WHS Field Hockey Advances to Semifinals

It was not their best game, but the WHS field hockey team found a way to win the all-important first round game of the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference (FCIAC) playoffs against Norwalk High School.

Sophomore Clare Detrick-Yee scored just under two minutes into overtime to give WHS a 3-2 victory, helping them advance to the FCIAC semifinals.

WHS was the fourth seed while Norwalk was the fifth seed but that had no bearing on this game as it was a battle to the end.

"We needed to learn a tough lesson in this game," said WHS head coach Deirdre Hynes. "We had a lot to make up for."

WHS jumped out to a 2-0 lead just three minutes into the match as sophomore Julianne Tangney scored both goals. On the first goal, senior Danielle Noonan passed the ball to Tangney on a penalty corner and Tangney fired it into the back of the cage.

On the second goal, senior Amy Dummond went end-to-end with the ball and was stopped on the first shot and Tangney was there to bang in the rebound.

“We certainly did not get off to the start we wanted to,” said Norwalk head coach Kyle Seaburg. “Those first six minutes really hurt us.”

It was all Wilton in the first half but Norwalk was able to put one in before the half ended as Norwalk forward Amanda Otero picked up a loose ball in front of the net after her teammate Katie Schmidt had a shot on goal.

Just seven minutes into the second half, Norwalk tied up the game on a penalty corner. Norwalk forward Jessica Schmidt got the ball over to teammate Donna DiPreta and DiPreta fired the ball past senior Wilton goalkeeper Stephanie Fricke to cut the lead to 2-1.

“After two early goals, we got too comfortable with the lead,” admitted Hynes. “We thought it was going to be the same kind of game as Tuesday night when we had an early lead against this same Norwalk team but it obviously turned out to be a much different game today.”

Norwalk continued to control the second half as WHS found themselves taking bad penalties, making untimely passes, and looking out of sorts.

“This was not the kind of performance we were looking for today,” said Hynes. “We have a lot more potential than that and we need to show it in our next match.”

The team’s next opponent could very well be Darien, the top-ranked team in the FCIAC and the 2008 State champions. Hynes is looking forward to the challenge if it arises.

“We would definitely be excited to see them again if they end up being our second round opponent,” said Hynes. “They beat us earlier in the season but the next game can be a totally different game as both teams have changed.”