By Rob Adams
The public address system at Terry Conners Rink in Stamford blared tunes meant to bring female empowerment to mind. Most of them were made before any of the participants on the ice were born.
No matter. The Greenwich High School girls ice hockey team wrote their own tune and won their first FCIAC championship.
The second-seeded Cardinals shut down the top seeded Darien Blue Wave, 2-0 in front of what seemed like a partisan crowd on Saturday.
The two teams had met twice during the regular season, with each squad picking up a 3-1 win.
This time, simply put, was different.
The Cardinals and Wave played to a scoreless draw after one period of play, as each team skated well with strong defense being the theme of a good pace. One of Darien’s best chances came with 4:39 remaining in the first, as they beat freshman goalie Jessica Ware. The shot pinged off the post and the game remained scoreless.
That would be the only time the Wave would best Ware, who made 15 saves and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
“I’m really so happy right now,” Ware said. “I don’t really have anything going through my mind.”
Ware had help in front of the net, as the defense of Emily Bello, Sydney Orszulak, Jennie Piotrzkowski, and Katie Piotrzkowski skated well.
“You can’t say enough about our goalies,” Greenwich head coach Alex Lerchen said. “Our defense is so strong. We had a game plan today and we tried to execute it, and we came out on top.”
The see-saw leaned towards Darien in the second period, as the Wave wiggled a puck just wide of the net 42 seconds in. The Cardinals would also have a chance, as the puck lay to the side of Darien netminder Emily Gianunzio, who would ultimately make 14 saves in the loss.
At the other end, with under three minutes remaining in the second, the Wave executed a two-on-one, but Ware was ready.
“I was pretty confident, Ware said. “If I stop this shot, then that’s one less goal that they have. My defense played really well in front of me today.”
On the other side, all Darien coach Jamie Tropsa could do was lament the missed opportunities.
“I think we played a pretty good game,” Tropsa said. “We Just didn’t capitalize when we had to. We had our chances.”
The scoreboard remained decorated with zeroes until junior forward Riley Ellsworth lit the lamp at 5:15 of the third period. Ellsworth’s left circle wrister darted past Gianunzio and broke the deadlock. The assist went to sophomore Hayley Duffy, who slid a cross-ice pass onto the stick of her line mate.
“It was definitely a big sigh of relief,” Lerchen said.
The breathing became a little easier when Big Red took a 2-0 lead, as Bello – one of seven freshmen – pushed the puck to sophomore Jennifer Kelly, who sent the puck top shelf near the post.
From there, the Cardinals had to skate it out to end Darien’s three-year run as champions of the conference.
“I kept thinking it should be done soon,” said Ware. “Excitement was just rushing through me.”
Soon it was done indeed and the Cardinals celebrated both on and off the ice.
“Hats off to Greenwich,” said Tropsa. “They played a really strong defensive-minded game. We just couldn’t penetrate enough to get some good shots through and some rebounds. That’s the moral of the story.”
The last piece of hardware was the MVP plaque, which landed in the arms of the goalie.
“I was a bit surprised,” said Ware. “It’s great, being a freshman and all.”
“These girls have worked so hard this year,” Lerchen said. “This is a win for the whole program.”
Now the Cardinals will focus on the states, and Lerchen is hoping his team can keep the momentum going.
“We got hot at the right time,” he said.
The Cardinals moved on to the state tournament, where they disposed of Simsbury, 4-1 Monday afternoon. Hayley Duffy had a hat trick for the Cardinals (16-3-5). Darien (16-4) beat New Canaan, 2-1. The semifinals are Thursday at Shelton Rinks, with the championship scheduled for Saturday at Bennett Rink in West Haven.
