we never felt comfortable, so we felt we needed to keep pushing it,” said Meyran. “We knew at halftime that we couldn’t relax, that we couldn’t let down at all because Ridgefield certainly wasn’t going to give this to us.”
For the game, the Warriors won 18 draws, scored on 20 of 32 shots, and finished with 11 assists on 20 goals.
Dickinson led the scoring with seven goals and two assists, while Makenna Pearsall had five goals and was dominant on draws, with 10 draw controls. She also had an assist.
Parsons tallied three goals and three assists, and had five draw controls.
Eva Greco finished with two goals and four assists, and Rebecca Wistreich also had two goals. Cecily Freliech had one goal and one assist.
Myers and Weinstock each had two goals for the Tigers, while Hoban had one goal. Carbone and Mae Briody each had an assist.
Olivia Phelan made two saves in goal for Wilton, while Maddie Burns had two saves for Ridgefield.
The Tigers, who finished the season at 11-7, were without two key offensive players, including their leading scorer, sophomore Kaitlyn McMullan, who was out with a concussion.
Coach Berger said the experience of making states this year, as well as making FCIACs, will be something for the Tigers — who graduate only four seniors — to build on next year.
Unfortunately, the lack of possession time didn’t allow the Tigers a chance to show what they could do on Monday.
“We have really talented players. Very young. We can shoot. We can throw and catch nicely with each other. They need to recognize more what opportunities they have,” Berger said. “Once we were able to get a few (draws) they could show they have the ability to score. It just wasn’t enough today.”