Fairfield Prep lacrosse edges Greenwich
By Ryan Lacey, Thursday, April 25, 2013, CT Post
The Jesuits had to dig deep to pull out a win against one of many teams trying to take away their title as the best team in Connecticut. Kevin Brown (four goals, one assist) and David White (two goals) combined for seven points as the Jesuits held off hard-charging Greenwich for a 7-6 victory on Wednesday, their fifth straight win. Greenwich (6-2), meanwhile, saw its six-game win streak come to an end.
"We have a battle-tested group," said Fairfield Prep coach Chris Smalkais, whose team improved to 6-2. "We have a number of seniors that have been three-year starters. They know what it takes to perform at a high level; they understand what competition is."
After tallying just three goals in 40 minutes of action, the Cardinals' offense burst into life in the form of Kyle Foote. The senior scored consecutive goals 43 seconds apart, on identically positioned isolation sets, cutting a 6-3 deficit to 6-5. Brown reestablished a two-goal lead with 5:15 left before Alex Moeser made it 7-6 with 3:31 left.
"Every game you're not sure who's going to get it but (Foote) started getting hot and we rode him," Greenwich coach Scott Bulkley said. "He's a very special player for us. With Kyle, (Moeser), (Declan Curran) and a lot of other guys, we have guys that can fill it up."
And then the drama began. Moeser fired wide with 2:21 left, but the Jesuits were unable to run out the rest of the clock. The Cardinals took possession with 1:16 left and had multiple chances to tie. Foote fired a shot that bounced off the post and clear, and a last-ditch shot from 25 yards out by Ryan Flippin with seconds remaining was blocked by the Jesuits' defense.
"I'm extremely proud of my team, they didn't give up and they fought back," Bulkley said. "If you want to win a game like this, you have to bury those shots (Greenwich hit the post six times) and they're going to learn that. I'm extremely proud of my guys. There is a lot of good things we did; the only thing we missed was finishing our own shots."
The defending Class L champion Jesuits got just enough offense to win on a day when shooting accuracy was hard to come by. That, combined with a pair of outstanding performances in the cage by Prep's Connor Henry and Greenwich's William Waesche, made scoring very difficult.
"I thought we didn't finish our scoring opportunities throughout the game," Smalkais said. "We had lots of really good scoring opportunities and we didn't score, which didn't really allow us to separate ourselves like I thought we would at certain parts of the game."
Cardinals faceoff man Graham Savio kept his team in the game with crucial draw controls during the fourth-quarter frenzy. The senior captain had missed the last 10 days with a concussion but returned to make an immediate impact.
"(Savio) played great, he did have a little rust in the beginning, but I thought he really started to pick it up at the end," Bulkley said. "He's a huge part of our team. He can keep us in any game. Any game we fall behind in we can get right back in it because of him."
The two teams entered Wednesday ranked among the top five of virtually every state lacrosse poll. While that could mean a rematch between these non-conference foes in the state tournament, Smalkais wants his team to peak at the right time of the year.
"The season is a journey, not a sprint," Smalkais said. "It's April 24th; we have a long way to go to get to June. We are constantly improving on a daily basis; we hope to be playing lacrosse in June."
FAIRFIELD PREP 1 3 1 2--7
GREENWICH 2 1 0 3--6
Records: Fairfield Prep 6-2, Greenwich 6-2. Scoring: FP--Kevin Brown 4 goals, 1 assist, Austin Sims 1g, David White 2g, John Edmonds 1a; G--Kyle Foote 2g, Decker Curran 1g, Alex Moeser 2g, Will Gibian 1g, Jamie Paradise 1a. Goalies: FP--Zach White (11 saves); G--William Waesche (5). Shots: FP--24; G--35.