May 2, 2008
A New Chapter: Rivalry has new look as Rams win
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Click here for a slideshow of the game
As the New Canaan Rams prepared for their showdown with the Wilton Warriors boys’ lacrosse team last Thursday, senior co-captain Paul Dubas asked Head Coach Alex Whitten, “Coach does this place bring back a lot of memories?”
“This place” of course was Wilton High School, where Whitten spent his years as part of the Warriors legacy.
“Of course it does, but it’s time to make some new memories,” was Whitten’s response.
After that, the Rams went out and began a new era in the storied New Canaan-Wilton rivalry with a 4-3 defense-dominated victory at Tom Fujitani Field. Senior Charlie Stanton scored the game-winner, a transition goal off a great pass from freshman Joe Costigan with 9:24 remaining, to secure the victory for New Canaan.
“This is Wilton, Coach Whitten coming back to his hometown and we all really wanted to win it for him,” said goalie and co-captain Fergus Campbell, who made 17 saves with a incredible performance in net. “Coming in here and getting a win like this does so much for us.”
“My guys have played hard all year and they came out today and they really, really played hard again,” Whitten said. “Wilton’s a tough team. They played well, they played hard and they’ve got some really good athletes on that team. We got a W and we’re 6-3 now and that’s huge. We’re building momentum and moving along.
“This was a great way to start my time in the rivalry for New Canaan. This was a good one and we’re excited.”
The winning sequence started with a save by Fergus Campbell, who tossed an outlet pass to defenseman Kevin Campbell. Kevin Campbell sent it up to Oliver Dennis, who in turn hit Costigan along the right side. Costigan crossed midfield and fired a pass up to Stanton near the goal on the right, and Stanton beat goalie James Fuller to the top right corner for the lead.
“Joe Costigan — that was his goal,” Stanton, who scored two goals, said. “He gave me one like that in Darien, too. He’s such a horse, he just ran down, ran the break, and I just cut across backside, so he got me.
“The transition game was a lot quicker, it’s more exciting and it’s been working for us lately. So we’re happy.”
The Rams, who improved to 7-3 overall and 7-1 in the FCIAC with a 10-7 win over St. Joe’s on Tuesday, received a huge game from the defense against Wilton (6-3, 6-2) In addition to Fergus Campbell in the net, long poles Richie McGinniss, Bryan Whiting, Kevin Campbell and George Powell also had huge days to help limit the Warrior attack.
“Fergus was outstanding today — in the pipes, outside of the pipes, our clearing game — and our 1-on-1 match-ups were really good,” Whitten said. “George Powell played Pete McMahon really well, Kevin Campbell played Mike Francia well and Bryan Whiting played Pete Johnson well. In games where it’s three of four goals scored, restricting the number of times guys can get a good look at the goal is very, very important and our defense did well.”
Wilton managed just one goal over the final 35 minutes after taking a 2-0 lead early in the second quarter. Vinnie Cannon had the game’s first tally with a shot from the left at 8:18 of the first quarter, and Mike Francia added the second off a feed from Cannon 42 seconds into the second quarter.
New Canaan got on the board at 2:01 of the second, when senior co-captain Teddy Citrin circled around the back of the net to the left side, spun and scored low. Mark Simone then tied the game when made a move past two defenders and sent another shot low past Fuller at 4:44.
Stanton gave New Canaan its first lead with just 26.3 seconds remaining in the half. After a scramble 15 yards in front of the Wilton goal, Stanton scooped up the ground ball, stepped forward on the left side and scored high for a 3-2 advantage.
Wilton knotted the score at 6:59 of he third period, as Harrison Hess tallied with an assist from Pete McMahon.
Both teams had some early chances in the fourth quarter but the defenses came up big before the Rams scored in transition.
“The transition game is what we want to play and that was the best goal we’ve had season,” Whitten said. “That goal in the fourth quarter to go ahead was awesome.”
Wilton had numerous opportunities to tie the game down the stretch as New Canaan struggled with turnovers. McGinniss deflected a shot by Cannon with six minutes to play, and Fergus Campbell made a point-blank stop against Johnson a couple of minutes later.
Wilton got off one final shot with three seconds to play, but Fergus Campbell made the stop low at the left post to secure the victory.
The goalie gave a lot of credit to his defensemen, a new group when the season began.
“It’s always going to progress as the season goes along,” Fergus Campbell said. “They were all coming in inexperienced — none of them except for Richie (McGinniss) played last year — so it was going to take a little time to get rolling, but they’re finally starting to click. They understand what they’re doing, we’re talking, getting all our slides and playing much better.”
The importance of beating Wilton, the Rams’ arch-rival, for both themselves and for their coach, wasn’t lost on the players.
“(Coach Whitten) showed up to practice yesterday wearing his Wilton alumni shirt to not let us forget what this game means to him and everyone in our town,” Stanton said. “So it was big and we were pumped for it definitely. This is a really good team and we’re trying to prove ourselves in the FCIAC, so this was a big win.”
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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