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 Youth Soccer
Wilton U13 Girls Blue Win CT Cup Match vs. West Hartford, 11-0
The Wilton U13 Girls Blue team won their first CT Cup match this past Saturday, Sept. 23, defeating West Hartford 11-0 at home on Lilly Field.
According to their coaches, the Warrior athletes “…played so well together and really worked as a team, with exceptional passing and amazing shots on goal, including many from mid-field.
Pictured above: (Front row) Gabby Mazzella, Erin McGovern, Larsen Burke, Natalie Cronin, Amanda Prather, Whitney Hess and Ella Savage; (back row) Reagan Von Loeser, Grace Duvall, Georgia Russnok, Caitlin Ongley, Isabel DiNanno, Anya Iyer, Elizabeth Lamond, Caitlin Allen, Miya Lasher and Jorge Arbelaez (coach)
Wilton U9 Girls Blue Top Westport, 2-1
On Sunday, Sept. 24, the Wilton U9 Girls Blue team faced off against the Westport Girls U-9 Blue at Merwin Meadows. The Warriors showed great effort and hard work playing on a hot and sunny day.
The team showed quick offensive plays by Audrey Lepore, Andie Langeland, Kate Wickersham, Sadie Sherman, Alexandra Jankowski, Ally Phelan, Casey O’Connor, and Sophia Solomon. The defense, led by Maddie Rayment and Clara Fielden, supported Victoria Jankowski, who was in goal in the first half. The Wilton girls dominated the game with quick reflexes, smart passes, and good communication. Halfway through the first half, A. Jankowski scored the first goal of the match, followed by Phelan’s second goal, making the score 2-0 by halftime.
The second half added Rayment and V. Jankowski to the offense with Solomon and Sherman moving to defense. Wickersham did a great job with several saves on goal. Westport came out strong in the second half, scoring one goal, but Wilton kept pushing to try for another goal until the end of the game, with several close attempts.
The final score was 2-1, with Wilton getting the win.
Wilton Boys 2007 Blue Beats Stamford, 3-2
Wilton Boys 2007 Blue defeated Stamford, 3-2. Jack Crossen scored a break-away goal with an assist by Maddox Backman. Finn Burke and Alessandro Ochoa played with intensity, while Jack Barker and Jack Vermeulen were solid on defense. Will Soucy played strong goalkeeping. Andrew Partenza and Amit Solomon kept the pressure on. Luke Perna deflected a corner kick to Matt DeMasi that he drilled into the back of the goal to give Wilton a 2-0 lead. Stamford came back and tied the game, but Stefano Cross shot the winning goal before time expired. Charlie Roy sat out due to illness.
Wilton Girls U12 White Makes Trumbull Tumble, Winning 4-3
It was a scorcher of a Sunday afternoon as the Wilton Girls 2006 White played a tough Trumbull team. Wilton’s “steel curtain” defense of Grace Biondo, Caroline Luce and Brooke Ulehla shut down Trumbull’s scoring chances throughout the match. Wilton struck first when Julia Steenbock broke through the line, scoring via a break away. Trumbull responded quickly with a goal, but then so did Wilton’s Maddie Phelan, drilling the ball into the back of the net. Wilton went up 3-1 when Steenbock struck again. Trumbull answered with a goal as well making it 3-2 by the half.
Wilton dominated the second half with relentless, offensive pressure by Megan Dodman, Sienna Magazino and Maddy Gillespie controlling the middle of the field, with each taking several shots on goal. Caitlyn O’Grady and Melissa Ongly played tough with several near misses throughout the game. Trumbull tied the match with a penalty kick off a questionable call. Then, with eight minutes to go, Phelan struck again with a sideline breakaway, giving Wilton White their third win of the season, at 4-3. The team could not have won without the excellent goaltending by Sarah Fernandes in the first half and Charlotte Stapkowski in the second half.
