New Canaan and Wilton collectively put up a whopping 34 goals Thursday in their match-up on the Warriors' home turf. When the dust had cleared, New Canaan came up with a 20-14 win.
Wilton Co-Head Coach Ciara Thurlow, while on the short end of the score said, "I'm proud of our kids for going to the net so well. We've had a few key injuries but we played hard and hung in there.""
The scoring jamboree started just 21 seconds after the opening draw when the Warrior's Tegan Helms picked up a ground ball near the goal, and scored for a 1-0 Wilton lead. It took all of three seconds for the Rams to tie it—Mannelly, off the draw, scored the first of her six goals.
The Rams took the lead back when Kacey Pippitt, with a helper from Anjalie Christie scored.
The teams continued to trade goals for most of the half. Alexi Farmakis,who was a threat every time she touched the ball, tied the game for Wilton. Mannelly's second goal gave New Canaan a one-goal lead; Tessa Howard tied it. Christie with a nice spin move put the Rams up by one. Olivia Hompe gave New Canaan a two-goal lead, but the speedy Farmakis made it a 5-4 game.
Wilton was scoring on long runs and individual efforts, but it was not a day of a lot of assists for the Warriors.
Midway through the half, the Rams went on a five-goal run. Hompe, with a couple of effective fakes beat Warriors goalie Maddie Kratz; Mannelly and Christie added two to the tally. Erin Markey picked up a ground ball in traffic near the goal and scored. Hompe put it another to make it 10-4.
The Warriors' Farmakis, who ultimately scored half of Wilton's total, fired back, scoring on a free possession. The Rams' Erin Fessler equaled that with a goal of her own, but Farmakis came back for one more.
With 11-6 showing on the scoreboard, Christie posted three unanswered goals going into halftime. The Rams led 14-6 at the break, but it's doubtful that anyone playing, coaching or watching this game thought an eight-goal lead was safe.
When Pippitt opened the second half with a goal less than one minute in, putting the Rams up by nine, New Canaan had its biggest lead of the afternoon.
But then the Warriors reeled off five consecutive goals. It was Casey Pearsall, then Howard, then Pearsall beat three defenders to score again; Farmakis scored two more and the nine-goal Ram lead had quickly dwindled to four.
Mannelly ended Wilton's run with a goal and then Hompe scored to give the Rams a six-goal cushion midway through the half.
But it was a back-and-forth game again when Pearsall scored for the Warriors, then Christie buried her sixth for the Rams, then Pearsall again, then Mannelly unassisted, made it 19-13 Rams.
With nine minutes left, a six-goal lead was hardly money in the bank.
Famarkis scored her seventh to make it 19-14. But that was as close as Wilton would get. Mannelly scored her sixth goal for the 20-14 final.
"It came down to who won the draw controls and we did a good job of that," Mannelly said.
Christie said the confidence and improved offense of the Rams in recent weeks was huge.
"We have a good system and we know we can score. Wilton ran well but once our defense started putting bodies on them in the second half, we knew we could win."
Winning coach Kristin Wood, with a smile on her face, said, "We've got a lot of work to do defensively."
The Rams improve to 9-2 ( 6-1 FCIAC). Their next game is at home against Fox Lane, NY on Saturday at 4 p.m.
