Match Report: Staples vs. Darien

It took just 57 seconds for Staples to score against Darien, this afternoon at Wakeman Field.

Josh Whitaker drew a hard foul in the box. Will Murray laced the penalty kick home. It looked like a rout was on.

It wasn’t.

Sometimes in soccer, it’s dangerous to score so early. It can lead if not to complacency, then to perhaps a temporary lack of focus.

The Blue Wave took advantage of the early deficit. Three and a half minutes later — after monopolizing possession — Parker Skelton slotted in a free kick that was played on the ground around the outside of the defensive wall.

But the Wreckers went back to work. Six minutes after that equalizer, Cormac Mulvey dropped a free kick from 40 yards out into the penalty area. Dylan Shackelford — moving forward on the set piece — race through, finishing nicely with one clean touch.

Darien — showing why they were 3-0-1 — countered quickly, forcing keeper Christian Rinaldi into 2 tough saves. The Wreckers began asserting themselves, led by defenders Mulvey, Shackelford and Jack Schwartz. At the other end of the field, Jonny Costello was digging balls out on the right.

Still, the visitors persisted. Three minutes before halftime, dangerous striker Jack Flynn kept the ball well under pressure, then hammered a shot into the far corner, upper 90.

The second half opened where the first 40 ended, with end to end action. Rinaldi flew wide to save on Flynn.

Alex Kuster — who came on strong defensively — split the Wave defense.

Whitaker found Costello, but he was offside. The attacker had a couple of other good looks, which just missed.

Meanwhile, Staples was bedeviled by three more offside calls.

With 13 minutes to play, Darien split the defense. Once again it was Flynn who finished, for a 3-2 lead.

Back came the Wreckers. Murray split the defense, and earned a corner kick. Then came a second corner. The hosts were knocking on the door.

In the 73rd minute Schwartz, Gabe Duque, Emmett Nivaud and Murray worked a nice series. Duque was in again a minute later; his shot was saved.

The back-and-forth play continued until — literally – the final buzzer. It sounded with the Wreckers on the attack, and the ball bouncing in Darien’s penalty area inches from the goal.

The bitter loss dropped the Wreckers to 2-2-0. Their difficult early season schedule continues, with a 5 p.m. match Tuesday at Greenwich. The Cardinals are 4-0-0. FINAL SCORE: Darien 3, Staples 2. SEASON RECORD: 2-2-0.

QUICK KICKS: The junior varsity downed Darien, 7-1. Sam DiGiovanni and Zach Gillman had 2 goals each. Ford Epstein, Eli Zev and Owen Goldfarb had solo strikes ….

The freshmen also continued to roll, 4-0 against Darien. Henry Green redirected a shot by Mateo Riera with his head for the first goal. Kai Massicott converted a PK, after being taken down in the box. Jaden Waldman ripped a low shot into the corner. Sebastian Elizondo finished the scoring, on a breakaway. Spencer Derakhshan owned the middle of the field, while Max Caro owned the right side. The shot totals were many to zero.