New Canaan 5/6 Black Field Hockey in 1-1 Tie with Darien

By Charlie and Alexander Weissman

for New Canaan 5/6 Black

On a beautiful Saturday of the last weekend of summer, New Canaan 5/6 Black team played their first away game at Darien. New Canaan took possession of the ball and held it for much of the first ten minutes of the game during which time they drew two foot penalties but were unable to score.

Strong attempts on goal from forwards, Molly Mitchell, Carolyn Russell, Caroline Sibbett and midfielders Carolyn Beecher and Ingrid Weissman were blocked by the Darien defense. After several attempts by New Canaan to score off of corners, Darien took possession at about the mid-point of the first half and after a quick drive up the middle scored a goal with powerful shot that the first-time goalie Maeson Wagner was unable to block after several previous saves.

Darien followed up their first score with another drive toward the New Canaan goal but this time Wagner was able to block the shot and the score remained 1-0 Darien. The half ended with New Canaan in possession, drawing another corner but still no score.

In the second half, New Canaan controlled possession of the ball with aggressive plays by Madison Grenauer, Sydney Sheffield, Daisy Crystal and later Kiera Cooney on defense and the offensive forwards and midfield working together to keep possession of the ball. They were able to thwart the Darien offense with excellent clears and movement of the ball to the Ram’s advantage.

The Rams kept fighting and Jordan Walker nearly scored following an impressive drive that nearly spanned the field. Then, Ellie Luciano pounded a shot past Darien’s goalie with an assist from Becky Panella making the game a tie. In the final seconds of the game Molly Mitchell nearly scored, but the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

This was an impressive result for the Rams who had never played together as a team before the actual game--imagine what they can accomplish as the season progresses!