Wilton Boys U11 Gold Falls Short Against Westport, 2-3
Wilton U-11 Boys Gold faced-off against Westport Gold on Sunday in an action-packed game at Ambler Farm, but fell short 2-3. Westport got a quick start to take the early lead and the teams battled hard for the remainder of the first period. Wilton’s unyielding defensive line, led by Noah Levy, Ronan O’Halloran and Trevor Wisdom, and strong goaltending by Trevor Galligan, held the score to 0-1 at the half.
The Wilton boys turned up the offensive pressure in the second half and Mason Behar, Brian Sallese, Dominick Cilento and Tyler Jackson pushed the ball up the field to create opportunities at the goal. Those efforts led to goals by Bill Stofega and Reed O’Neill, both assisted by Warren Hamilton.
Wilton Boys U9 Blue Loses to Old Greenwich Thunder, 1-4
Wilton goaltenders Harrison DeStefano and Brendan Morris had the arduous task of protecting our goal from an organized and explosive Old Greenwich offense. Liam Joy, Boden Davi and Nicolas Marini were stifling on defense. Wilton’s first chance on offense came from a cross by Cooper Buchichio to Michael DiLullio, who was robbed of a goal by a diving goalkeeper. After an excellent defensive stand, Wilton moved the ball quickly into Old Greenwich territory where Brad Mallory ultimately scored on a perfect corner shot. Peter Braid, who is out with an injury, watched as his teammates made second-half adjustments that slowed down the opposition, and defensive stands by Joy, Blake Ongley and Mick Hamilton led Wilton to some additional scoring opportunities for Greg Bocchino, DeStefano and Mallory.
Wilton Youth Football
Wilton 5th Grade Blue Stays Undefeated with Solid Win Over Aspetuck, 26-0
Wilton 5th Grade Blue got off to a fast start on Saturday and never looked back. The Warriors got touchdowns on all four of their possessions and the defense held Aspetuck out of the end zone.
The ground game was working all day, behind strong blocking by the offensive line of Vito Banner, Maja Driscoll, Jack Huntley, Ryan Meenan, Liam Murphy, Jack Santosky, David Schubkegel, Cole Siegel, Henry Soojian, Jaxon Thomas and CJ Young.
The line made room for eight different running backs to carry the ball for positive yardage: Ray Ferranti, Will Cristini, Jack Schwartz, Charlie Keller, Ryan Stocker, James Jackowski, Nate Jackson and Cael Dexter.
The first touchdown came on an 8-yd. pass from Ryan Luchetta to Liam McKiernan, who made a diving catch in the end zone. Luke Ginsburg made the PAT to put Wilton up early, 8-0.
On the next possession, Cole Galante caught a perfect pass from Dexter and ran untouched another 30 yards for the second touchdown of the game. After halftime, Wilton took only three plays to get into the end zone for the third time, when Cristini ran 60 yards for the touchdown. On their fourth possession, Dexter ran 45 yards after receiving an option pitch from Liam Snyder for the final touchdown of the day.
The defense played a solid game, allowing Aspetuck to move the ball a bit, but tightening up when they needed to. Fifteen different Warriors recorded tackles in the game, including Murphy, Jackson, Snyder, Siegel, Meenan, Luchetta, Thomas, Keller, Stocker, Schwartz, Ginsburg, Dexter, Driscoll, Ferranti, and Santosky. The defense delivered the shutout and the Warriors won 26-0.
Wilton 8th Grade White Fends Off New Canaan Red, 3-0
Wilton 8 White’s stifling defense pitched their second consecutive shutout by defeating an equally tough New Canaan Red, 3-0, at Fujitani Field Saturday. The win moves Wilton 8 White to 3-1 on the season.
