jryan@wiltonvillager.com

WILTON — The curse is over.

Ridgefield had never beaten its Route 7 rival, Wilton, in boys lacrosse, but that winless streak end came to an end in very bittersweet fashion for the Warriors program.

The Tigers, coached by former Wilton star Andy Stockfisch, took control of the game over the last 21 minutes of play and closed out a hard fought 10-8 win on Saturday, April 5.

He said the loss, coupled with a defeat last year to Norwalk, another team that had never beaten the Warriors, shows that the times are changing around the FCIAC and Wilton will have to adjust to the fact the league is more competitive.

"It's two years in a row we've lost to teams we never lost to before" said McNulty. "In my opinion, the buck stops here. We played great in the first half, but we've usually been the team that plays better in the second half and that didn't happen."

Ridgefield (2-0 in FCIAC and overall) was led by junior Matt White and sophomore Mike Galione who each score three times with Colin Scott adding two goals.

Stockfisch, an all-FCIAC player for Wilton in 1998, said he did not have any mixed emotions, but he was very aware of the significance of the victory. The key, he said, was not to let that consume his team in their preparation.

"It's a little bit (strange) but I'm here now and I'm totally dedicated to the (Ridgefield) kids," said Stockfisch. "(The losing streak) is something that Ridgefield lacrosse talks about. It's disturbing any time that you've never beaten a team. The trick is to work with that and not have the team be motivated by it."

The momentum of the game swung just after halftime.

Wilton was leading 6-3 behind the play of freshman Mike Francia, who had scored a hat trick before intermission, and senior Pete Johnson, who tallied twice.

Wilton's play as a team was not sharp, however.

Stockfisch used halftime to get his team to refocus its efforts and the Tigers were finally able to capitalize, rattling off three goals in under two minutes to tie the score.

"I told them that's not how we play, that we play better lacrosse than (in the first half)" said Stockfisch. "Kids tend to get excited, especially in a rivalry game. I told them to relax, stay calm and move the ball around."

First, Colin Scott scored on a great individual effort, sliding from behind the Wilton net to bounce one in with 9:01 left in the third quarter.

The Tigers scored again 30 seconds later as White intercepted a pass and turned it into a two-on-one breakaway with Galione netting the ball. Then, White tied the game at six with 7:11 left in the period.

It could have been even worse but Warrior goalie James Fuller made three key saves.

It was time for White to step in again, with Ridgefield facing a man-down situation, the junior raced up field and netted the go-ahead score at 7-6.

"We could see it on the sidelines. Their uniforms were going faster than ours," said McNulty.

Wilton was able to knot the game again early in the fourth quarter. The Warrior's Harrison Hess beat Ridgefield goalie Brad DePrima from the slot with 9:21 left in the game but that rally was short lived as Colin Scott put the Tigers in front for good with a shot that handcuffed Fuller and gave Ridgefield a 8-7 lead with 8:33 remaining.

Ridgefield added two goals with under two minutes left and Wilton's Peter McMahon scored with 1:10 left with what would be the Warriors' last gasp.

Johnson said it was an emotional low point for the team, which went 10-10 last season, and needs to find answers quickly.

"It's a big disappointment," said Johnson. "I'm not too pleased with the way we played after the first quarter. I really don't know what happened. We just got a way from our game on offense and they were just working harder than we were."

The opening half looked as if it would be a case of history repeating itself as Francia and Johnson scored on breakaways in the first six minutes of play.

White scored for the Tigers to cut the Wilton lead in half at 2-1 but Francia tallied again to close out the opening quarter with the Warriors in front 3-1.

Wilton jumped out to a 5-1 lead after Johnson and Vinnie Cannon hit the mesh.

Ridgefield gave the first clue of what was to come as Matt Baker and Galione got the Tigers back to within range at 5-3, but Francia slipped another one past Deprima with eight seconds left to put Wilton back in front by three goals at intermission.

Wilton had dominated the groundballs in the first half with a 20-7 advantage and Fuller was credited with 20 saves on the day.

The Warriors could have had a bigger lead in the opening half but their passing was not up to its usual standards.

"Hopefully, as we mature as a team, we will look back on this as a good lesson," said McNulty.