The pairings are out and the Greenwich High School boys ice hockey team is more than eager to start its run to Ingalls Rink.
Big Red, which posted a regular season record of 16-4-0, is the No. 5 seed in the CIAC Division I tournament and will play a familiar foe. On Wednesday afternoon at the Dorothy Hamill Ice Rink, Greenwich will host 12th seeded Ridgefield High School in the opening round of the 16-team Division I tourney. Game time is slated for 5:15 p.m.
This will be the third time the Cards and Tigers have clashed this season. Back on Feb. 18, Big Red battled Ridgefield and came away with the hard-fought 3-2 victory. Most recently in the FCIAC semifinal game that was played Wednesday, Greenwich came out and blanked the Tigers 3-0 en route to the conference championship game.
If Greenwich upends Ridgefield for the third time this season, they will advance to the Division I quarterfinals and play the winner of No. 4 seed Northwest Catholic and No. 13 seed Hamden High School.
Overall in Division I, Xavier (16-4-1), a team that Greenwich beat 4-2 to open the season, is the top-seeded team in the tournament. In addition to Ridgefield, several other FCIAC team will be in action. In the first round, third-seeded Darien High School (17-3-0) will host 14th seed and rival New Canaan High School (10-10-0). No. 11 seed St. Joseph High School (10-9-1), who will play Greenwich in the FCIAC championship game Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at the Terry Conners Ice Rink, will be on the road when they battle No. 6 seed Simsbury (14-5-1).
