UPDATES
• Field hockey: The Staples field hockey team sent shock waves through the FCIAC Thursday night.
Misha Strage converted a penalty corner with 24:14 remaining in the second half as the Wreckers upset top Darien 1-0 in the FCIAC semifinals at New Canaan's Dunning Field.
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Staples snapped a 93-game unbeaten streak for Darien (87-0-6), which had not lost since 2007.
The Norwalk Hour reported that according to the National Federation of High Schools Record Book, it was the third-longest unbeaten streak in high school field hockey history.
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In Saturday's final, Saturday for 10 a.m. at McMahon, Staples (9-2-3-1) will take on either No. 2 seed Wilton or No. 6 New Canaan, who met in Thursday's second semifinal.
Darien (17-0-0-1) repeatedly pressed for the tying goal, but was frustrated by Staples goalkeeper Chris Lueb, who finished with 15 saves. The Blue Wave defeated the Wreckers 3-2 during the regular season,
Darien is the defending four-time CIAC Class M state champions.
In Saturday's final, set for McMahon at 4 p.m, Staples will face No. 2 Wilton. The Warriors advanced with a 1-0 win over No. 6 New Canaan in Thursday's second semifinal.
• Girls volleyball: The top-seeded Blue Wave cruised into the semifinals with a 25-15, 25-19, 25-14 win over Fairfield Ludlowe, Darien's 17th sweep in 19 matches this season.
Darien (19-0) advanced to Friday's semifinals, where it will face No. 4 seed New Canaan at Fairfield Ludlowe at 7 p.m. The Rams rallied for a 3-2 victory over Greenwich on Thursday.
In the other semifinal, No. 2 seed Ridgefield will take on No. 3 Staples at 5 p.m. at Ludlowe.
• Football: The Blue Wave will look to bounce back from last week's 42-23 loss at Staples on Saturday when they Trinity Catholic at 2 p.m.
Darien (6-1) held a 17-7 lead at Staples last week, but surrendered 28 unanswered points in the third quarter and suffered a 42-23 loss to the Wreckers.
The Blue Wave dropped to ninth in the CIAC Class L rankings and may have to run the table to make the state playoffs, which would include beating undefeated New Canaan at Thanksgiving.
Next week, Darien has what would appear to be an easy game against winless Bassick. Trinity Catholic (3-4) blanked Bassick last week, 28-0.
Darien is among five teams in Class L with one loss, ranking behind Bunnell (6-1), New London (5-1) and North Haven (6-1) and ahead of Farmington (6-1).
Looking ahead, Darien would get a huge boost by beating New Canaan (7-0) because of the bonus points involved. A second loss, however, would put the Blue Wave in a position where they would need a lot of help.
Class L, which might be the deepest division in the state, includes three of the top-five ranked teams in Connecticut: Hand (7-0), New Canaan (7-0) and Masuk (7-0).
• CIAC: The CIAC announced Thursday it has postponed the start of its state tournaments to allow extra time for conferences to complete their own playoff tournaments.
State tournaments in soccer, field hockey, volleyball and swimming — scheduled to start on Monday — will begin Thursday. Pairings will be announced Wednesday.
Volleyball and field hockey state championship games now will take place Nov. 18-19. Girls and boys soccer championship games will be played the following weekend.
• Junior football: This week's playoff games involving Darien teams in the Fairfield County Football Leagues (most games were postponed last week):
Saturday, Darien High School:
- 9:30 a.m.: Bantam third grade – DJFL Blue vs. New Canaan Red
- 11 a.m.: Junior fifth grade – DJFL Blue vs. Westport South
Saturday, Wilton High School:
- 6:30 p.m.: Junior third grade – DJFL White vs. Wilton Blue
Sunday, Darien High School
- 11:30 a.m. – Bantam fourth grade -- DJFL White vs. DJFL Blue
- 1 p.m. – Junior sixth grade -- DJFL White vs. Norwalk Green
- 2:30 p.m. – Senior eighth grade -- Norwalk Green vs. Darien Blue
Sunday, Westport's Romano Field
- 2 p.m.: Bantam fourth grade – Westport South vs. DJFL Wave
THURSDAY'S RESULTS
- Field hockey: Staples 1, Darien 0 (FCIAC semifinals)
- Girls volleyball: Darien 3, Fairfield Ludlowe 0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-14)
FRIDAY'S SCHEDULE
- Girls volleyball: Darien 3, New Canaan 0, FCIAC semifinals
- Girls swimming: FCIAC diving finals, 5 p.m, at Westhill
SATURDAY'S SCHEDULE
- Football: Trinity Catholic at Darien, 2 p.m.
- Girls swimming: FCIAC finals, 4 p.m., at Greenwich
- Girls volleyball: Darien vs. Ridgfield, 4 p.m., at Fairfield Ludlowe, FCIAC finals
STANDINGS
- Football
FCIAC Points F/A Overall Record
Overall Points F/A Norwalk 6-1 196-106 6-1 196-106 Ridgefield 5-2 188-124 6-1 188-124 McMahon
3-4 200-145 3-4 200-145 Stamford 4-2 204-75 4-2 204-75 Harding 2-5 57-200 2-5 57-200 Fairfield Ludlowe 0-7 44-261 0-7 44-261 East Division FCIAC Record
FCIAC Points F/A Overall Record
Overall Points F/A New Canaan 7-0 253-109 7-0 253-109 Darien
6-1 201-136 6-1 201-136 Fairfield Warde
4-3 167-134 4-3 167-134 Wilton 3-4 219-192 3-4 219-192 Trinity Catholic 3-4 138-162 3-4 138-162 St. Joseph 1-6 88-210 1-6 88-210 Bassick 0-7 48-258 0-7 48-258
- Boys soccer
5-7-3 18 St. Joseph 2-11-3 9 Trinity Catholic 1-13-1 4
- 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 FCIAC Record Points 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 5-12* Norwalk 3-15 Harding 1-17 East Division Record Darien 18-0 New Canaan
14-4 Fairfield Warde 9-8* Trinity Catholic 7-11 St. Joseph
6-11 Wilton 5-13 Bassick 0-17
