Tiger Lacrosse Report - May 4, 2026

Against Staples at Tiger Hollow on April 23, Ridgefield delivered one of its grittiest performances of the season, rallying from multiple deficits before falling 11–10 in overtime in a game that felt like postseason lacrosse in April.

After falling behind 4–0 early, the Tigers could have folded. Instead, they settled in.

Conor Vickers got Ridgefield on the board late in the first quarter to make it 4–1, and the offense began to find rhythm in the second. Vickers struck again early in the quarter, and then Chris Colsey finished a crucial sequence with two straight goals (the second off a feed from Preston Penn) to tie the game at 4–4, erasing the early deficit entirely and shifting momentum.

Staples responded, as strong teams do, regaining the lead on goals from Charlie Clark and Connor Petrosino and taking a 6–4 edge into halftime.

But Ridgefield had made its statement: it wasn’t going anywhere.

The back-and-forth continued through the third quarter. Henry Neligan and Colsey each found the net to keep the Tigers within striking distance, but Staples countered with goals from Nick Weil, Tristan Benton and Hunter Pallai to extend the margin to 9–6 entering the fourth.

But the Tigers had a response.

Vickers netted his third of the night off a Kieran Troy assist. After a Clark goal briefly pushed the Wreckers' lead back to three, the Tigers' defense held firm and the offense went back to work. Tommy Lunn scored to make it a two-goal game, followed by a Ryan Troy tally to cut the Staples advantage to 10–9.

Then came the final push.

With time winding down, Ridgefield caused a Wreckers turnover and regained possession with under a minute left. With just 10 seconds remaining in regulation, Vickers dodged to his left from X and spotted Lunn flashing towards the left of goal and threaded a perfect pass through traffic. Lunn's quick-stick equalizer knotted the game at 10–10 and sent the Tiger Hollow crowd into a frenzy.

Unfortunately for Ridgefield, in overtime Pallai was able to create just enough room on a dodge down the right alley to put home the game-winner. But while there is no such thing as a "good loss," the evening served as a valuable building block for an ascending team.

Colsey (3 goals, 2 assists) and Vickers (3 goals, 1 assist) led the offense, with Lunn adding two goals and an assist. Penn’s playmaking (2 assists) was pivotal in the second-quarter surge, and Brady Reinhardt made eight saves in goal to keep Ridgefield within striking distance all night.

From Heartbreak to Triumph

Six days later at Somers (NY), Ridgefield didn’t just respond—it authored one of the most remarkable comebacks in recent program history.

Trailing 6–1 after the first quarter—and after losing the first seven faceoffs—the Tigers found themselves in a deep early hole. Possessions were limited, and Somers controlled the tempo and was scoring seemingly at will.

Then junior co-captain Andrew Lycoyannis stepped into the faceoff X and flipped the script. From that point forward, the momentum shifted to Ridgefield -- first gradually, and then suddenly.

Lycoyannis, the starting SSDM who had taken only a handful of faceoffs all year, finished at roughly 80% on the evening, but the dominance went far beyond the final percentage. In the fourth quarter and overtime, he was perfect—undefeated on every draw, repeatedly handing Ridgefield possession in the game’s highest-leverage moments and, in effect, willing the Tigers back into contention.

That control turned opportunity into inevitability.

Although the bleeding had been stanched from the early Tuskers run, Ridgefield found themselves trailing 9–5 at halftime, with goals from Chris Colsey, Conor Vickers, Liam Kristan, and Ryan Troy (man-up, from Kristan) keeping things within reach.

In the third quarter, the Tigers began to convert more consistently: Kieran Troy scored off a Vickers assist, and Colsey set up Ollie Cronin and Kristan on back-to-back possessions to cut the deficit to 12–9 entering the fourth.

Somers pushed the lead to 13–9 early in the fourth, but before the final rally began, Ridgefield got a critical spark. Junior defender Connor Chojnacki made one of the highest-IQ plays of the Tigers' season. Recognizing that the Somers goalkeeper had vacated the crease while Ridgefield was on the clear, Chojnacki launched a perfectly placed shot the length of the field from in front of his own goal and buried it to cut the Somers lead to 13–10. It was the kind of heads-up, skill-driven play that not only kept Ridgefield within striking distance, but subtly tilted the game's energy towards the Tigers.

Somers followed with a score to retake a four-goal lead at 14-10.

But then, with two minutes left in regulation, came the surge—powered, possession by possession, by Lycoyannis at X and a super-charged offense that took over the closing moments.

Faceoff win. Colsey goal from Lunn: 14-11.
Faceoff win. Another Colsey score, this time assisted by Kristan: 14-12.
Faceoff win. Vickers goal, from Colsey: 14-13.
And then: after another faceoff win, Lunn, from Colsey, with two seconds left in regulation: 14–14.