Wilton’s defense held New Canaan to less than 40 yards of total offense on the day, led by their defensive front of Jimmy Luce, Ryan Farrar, Joe Schiavone, Michael Breen, Andrew Pellicano, Charlie Fischer, Ben Pond and Joe DeGrasse. The defensive backfield of Parker Woodring, Will Ryan, Matthew Giller and Jackson Luther held New Canaan’s passing game to 5-16 on the day for only 22 yards. Wilton’s linebacking corps of Grant Masterson, Max Silva and Wade Steffens quickly cleaned up any ball carriers that were able to sneak through the massive Wilton defensive front.
On offense, Wilton’s offensive line of Luce, Farrar, Schiavone, Breen, Ryan Jackson, Pellicano, Ciara Garcia and end Danny Doran gave QB Masterson plenty of time to connect on multiple long connections to Silva and Woodring. Wilton’s sole score came after New Canaan’s offense went three-and-out for zero yards gained to start the second half, and gave it back to Wilton at the Wilton 40 yard line. A 12-and-18 yard gain by running back deGrasse got Wilton rolling. From there, Masterson and deGrasse traded carries until the 11-play drive stalled at the 4-yd. line. Wilton called upon kicker Woodring, long snapper Schiavone and holder Silva to execute their first live field goal in their Wilton Youth Football careers. Woodring split the upfront and the Warriors came away with the victory against the previously 2-1 New Canaan Red squad.
Warrior 3rd Grade Blue Lets 4th Quarter Lead Slip, Falling to Darien, 12-16
The Warrior 3rd Grade Blue football team learned a tough lesson this past Saturday in Darien: the game isn’t over until the last second ticks off the clock.
With a stingy defense, the Warriors pushed the Blue Wave offense backward for most of the first three quarters. Keegan Kazan, Denny Dustin and Nick Skillin were all over the backfield, making impressive, open-field tackles. Sawyer Fasano also made a touchdown-saving tackle after a long yardage pass play later in the game.
Meanwhile, quarterback Colin Faherty executed an offense that racked up yards and scored two touchdowns off runs from Denny Dustin, including one for 50 yards. The offensive line, featuring Trey Hall, Michael Duarte, August Furman, Noah Patania, Matthew Fogarty, Emmet Sommer, Kayan Kazan, Hayden Leitten, Wyatt Hoffstatter and center Michael Lenz, provided solid blocks and run support drive after drive. All of those lineman were also an integral part of the Warriors’ tough defense, playing hard on both sides of the ball.
The Warriors took a 12-0 lead into the fourth quarter, only to fall short 12-16 after two strong Darien drives, both of which included successful field goal kicks. Unfortunately for the Warriors, there were many missed opportunities early in the game. While the team left the field disappointed in the outcome, they are determined to get to work in practice this week, and prepare for New Canaan next Saturday at home.
Wilton 6th Grade White Defeats Fairfield on Away Turf, 21-6
Wilton 6th Grade White traveled to Fairfield to take on Fairfield 6 Blue on a picture perfect sunny Sunday afternoon. The Warriors set the tone of the game from the first possession with every man doing their job on both sides of the ball. Jai Satsangi was sidelined with an injury, but cheered his team on and provided support by being one of the co-captains along with Jason Costa.
The defense took the field first with Flynn Shipman, Connor Wetzel, Liam Kiernan, Jack Butler, Nate Rath and Jack Lauricella among those preventing any big gains and forcing a punt. When the offensive players took the field after the strong defensive stand, QB Ryan Smith orchestrated a quick drive with a pass caught by Owen Theoharides, a run by Conner Flanagan and a touchdown run by Peter Reyes. Ryan Smith punctuated the drive by kicking the extra point.
Wilton traded possessions with Fairfield with defensive ends, linebackers and defensive backs Will Fischer, Theoharides, Jack Kelly, Collin O’Neill and Gavin Pierson making great open field tackles, gang tackling and keeping Fairfield out of the end zone.
On Wilton’s next possession, Reyes ran for 47 yards to score his second touchdown of the afternoon and Smith nailed his second extra point.
