Each week, GOOD Morning Wilton will run news of weekend results and scores from Wilton Youth sports teams. Please send all stories and updates, along with a photo to editor@goodmorningwilton.com by noon on Monday of each week. Stories received after the deadline may not be included. Results write-ups will be grouped by sport and published in the order they are received.
Wilton Soccer
Wilton Girls U10 2008 Gold Beats Greenwich, 4-3
Another gorgeous fall day for playing soccer set the stage for a match-up between Wilton Girls U10–2008 Gold against Greenwich. Wilton played as an away team at Parkway School.
Shortly following kickoff, there was an early chance by Trisha Prabhu and Preethi Vijay with some good back-and-forth, mid-field passing. Greenwich responded with opportunities of their own, where Arden Hamilton as goalie was able to clear the danger away. The scoring opened up with Greenwich playing the ball up the left side of the field and nutmegging the goalie. Soon after, Meredith Schwartz shot just wide of the left post, followed by another shot by Prabhu from well out, which was saved by the Greenwich keeper. Anna Reiter showed her offensive skills in dribbling the ball up the field. Prabhu placed a shot which was saved by the goalie, but Vijay corralled the rebound, tying the score 1-1, right at the stroke of half time.
The second half opened up with a shot by Greenwich off the post and into the hands of the goalie, Clara Lilly. Then Greenwich collected a clearance attempt and slotted home for a 2-1 lead. After much back and forth play, Lilah Crispino got a breakaway, but the shot deflected off the goalie, so she collected the rebound to make the score 2-2. Later, there was a Wilton throw-in on the right side to Hamilton. She neatly crossed the ball to Sofia Anello, who then struck it into the back of the net, making the score 3-2 Wilton. There were a couple of near misses by Greenwich, with strong defensive skills shown by Emma Hendricks. Wilton counter attacked and Hamilton shot against the keeper with a save, and a rebound to Alexandra Furman, who tucked it into the goal, making the score 4-2. In the final minutes of the game, the pressure built, tensions rose. Greenwich was rewarded with a goal, making it 4-3. There was one more chance in the final minute of the game for Greenwich to tie the score, but it was beautifully cleared off the line by Ava Ray. Wilton held the lead for a final score of 4-3.
Wilton Boys U10 2008 Blue Falls to Norwalk, 2-7
Cooper Bochichio, in the goal for Wilton, had to shut down multiple scoring attempts by Norwalk offense. Strong defensive play by Harrison Destefano, Nicholas Marini and Liam Joy kept them on their toes. Good passing by Wilton offense Brendan Morris, Mick Hamilton, Peter Braid and Boden Davi led to a handful of shots on goal. Great speed by Michael DiLullo, Greg Bocchino and Brad Mallory helped create more attempts on goal. Harrison defended the Wilton goal in the second half. A long kick by Joy found the back of the net for Wilton’s first goal and second. Wilton fell 2-7.
Wilton Boys U11 2007 Blue Suffers First Loss of Season to Ridgefield, 2-3
Despite Wilton Boys 2007 (U11) Blue suffering their first loss of the season at the hands Ridgefield, 2-3, they maintained their hold on first place in the top division of CJSA’s Southwest District. Wilton was kept in the game all day by the superb play of their goalie Will Soucy, who deflected shot after shot during the course of the game. If not for his effort in goal, the game would have been lost very early on.
Wilton was led on offense by Jack Crossen and Alessandro Ochoa, with strong support up top from Charlie Roy, Amit Solomon, Luke Perna, and Andrew Partenza all providing good ball movement and assisting in scoring. Defensively Wilton’s core defenders Stefano Cross, Maddox Backman, Jack Barker and Jack Vermuelen held the Ridgefield attack back for a good portion of the game as their offense battled back. Once again, Wilton was led in the middle of the field by their captain Finn Burke, who provided superb transition play during the course of the game, and by their versatile and unselfish teammate Matt Demasi who rotated from offense to defense to offense throughout the entire game when needed. Wilton looks to get back to their winning ways next week when they take on Daren Blue.
Wilton 2007 Boys U-11 Gold Suffers Defeat from Trumbull at Home, 2-3
Wilton 2007 U-11 Gold put up a tough fight against a strong Trumbull team on Sunday. Despite a relentless, team-wide effort in which Wilton Gold controlled the ball for most of the second half, the home team lost 2-3. Wilton started out quickly with a goal from Tyler Jackson and scored again in the second half from a strong kick from Mason Behar. Trevor Galligan had a terrific game with many saves as goalie and was supported by the strong defense of Trevor Wisdom, Noah Levy, Dominick Cilento, and Ronan O’Halloran. Offense pressure and control of the ball was lead by Bill Stofega, Mason Behar, Warren Hamilton, Tyler Jackson, Brian Sallese, Reed O’Neill and Milan Petrosyan.