Two minutes. Four faceoff wins. Four goals. Complete control.

In overtime, Lycoyannis delivered again at the dot to secure possession, setting the stage for a finish for the ages.

With under 20 seconds remaining, co-captain Kristan—calm and deliberate—worked from the right corner and sprinted behind the Somers goal, just to the left of the cage. As the defense shifted, he suddenly reversed course back to the right, creating separation from his defender. Lunn had been lying in wait just to the right of goal, and as Kristan changed direction, Lunn's defender inched towards Kristan.

Lunn, sensing his opportunity, smartly backed up and created space. Kristan found him with a pinpoint left-handed pass. Lunn caught it in perfect position, leaned forward onto his right foot, and fired a perfect left-handed laser into the top left corner.

Ridgefield 15, Somers 14. Jubilation on the bench and in the visitors' stands. A memorable victory that the Tigers willed into existence by simply refusing to give up.

Colsey (4 goals, 3 assists) led the way, while Kristan and Cronin each added two goals and two assists and Vickers contributed two goals of his own. Brady Reinhardt made eight saves in goal, including several key stops in the second half to keep the game within striking distance.

The Bigger Picture

It would be easy to focus on the record over this stretch—wins over Norwalk and Somers, losses to Staples, Wantagh, and Wilton. And to be candid, the Wantagh and Wilton losses were forgettable games in which the Tigers played far from their best lacrosse.

But that would miss the point, because learning and growth virtually never occur on a straight-line trajectory. When a team loses two-thirds of its roster from the prior year, there will inevitably be ups and downs as they retool and mature individually and as a group.

What Ridgefield showed in these two games is something more enduring than results in late April and early May. Down four goals with two minutes left? They believed. Down 4–0 early against a top FCIAC rival? They responded. Game on the line? They executed.

That’s not something young teams with multiple freshmen and sophomores playing pivotal roles are supposed to do.

That’s something teams and programs with championship DNA do.

Ridgefield may be younger, less experienced, and still evolving compared to last year’s title group. But the identity—the edge, the resilience, the expectation that no game is over—has carried over.

If the past two weeks are any indication, this team isn’t rebuilding -- it’s reloading.

Season Record (Through May 2, 2026): 6-5 (1-2 FCIAC)

Season Scoring Totals (Through May 2, 2026)

Name — Goals–Assists–Points

Chris Colsey — 24–13–37
Conor Vickers — 20–9–29
Tommy Lunn — 14–6–20
Liam Kristan — 7–11–18
Preston Penn — 6–3–9
Ollie Cronin — 4–5–9
Ryan Troy — 8–0–8
Henry Neligan — 6–2–8
Kieran Troy — 4–4–8
Andrew Lycoyannis — 3–2–5
Sam Gay — 2–0–2
Andrew Tebbe — 2–0–2
Quinn Casey — 1–1–2
Ryan Carney — 1–0–1
Connor Chojnacki — 1–0–1
Andrew Fitzpatrick — 0–1–1
Alex Coleman — 0–1–1
Charles Hong — 1–0–1
Lucas Matthews — 1–0–1
Cooper Barnes — 1–0–1
Jackie Bucci — 1–0–1

The Week Ahead

Tuesday, May 5, 7:00 pm: Home vs Manhasset

The Tigers host Long Island powerhouse Manhasset on a special night for Ridgefield lacrosse: the annual KOMD (Kindness Over Muscular Dystrophy) benefit game for the Tigers' honorary captain, Conner Curran. "We are very much looking forward to the annual KOMD game on Tuesday night as we continue to raise awareness for our teammate Conner Curran," said Ridgefield head coach James Goldmann. "He fights a battle every day that is beyond anything we do on the field - so we just want to play as hard for him as possible." Please come out to Tiger Hollow on Tuesday night to support Conner!

Thursday, May 7, 6:00 pm: Home vs New Canaan

Two nights later, Ridgefield will host a New Canaan squad that's rolling at 8-2 and is currently ranked #1 in the state. With a roster featuring star sophomore attackman Grey Wildman, junior Princeton-bound goalie Jackson Crowell, and a slew of committed offensive talent including seniors Finn Roeder (Holy Cross), Cole Campisi (Denver), and Rogan Lowe (Colgate), and junior Matthew Reed (Holy Cross), the Rams will be looking to avenge their 12-7 loss to Ridgefield in the 2025 FCIAC final.

Prior Tiger Lacrosse Reports:

patch.com/connecticut/ridgefield/tiger-lacrosse-report-april-6-2026-nodx

patch.com/connecticut/ridgefield/tiger-lacrosse-report-april-20-2026-nodx