State Tournament Begins: Wreckers Host Manchester On Tuesday
Staples — ranked #6, their highest seeding in over a decade — begins the state tournament journey on Tuesday. The Wreckers host #27 Manchester on Tuesday. Kickoff is 2 p.m., at Wakeman Field.
The Wreckers are not alone near the top of the rankings. Six of the top 10 teams in “LL” — the largest of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s 4 divisions — are from the FCIAC.
Staples just missed out on a bye. The top 4 teams — #1 Xavier-Middletown (14-0-2), #2 Hall-West Hartford (12-0-4), #3 Fairfield Prep (13-2-1) and #4 Greenwich (11-1-2) all miss round 1 of the 5-game tourney. All records are from the regular season only.
Norwalk (12-2-2) — which won the FCIAC championship last night, 1-0 over Greenwich in a scintillating match — is #5. They face league foe Trumbull (#28, 4-7-4), the last team to qualify. The Eagles’ .400 record is right at the qualification cutoff.
Other 1st-round matchups with FCIAC sides are #8 Darien (9-1-5) vs. #25 New Britain; #9 Ridgefield (9-2-4) vs. #24 South Windsor; #10 Fairfield Warde (9-2-4) vs. #23 Westhill (5-6-4); #19 Danbury (5-4-6) vs. #14 Newtown, and #20 Brien McMahon (5-4-6) vs. #13 Cheshire.
Four LL teams failed to qualify: Central, Fairfield Ludlowe, New Canaan and Stamford.
The lone L (large) division school competing is #25 Wilton (6-6-4); they face #8 Bristol Central.
St. Joseph failed to qualify in class M.
“This is the best time of year,” says Staples head coach Dan Woog. “The field narrows so quickly down to 16, then 8, 4 and suddenly just 2. It’s one and done. Anything can happen. We always say: We’ll play anyone, anywhere, any time. We are looking forward to getting back on the field on Tuesday.”
Click here for all state tournament brackets. You can switch to other divisions at the top of the page.
QUICK KICKS: Congratulations to the Staples girls soccer team! The Wreckers shut out Wilton 1-0 last night at Fairfield Warde, securing their 2nd straight FCIAC championship. Well done!
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