Wilton Boys Lacrosse Falls To Darien

Goaltender Sam Sommers kept the Wilton High School boys lacrosse team close for a half against powerful Darien.

But the Blue Wave wore down the Warriors in the second and pulled away for a 9-3 victory,

Wilton challenged Darien (6-1) for nearly 30 minutes, playing strong, physical defense, aided by key saves by goalie Sam Sommers. Without Sommers, Darien's halftime lead would have been bigger than 3-2.

An aggressive play made by Warriors defenseman Scott Thompson may have stoked the fires of the Darien attack. 

With just 10 minutes to play in the third period, Thompson took a hard run at Darren defender Baylis Treen, who was down on the field for several minutes and ultimately left the game with a left shoulder injury. 

Darien responded to the loss of its junior defenseman with a string of four goals that left Wilton reeling.

Blue Wave forwards Brian Annecchino and Henry West combined for four goals apiece, each scoring hat tricks in the second half. 

Brameier had his work cut out for him with his senior midfielder, who was missing the net in the first half.

"Keno [Annecchino] got in my doghouse on his first four or five shots," Brameier said. "His shots were either hitting the goalie or sailing high and I told him he had to stop. 

"He took the coaching and his first goal that he pinpointed was where I asked him to shoot, and from there on out it just popped the bubble and gave him confidence."

With Darien up, 5 -2, late in the third period, Blue Wave attacker Brian Gleason took a difficult three-minute penalty that breathed life into a stymied Wilton attack. 

But not were the Warriors unable to cash in on the opportunity, they surrendered a goal that pushed Darien's lead to four.

"That was a crucial part of the game," Brameier said. "They could have capitalized and gone up, but we actually went up one."

The fourth period played out with Blue Wave eating up as much clock as possible while still imposing a suffocating defensive strategy that frustrated Wilton all game long.

"We play great defense against everybody, usually," Brameier said.

As the final seconds ticked away, Darien remains undefeated in the FCIAC, thanks in large part to "the best goalie in the state," according to Brameier.

Wilton (3-3) has to regroup from this defeat and build off the mistakes made in the last two contests. 

Brameier knows that although this was a win against a rival, it was only a regular-season victory. The teams  may meet again down the road in the postseason.

"We know that this is just a preview of probably having to see them again, once if not twice," the coach said.