In the second half, Wilton’s offense once again showed its strength with Rath, Costa, Fischer, Cole Stevenson, Wetzel, Kiernan and O’Neill all playing their positions like true Warriors. Fairfield scored their only touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter, but their two-point conversion attempt was denied by Lauricella, who tackled the runner in the backfield.
The Warrior offense answered with a 65-yd. run by Flanagan and Smith’s third extra-point kick.
All in all, Wilton’s fine play made their final score in victory over Fairfield 21-6.
Wilton 6th Grade Blue Shuts out New Canaan Red, 19-0
On an unseasonably hot Sunday morning, the Wilton 6th Grade Blue football team defeated New Canaan Red, 19-0. Jack Costello scored the first touchdown in the game’s first few minutes, punctuated with the extra point kick by Todd Woodring. A strong defensive line of Lorenzo Caratozzolo, Luke DiRocco, Dylan Gallo, Colin Gilmore, Dylan Long, Eli Meltzer, George Papakosmas, Harry Polito, Henry Roy and Woodring prevented NC from any first downs.
That defense was mirrored by solid offensive blocking from Gilmore, Long, Meltzer, Papakosmas, Max Roberge and Roy. DiRocco ran in for the team’s second touchdown to give Wilton a 13-0 lead. As NC tried to gain yardage, Costello intercepted a pass, to give Wilton a commanding 19-0 lead at halftime.
Forceful gains continued with powerful passes to Caratozzolo and productive ball running by Charlie Caporrino, Barrett Leary, Polito, Quinn Silva, Carter Stephenson and Woodring, gave Wilton more scoring possibilities, but in the second half NC was better able to stop Wilton. The heat, coupled with a fierce first half started to weigh down on the boys. In the end, the determination, focus and powerful teamwork lead to astounding 19-0 victory. Unfortunately, Thomas MacDonald sat out due to foot injury but was instrumental in providing much needed hydration, assistance, and continuous cheer and support.
Wilton 7 Blue Blanks New Canaan Black, 21-0
Wilton 7 Blue traveled to New Canaan last Saturday night and put together their most complete game of the season. Wilton defense set the tone, not only shutting New Canaan out but also holding them to minimal yards and no big plays for what had been a big-play, offensive team. Wilton’s defensive line “rolling thunder” rotation of Jamie Cristini, Michael Colavecchio, George Rushevich, Jake Enman, Alexander Dempster, Aiden Cruickshank, Connor Sweeney, Bobby DiPalma and Luke Totten kept the pressure up all night and had multiple sacks and tackles for losses. Wilton’s corners Caleb Rath and Charlie Guglielmo locked down the two prolific New Canaan receivers, holding them to minimal yards and only a couple of receptions. Wilton’s defensive ends Andrew Kress and Nicholas Walden kept New Canaan’s quarterback from scrambling and put pressure on him when he tried to pass. Wilton’s safeties Christopher Capone and Spencer Liston also helped to shut down the pass game and came up multiple times to make big hits, and Wilton’s linebackers Xander Petrides and Quinn Stengrim had many hard-hitting tackles, completing what was a very solid defensive effort.
Offensively Wilton once again was able to methodically move the ball down the field with a balanced running and passing attack. Wilton’s first scoring drive came from a 70-yd., 10-play drive highlighted by the hard running of fullback Petrides, who had runs of 35 yards, 12 yards and 7 yards. Stengrim scored on a well-blocked sweep and Petrides added the conversion on another power run up the middle. Wilton’s second scoring drive came from a 55-yd., 10-play drive highlighted by a 19-yd., fourth down conversion pass from Andrew Acosta-Rua to Rath and three other receptions, including a 7-yd., third down catch by Walden and a 15-yd. touchdown reception from Guglielmo. Wilton’s final scoring drive was a 70-yd., four-play drive highlighted by a Stengrim 52-yd. scoring run and an Acosta-Rua-to-Stengrim two point conversion pass.