Sophomore Salma Anastasio scored early in the second half as the St. Luke's girls soccer team won the NEPSAC Class C championship with a 1-0 victory over Brewster Academy on Sunday at the Pomfret School.
St. Luke's reached the final with a 2-1 win over St. Mark's on Saturday while Brewster advanced with a 1-0 victory over Greens Farms Academy.
Following their hard-fought semifinal wins, Sunday's championship game got off to a sloppy and sluggish start as both treams were giving away the ball frequently.
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Neither side was able to build any consistent offensive from the back through the midfield. St. Luke's had the three best opportunities of the half spread across a 10-minute period.
Junior Caroline Parsons took a free kick from 22 yards out that bounced off the crossbar, senior Anne Troy found herself on the receiving end of a St. Luke's cross but her header found the post instead of the net, and Anastasio was stopped cold on a breakaway by Brewster junior goalkeeper Danielle Tidd.
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The teams went into the break tied at 0-0 with St. Luke's holding the advantage in shots at 8-3.
The 10-minute halftime break seemed to be exactly what the Storm
needed as the team came out ready to put away the game in the opening minutes of the second half.
Just six minutes in, Anastasio collected a pass from Parsons near the top of the penalty area, placed her first touch just away from her feet and turned to get off a left-footed shot. It found the underside of the crossbar, just out of Tidd's reach, and ricocheted down toward the goal.
Amid some brief confusion, Tidd collected the ball and neither sideline seemed to know what the decision was. The referee quickly checked on the near sideline with his assistant, who immediately ruled that the ball crossed the goalline, providing a 1-0 lead for St. Luke's.
A tense final 30 minutes saw Brewster test St. Luke's sophomore goalkeeper Melanie Bow (two saves) and the Storm's back four of sophomore Molly Pivirotto, junior Lindsay Bralower and senior co-captains Hannah Butman and Kelly Seaver.
Brewster worked to build pressure through the central midfield and from the wings, all of which was shut down by the stout Storm defense and midfield play of Meredith Rogers, freshman Emma O'Brien, sophomores Taylor Callaghan, Lillie Diomede and KC Kelly and seniors Great Joung and Troy.
Brewster's best chance on the day resulted from a corner kick that found its way to the ground in the middle of seven players directly in front of Bow and the St. Luke's net. The final clearance allowed St. Luke's to emergence victorious.
Darien Little League registration open
Registration for Darien Spring 2012 Little League Baseball and Softball is now open.
Eligible Darien Little League Baseball players are those boys who, as of April 30, 2012, are no younger than 5-years-old (and in kindergarten) and not older than 12 years-old.
Eligible Darien Little League softball players are those girls who are, as of Dec. 31, 2012, are a minimum of 5-years-old (and in kindergarten) and not older than 14-years-old.
To register, please go to www.dybs.org and select "Register Online" on the left-hand side of the page, then select the appropriate registration program for your child.
For second- through ninth-graders, regular registration will remain open until December 31, after which late fees will apply. For kindergartners and first-graders, regular registration will remain open until January 31, after which late fees will apply.
For questions regarding Little League Baseball registration, please contact David Williams at dwbbc@optonline.net or Andrew Bogdan at abogdan@optonline.net. For Softball registration questions, please contact Alison Feeley at feeley@optonline.net
MONDAY'S RESULTS
No games scheduled
TUESDAY'S SCHEDULE
No games scheduled
STANDINGS
- Football
FCIAC Points F/A Overall Record
Overall Points F/A Norwalk 7-1 226-120 7-1 226-120 Ridgefield 7-2 271-176 7-2 271-176 Stamford
6-2 268-124 6-2 268-124 McMahon 3-6 234-208 3-6 234-208 Harding 2-6 77-235 2-6 77-235 Fairfield Ludlowe 0-9 72-339 0-9 72-339 East Division FCIAC Record
FCIAC Points F/A Overall Record
Overall Points F/A New Canaan 8-1 331-158 8-1 331-158 Darien
8-1 285-165 8-1 285-165 Wilton
5-4 287-226 5-4 287-226 Fairfield Warde 4-5 212-204 4-5 212-204 St. Joseph 3-6 167-242 3-6 167-242 Trinity Catholic 3-6 173-240 3-6 173-240 Bassick 0-9 74-343 0-9 74-343
- Boys soccer
6-7-3 21 St. Joseph 2-11-3 9 Trinity Catholic 2-13-1 7
- Girls soccer
- Field hockey
FCIAC Record Points Staples 7-2-3-1 18 Stamford 8-4-1-0 17 Greenwich 3-5-3-2 11 Westhill 5-7-1-0 11 Ridgefield 0-6-5-2 7 Danbury 3-10-0-0 6 Trumbull 0-12-1-0 1 East Division Darien 13-0-0-0 26 Wilton 11-2-0-0 22 Norwalk 10-2-1-0 21 New Canaan 8-4-1-0 17 Fairfield Ludlowe 5-6-1-1 12 McMahon 4-7-2-0 10 Fairfield Warde 3-6-3-1 10
- Girls volleyball
11-7 Brien McMahon 5-13 Norwalk 3-15 Harding 1-17 East Division Darien 18-0 New Canaan
14-4 Fairfield Warde 9-9 Trinity Catholic 7-11 St. Joseph
7-11 Wilton 5-13 Bassick 0-18