Wilton 2009 Blue Girls Pull Out 2-0 Win Over Shelton
In a close, hard-fought game, Wilton’s 2009 Blue girls eventually pulled out a 2-0 win over Shelton with two second half goals. Throughout the first half each team had numerous scoring attempts that included missed shots on open nets, point-blank shots turned aside, and 2-0 and 3-0 breakaways that were stymied by the goalkeepers. Wilton’s goalkeeper Sadie Sherman aggressively controlled the ball in the box shutting down Shelton scoring opportunities with strong defensive support from Clara Fielden, Victoria Jankowski, and Sophia Solomon. At the opposite end of the field, Shelton’s goalie was repeatedly tested with shots by Alexandra Jankowski, Maddie Rayment, Ally Phelan, Kate Wickersham, and Audrey Lepore. Despite the onslaught of shots the first half closed as a scoreless tie.
Midway through the second half Wilton’s hard charging offense paid off as Casey O’Connor found the back of the net with Andie Langeland assisting on the play. Minutes later, with time running out, Shelton’s defense drew a pushing penalty that led to Rayment’s penalty kick goal that sealed the victory. Downfield, Wilton’s second half keeper Phelan nailed down the shutout with some stellar goal tending.
Wilton Football
Wilton 8 White Beats Darien, 22-15, to Take Divisional 1st Place
Wilton 8 White took over first place in the AFC-8 division with a 22-15 victory over Darien 8 White at Darien High School. Darien won the toss and deferred until the second half, handing the ball to the Warriors, who marched nine plays and 70 yards in an over 5 minute drive that was highlighted by QB Grant Masterson’s strike to Parker Woodring for 29 yards. The touchdown was scored by Masterson on a one-yard keeper, and Woodring added the extra point. But the real story of the day and the drive was the dominant, up-front blocking of Ryan Farrar, Joe Schiavone, Andrew Pellicano, Ryan Jackson, Ciara Garcia, Christian Bazarian, Michael Breen, Chris Calderone, Max Silva, Danny Doran, Matthew Giller, and Will Ryan, and the lead back blocking of Jimmy Luce and Wade Steffens.
On Darien’s first possession, a coverage miscommunication led to a long, 58-yard play by Darien’s fastest player, but in a Herculean effort, deGrasse chased the player down for 50 yards and dove five yards through the air to tackle the Darien receiver 10 yards short of the goal line. Wilton’s defense stopped Darien cold, and got the ball back. After a 3-and-out, Darien took over and needed only 10 yards to tie the game. Undeterred, Wilton proceeded to march 70 yards over 14 plays behind tough inside running by deGrasse, Masterson and Woodring, and a 26-yard pass play from Masterson to Silva. Wilton scored on a 4th and goal pass from Masterson to Woodring. The live PAT unit and Woodring successfully completed a live PAT for two points for the 15-7 lead.
After stopping Darien, Wilton went on another 11-play, 45-yard drive that stalled at the 15 yard line by a questionable holding call. On Darien’s next possession, after finally moving the ball, Charlie Fischer beat his man, tackling the ball carrier for a loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in a highlight reel play. Feeding off Fisher’s huge play, deGrasse took the next play 45 yards for a touchdown after stiff arming four helpless Darien defenders. The PAT put Wilton up 22-7. Darien scored another late touchdown after a clean Jackson Luther interception was called for pass interference that extended Darien’s drive. All told Wilton had over 175 rushing and 240 total offensive yards.
Wilton 6th Grade Blue Shuts out Darien, 14-0
Under the lights of Fujitani Field on Saturday night, the Wilton 6th Grade Blue football team defeated Darien, 14-0. The first half was a defensive battle with Wilton’s defensive line of Lorenzo Caratozzolo, Luke DiRocco, Quinn Silva, Ethan Gallo, Colin Gilmore, Dylan Long, Eli Meltzer, George Papakosmas, Harry Polito, Henry Roy and Todd Woodring leading the way. While there was no scoring in the first half, Wilton’s offense did a nice job of moving the ball behind the strong quarterback play of DiRocco and the running of Jack Costello, Polito and Woodring.
