Darien Rolls to Girls Lacrosse State Championship

These are words that may cause the rest of the girls lacrosse teams in the state to break out in hives: she is just a freshman, just a freshman.

Dillon Schoen scored five goals Saturday as Darien steamrolled its way to a 15-5 victory over Hand in the CIAC Class M state championship game at Stratford's Bunnell High School.

"This is just the beginning," said Schoen, who also handed out a pair of assists. "I'm not going to step here. All the next three years, I'm going to keep going."

With a number of freshmen and sophomores on the roster, the Blue Wave (16-8) didn't look like a state championship contender when they started 1-4.  They actually entered the state tournament as the No. 13 seed.

But once Darien got rolling in midseason, the team was like a runaway train. The Blue Wave surpassed 20 goals in each of their first two state tournament wins and though they were tested against New Canaan in the semifinals, they left little doubt on Saturday.

"I think we out-hustled them," Schoen said. "We did a good job in mid-field. We finished our shots and we came out with the win. It was awesome."

To its credit, Hand kept Darien off the scoreboard for the first seven-plus minutes and grabbed  1-0 lead on a goal by Julia Miller with 18:46 left in the half.

But the Blue Wave erupted for four goals in a span of just over two minutes to make it 4-1 on Emily Stein's second with 15:21 left in the half.

Hand pulled within 4-3, but Taylor Hardison registered two in a row and Ellie Bullit tallied her second of the half to give Darien a 7-3 lead at the intermission.

Schoen took over in the second half, when the Blue Wave poured it on.

"She's a gamer," Darien coach Lisa Lindley said. I'm glad [she scored five goals] because she's a very unselfish player. For her to score five goals, she's also dishing the ball five or 10 times."

Schoen opened the second half with two goals as Darien began to turn the contest into a rout.

"We're really proud of her," Bullit said. "She's come up huge this season and I'm sure in the future, she'll have so much more success."

Schoen tallied her fifth to make it 12-5 with 7:03 to play. Bullit then recorded her third and fourth, sandwiched around a goal by Jenna Fritts, to complete the onslaught for Darien.

Bullit felt Darien's tough early-season slate made the Blue Wave stronger for postseason play.

"Those out-of-state games, those Long Island games, really gave us the competitive edge," she said. "Those out-of-state games really prepared us. We knew we weren't going to face anybody as strong as Garden City or Manhasset."

Stein and Hardison finished with two goals apiece for the Blue Wave, which won its fourth state championship after reeling off three in a row from 2007-09.