Ridgefield Advances To Girls Hockey State Finals

The Ridgefield girls hockey team hardly looked like a club coming off a five-overtime game.

Erica Guider, Cara Lockwood and Dana Cerone each had three-point nights as the Tigers charged into the state finals with a 5-0 victory over Darien on Wednesday night at the Darien Ice Rink.

Maggie Philbin, normally a backup, made her second consecutive start in goal in replace on flu-ridden Jen James and recorded 21 shots for the shutout.

"I came into today's game trying to keep my nerves down," Philbin said. "I knew I had an awesome defense in front of me and an awesome team that was with me 100 percent."

Coming off a 3-2 quarterfinal win at Simsbury on Monday that required nearly 40 minutes of extra hockey, the Tigers (15-7-1) surprisingly were the quicker team Wednesday.

They moved the puck well through the neutral zone, limited scoring chances and burned the Blue Wave with a dominant power play that has struggled at times through the season. Ridgefield scored four goals with the player advantage.

Guider finished with two goals and an assist while Lockwood and Cerone each registered a goal and two assists.

"The kids just want to keep playing," Ridgefield coach Paul Fabbri said. "We had that day of rest (on Tuesday).  We were fresh. We felt, despite our record -- muddling around -- that we were capable of this effort.  We feel we should be playing for the state championship."

In Saturday's final at the Terry Conners Rink in Stamford, Ridgefield (15-7-1) will take on seemingly invincible New Canaan (23-1) .

Still, the Tigers now have a win against Simsbury, the one team that has beaten the Rams this season.

"I think when we played (New Canaan) in the FCIACs (a 5-2 loss), we didn't show up in the first or second period," Morrison said. "But we've gained our confidence and we're ready to play."

Guider opened the scoring Wednesday with a power-play goal midway through the first period before Lockwood tallied with a minute left for a 2-0 lead after one.

"Our first line made that definite statement - Cerone, Lockwood and (Rachel) Morrison," Fabbri added. "(The early lead) gave us confidence. We know how good we are but when we don't score, we kind of doubt ourselves a little bit."

Darien (16-8) played better in a scoreless second period and came with more energy in the third, desperately tried to climb back in the game. However, Ridgefield put away the contest with three consecutive power-play goals.

"We needed that one goal," Darien coach Al Gurney said. "But they played solid. They have two solid lines. Their defense played well, their goalie played well. They played a better game. They deserved to win the game and they
deserve to play Saturday."

Morrison made it 3-0 with 7:11 remaining and Cerone a converted 5-on-3 just over a minute later. Guilder recorded her second of the night 1:37 left to cap the scoring.

Morrison was not surprised Ridgefield came out with more fire than Darien.

"That was really tiring, that (Simsbury) game," she said, "but our team has a lot of heart and determination, so I didn't expect anything else. I was really impressed and happy with our win."

Shannon Hall turned aside 29 shots for Darien, which beat Ridgefield twice during the regulation.