Wilton scored its first touchdown on an incredible one-handed interception and 55 yard run-back by Woodring. The Warriors added another touchdown in the fourth quarter on a quarterback sneak by DiRocco.
The defense did its job and protected the lead with tight secondary play by Carter Stephenson, Charlie Caporrino, Max Roberge and Barrett Leary. Thomas MacDonald was again sidelined by a foot injury, but was a true team player and provided moral support from the bench. Once again the team continued to show its focus and discipline en route to its fourth straight win. Way to go Wilton!
5th Grade Blue Caps Off Perfect Regular Season with 16-0 Win Over Westport
Wilton’s 5th Grade Blue football team finished off their regular season undefeated, earning a perfect 7-0 record with the team’s 16-0 win over Westport.
Wilton’s defense was the hero on Saturday, never allowing Westport to move the ball past the 50-yard line. The defensive line dominated the line of scrimmage, with sacks and tackles for loss delivered by Ryan Meenan, Jack Schwartz, Cole Siegel, and David Schubkegel. The rest of the defense stepped up big, with ten players recording strong tackles: Will Cristini, Liam Snyder, Schwartz, Cael Dexter, Cole Galante, Ryan Stocker, Maja Driscoll, Meenan, Siegel, and Schubkegel.
On offense, the Warriors started slow, but found their momentum when the offensive line – Liam McKiernan, CJ Young, Jaxon Thomas, Siegel, Meenan, Jack Santosky, Jack Huntley, Henry Soojian, Driscoll, Galante, and Schubkegel – started creating big holes for the backs. Dexter, Schwartz, Cristini, Luke Ginsburg, Ryan Luchetta, Charlie Keller, James Jackowski, and Ray Ferranti got the ball moving for Wilton. The first touchdown came on 60-yard run by Snyder. A successful kick by Ginsburg put Wilton up 8-0 at the half. The Warriors came out of halftime and took up most of the third quarter with a 15-play, 80-yard drive that featured strong running from Dexter and Schwartz, and a 25-yard pass from Snyder to Ginsburg. Schwartz capped off the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run and Ginsburg provided the final two points with another perfect kick.
Wilton 7 Blue Wins Over Westport, 19-6
Wilton 7 Blue was home again this past Sunday to play a physical Westport team. Wilton’s defense came out strong, forcing Westport to punt after three plays. Wilton’s first offensive series was a 10-play scoring drive that included hard running from Charlie Guglielmo and Xander Petrides, two long receptions by Caleb Rath, and a 14-yard touchdown run by Spencer Liston. Hard tackling by Christopher Capone, Nick Walden and Petrides was able to stall Westport’s second drive at the Wilton 30 yard line.
Wilton’s next offensive series was a 9-play pounding drive showcasing Quinn Stengrim runs behind Wilton’s offensive line of Luke Totten, Connor Sweeney, Alexander Dempster, Jamie Cristini, Andrew Kress and Jake Enman, and capped off by a 45-yard touchdown pass reception by Walden. Both teams’ defenses tightened up for the remainder of the half. Aggressive pressure from Michael Colavecchio, Cristini and Sweeney and a Stengrim interception gave Wilton the ball back as the first half ran out.
The second half started with Wilton systemically moving the ball down the field only to turn it over on the Westport 30 yard line. Westport was able to drive 70 yards and score after a drive that was kept alive by poor tackling and untimely penalties. Wilton regained the momentum and answered back on a seven-play scoring drive highlighted by a recommitment to blocking and hard running by Liston, Andrew Acosta-Rua and Stengrim. Two, late-game interceptions, one by Capone and one by Cristini, sealed the victory.
Warrior Blue 3rd Graders Blank Westport, 20-0
The Warrior Blue 3rd graders set the tone on the first play of the game with an 80 yard touchdown run from quarterback Colin Faherty, aided by a crushing lead block by Denny Dustin. These guys turned around on defense with big tackles from Keegan Kazan and Dustin to force Westport to punt on a three and out drive. Next, it was Dustin’s turn for a gutsy touchdown run on a broken play to make the score 13-0 for Wilton at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter began with a blistering touchdown run from Nick Skillin to put Wilton up 20-0. Noah Patania, Matthew Fogarty, Emmett Sommer, Michael Duarte, August Furman, Hayden Leitten, and Wyatt Hoffstatter provided solid blocking all game with center Michael Lenz to dominate the line of scrimmage.