6 Straight Goals Lead Darien to Girls Lacrosse Championship

MILFORD, CT — The Darien girls lacrosse team returned to the top of the Class L ranks in impressive fashion on Saturday afternoon. The second-seeded Blue Wave got a balanced scoring attack, led by Shea Van den Broek and Ashley Humphrey, who scored three goals each, and rolled to a 12-6 win over fourth-seeded New Canaan in the CIAC Class L championship game.

It was Darien’s third title in four seasons and avenged last season’s loss to the Rams in the semifinals.

"Because we lost last year and didn’t even make it to the finals, it’s pretty special to get back here and have a convincing win," Darien coach Lisa Lindley said. "I thought our defense played outstanding today. That started it."

Nicole Humphrey added two goals to the winning cause for the Blue Wave, who finished the season 21-2.

"This one is obviously the most special," Van den Broek said. "For us seniors, this has been the best team ever so to win in our last game is especially important for us, especially capping off the season with a big over New Canaan."

Katie Elders, Sarah Jacques, and Maddie Joyce had a goal and two assists apiece in the victory, while Molly McLuckin had a solo goal and Jordan Vaught and Charlotte Wittstock were credited with assists.

Goalie Shea Dolce, a freshman, made three saves for the Blue Wave, who held New Canaan scoreless for 24 minutes and 17 seconds while turning a 2-1 deficit into a 7-2 lead.

Ashley Humphrey said, "I think we need to give a lot of credit to our defense. They held them for a long time. It was a full team effort, but it started with our defense."

McKenna Harden scored two goals for New Canaan, which finished 18-5. Dillyn Patten, Kaleigh Harden, Lauren Bisceglia and Campbell Connors added single goals while Kendall Patten had an assist.

"You have to play a full 50 minutes," New Canaan coach Kristin Woods said. "We just didn’t execute. We were only there for 25 minutes and you can’t play a half game. Our offense just wasn’t clicking really well. We weren’t executing. We had a lot of young kids out there and they always do a great job, but they needed to do a better job recognizing their opportunities."