Strong Preseason Raises Hopes for Boys Soccer

An impressive showing in the preseason has raised hopes that the Darien boys soccer team can rebound from last season's less-than-flattering 3-9-3 finish.

Darien, which opens the regular season Tuesday at home against McMahon (4 p.m.), won five of its six preseason contests, including a 3-1 victory over a solid Brunswick squad last week.

"We definitely have high hopes for the season," co-captain Rupert Hansford said after that win.

But coach Nicolae Piperea cautioned against overconfidence—a relatively new concern for the Blue Wave.

"In years past, we've had to motivate our players to keep to keep their heads high, whereas this year it is the other way around," Piperea said. "We don't want the players to get overconfident."

Still, Piperea liked what he saw from his club in the preseason. He described it as better than the school's 2008 squad, which went 7-7-3 and lost in the first round of the CIAC Class L state tournament.

"This team is capable of surpassing the performance of the team two years' ago," Piperea said.

Alex McGuire, who anchors the starting defensive unit along with fellow captains J.P. Walsh and Ben Burke, said he expects the Blue Wave's experience will be an advantage this season.

"Last year we struggled a bit, but this year we have more of a sense of unity now that we have a senior class that has been playing together for awhile," McGuire said.

"We need to increase our goal differential," Hansford added. "Last year we had a lot of athleticism, but this year we have discipline."

Piperea, meanwhile, is expecting his captains to lead the way.

"I look forward to the performance of the captains leading the team," he said. Individually, they are very good players, and as a unit I know they will lead by example."

The team's discipline and unity were on display against Brunswick.

After a sluggish start in which Brunswick struck deep and often, the Blue Wave regained its composure. Sophomore Brennan Branca put Darien on the scoreboard first when he launched a high lob to the back of Brunswick's net 17 minutes in.

Another sophomore, Spencer McMullen, fed a beautiful pass to J.J. Holmgren for the team's second goal, leaving a 2-0 halftime cushion. Matt Collier made it 3-0 in the second half before Blue Wave goaltender Graham Hotchkiss finally surrendered a goal.

Despite the optimism heading into the season, Pipera is asking his players not to take anything for granted.

"I want them to keep their feet on the ground, keep working, and look at every game and every practice as a way to improve their individual and team performance," Pipera said.