At least one Darien lacrosse team will be playing for a state championship.
After watching the boys get stunned by Wilton in the first game of a doubleheader at Fairfield Ludlowe, the Darien girls did their part by defeating rival New Canaan 9-7 in the CIAC Class M semifinals.
Darien will face No. 2 seed Daniel Hand in the state finals Saturday at 1 p.m. at Stratford's Bunnell High School. Hand defeated East Lyme 12-9 in overtime to earn its spot in the final.
The six-year title reign of the Darien boys ended earlier Wednesday in an 11-3 setback to Wilton.
Perhaps spurred on by that result, the Darien girls (15-7) jumped to a 4-0 lead with a little more than nine minutes remaining in the first half, but the Rams battled back, slicing the deficit in half by scoring a pair of goals within two minutes. The Blue Wave answered 30 seconds later to grab a 5-2 halftime lead.
New Canaan coach Kristin Wood gave an impassioned halftime speech and it appeared to motivate her team.
Attackman Liz DeTour pumped in two goals in the first three minutes of the second half, pulling the Rams (12-6) within 5-4.
The Blue Wave responded with two straight, then the teams traded goals for an 8-5 Darien lead.
Once again, the Rams fought back, as Olivia Hompe slammed in two goals within 47 seconds to make it at 8-7.
With New Canaan pressing for the equalizer, Taylor Hardison completed a hat trick 30 seconds later to put away the contest
The loss dehroned New Canaan as Class M state champions. The Rams defeated Greenwich 10-9 in last year's Division I final.
In what started out to look like another Darien CIAC route ended up being a see saw battle that left Darien on top and earning a trip to the state finals on Saturday.
Darien jumped to a 4-0 lead with a little over 9 minutes remaining in the first half. Then New Canaan scored two goals within 2 minutes to get within 2 goals. Darien added a fifth goal 30 seconds later and took a 5-2 half time lead.
New Canaan coach Kristin Wood gave an impassioned half time speech and it appeared to motivate her team. New Canaan attackman Liz DeTour pumped in two goals within the first 3 minutes of the second half to get the Rams within one of the Blue Wave at 5-4. Darien answered with two goals of their own making it 7-4 with under 16 mintues to play. New Canaan and Darien swapped two more goals and it was 8-5 with 9:21 remaining.
New Canaans’s Olivia Hompe slammed in two goals within :47 seconds of each other to get the Rams within one at 8-7. With just 5 minutes left it looked as if New Canaan could come back and win. Dariens Taylor Hardison answered 30 seconds later with her third goal of the game and it proved too much for New Canaan as their season ended with a 9-7 loss in the state semifinals.
Darien will face the number 2 seed Daniel Hand in the state finals this Saturday at 1 pm. Daniel Hand beat East Lyme 12-9 in OT to earn their spot in the final. The game will be played at Bunnell High School in Stratford.
