By Carolyn Paletta
Sentinel Correspondent
The No. 5 seeded Greenwich High boys lacrosse team ended its quest for back-to-back state titles with a 6-5 loss to ninth-seeded Ridgefield High School in the class L semifinal game Wednesday night.
These two teams were quite familiar with each other this season, with the Cardinals coming out on top in the regular season followed by a Ridgefield victory in the FCIAC semifinals.
With both teams displaying impressive defensive strength, the pace of the game was slow and steady. Ridgefield went up by three unanswered goals in the first quarter until Greenwich junior midfielder Will Perry broke the draught with a goal followed by a buzzer beater from senior attacker Decker Curran to end the first quarter 3-2 Tigers.
The second quarter opened with a tying goal from Perry, but Ridgefield seniors Mathias and Dunn responded with a goal each to end the half 5-3 Tigers.
Greenwich managed to tie the game 5-5 during the third and soon after, both team’s defensive units picked up their intensity.
With caused turnovers back and forth on both sides, neither team saw any goals from the 7:14 minute mark in the third until Ridgefield senior Ryan Dunn tallied his third goal of the night to put his team up 6-5 with 5:27 left in the game.
After a strong four-minute stall from the Tigers, Greenwich managed to get the ball back and head down the field with an opportunity to tie the game.
An unfortunate turnover sent the ball back to Ridgefield’s attacking end, but sheer will from Greenwich senior defender Griffin Tiedy caused a critical turnover that allowed the Cardinals one more offensive opportunity with 30 seconds left on the clock.
The final shot was given to Will Perry with seven seconds to play, but his rip from the outside caught on a defensive check and was sent high above the cage to end the game in a 6-5 Ridgefield victory.
Greenwich had a strong face-off performance from senior Mike Sullivan, winning 10 out of 14 face-offs, but in the battle of the defenses Ridgefield prevailed.
With the victory, Ridgefield advanced to meet third-seeded Darien in the class L championship game this Saturday, June 13.
