State Tournament Starts Monday: Wreckers At Wilbur Cross
The state tournament seedings are out. For the 2nd time in 4 years, the Wreckers open with Wilbur Cross-New Haven.
Staples (7-8-1 in the regular season) is ranked 25th. They’ll travel to the #8 Governors (10-1-5) on Monday. Game time is 7 p.m., at Bowen Field in New Haven.
In 2019, the #17 Wreckers headed to Bowen Field, to face the #16 Governors. Benny Feuer put Staples up 1-0. However, a minute before halftime, keeper Reed Caney came out beyond the box to save a breakaway off a counter. He stuck his hand out to stop a sure goal — and was immediately red carded.
Playing a man down for 41 minutes, and with a new keeper — Sebi Montelieu — in the nets, the Westporters never wavered. In fact, they poured in 2 more goals, from Brendan Lynch and George Smith, to win 3-0. The next match was an instant classic — a 3-2, come-from-2-goals-behind 3-2 win at #1 Glastonbury — before a heartbreaking penalty kick loss at Trumbull.
Twelve of the 16 FCIAC teams qualified for this year’s “LL” (extra large schools) state tournament, for which the threshold is a .400 winning percentage. Trumbull (18-1-0) — coming off their 4-1 FCIAC tournament championship win over Darien last night — is seeded #1. They face #32 Amity.
Remarkably, not one of the 16 first-round match-ups features 2 FCIAC teams. Click here for the full LL bracket.
