Lady Tigers Break Blue Wave

After a back-and-forth tilt through a scoreless first half, the Ridgefield girls' soccer team battled with hosting Darien Blue Wave in FCIAC action Tuesday afternoon. 

With a majority of the early action taking place in the air, it wasn't the prettiest style of play brandished by both teams on the young season, but before long, the Tigers managed to keep things on the ground and broke the game open with a trio of late goals to emerge with the 3-1 road win over previously unbeaten Darien. 

"The first half was a bit sloppy with a lot of passes up in the air and not enough disciplined play on the ground," said Ridgefield head coach Robb Banyai. "For us, though, it's just a matter of keeping the ball on the ground, finding open teammates and making things happen. Our speed and our skills are strong, so once we settled down out there and maintained possession, good things happened for us." 

Following a first half featuring few quality scoring chances at either end, Ridgefield (6-1-1) shattered the scoreless tie when Monica Brown knifed down the left flank and blasted a cross to teammate Jaclyn Giordano ten yards above the goal mouth.

At a sideways angle, Giordano tapped it off her heel and through her own legs on the fly, finding the back of the Blue Wave cage with a circus shot and 30 minutes to play for the 1-0 Tigers lead. 

A Blue Wave goal off the foot of Georgie Highton knotted the score back up, but the sudden tie would prove to be short-lived.

With just under 18 minutes to play, a soundly struck free kick by Kathryn Cholko slammed off a Blue Wave defender and into the Darien cage for a decisive 2-1 Ridgefield edge. 

"Once we gained the lead at 2-1, they (Darien) began to push things a bit more, and it opened up some opportunities for us down the stretch," Banyai said. 

Soon enough, those opportunities arose for Ridgefield, and the Tigers promptly capitalized. Brown once again found space deep in Darien territory, pushing down the right flank this time before sending a beautiful feed in front.

Teammate Ellie Gravitte finished what Brown started with a booming one-timer for the 3-1 lead with just under ten minutes to go. The score would stand there through regulation. 

"At halftime, Coach instructed us to create more offense down the flanks and keep the ball on the ground," said Brown, who had a game-high two assists in the big road win for Ridgefield.

"I just tried to angle it back in play after pushing the ball all the way to the goal line, and I'm glad it worked both times and we were able to score those goals," Brown said. "To come here and knock off a previously unbeaten team is definitely big for us."