Ridgefield Wrecks Staples’ Championship Dream [Video]

Staples High School’s boys lacrosse team was eliminated from  Class L championship title contention after Ridgefield High School beat the Wreckers 11-3 in the semifinals Wednesday at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk.

Wreckers’ star goaltender, J.B. Breig, was unable to stop Ridgefield’s powerhouse offense.

The semifinal game was played in 90-plus degree weather, and each team needed to take that into consideration for strategy. Staples’ coach Paul McNulty and Ridgefield coach Roy Colsey both commented on the weather, saying it affected the tempo of the game and forced more substitutions than usual.

However, Ridgefield’s change in tempo only led to more opportunities to pick apart the defense.

The first half of the game was all about possession. McNulty said he would have liked to have controlled the ball more, to deny Ridgefield’s powerhouse offense: “If we have the ball, their offense doesn’t,” he said.

At the end of the first half Ridgefield led 4-2, with goals from Matthew Hrvatin, Andrew Buckanavage, Eric Scala, and William Bonaparte. Staples’ Joey Zelkowitz and Kip Orban scored in the first half as well.

Ridgefield dominated possession from Staples in the third and fourth quarter, with Scala scoring 30 seconds into the third, and Sean Riley scoring nearly five seconds later. In the last minute of the third quarter, Hrvatin and Bonaparte each scored their second goals.

Staples went into the fourth quarter behind 8-2, and only Orban could finish with eight minutes left in the game. For Ridgefield, Scala completed his hat trick and Buckanavage scored again with no goalie in the net.

Download the movie

Download the movie

Download the movie