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. Result write-ups will be grouped by sport and published in the order they are received.
Wilton Youth Football
Wilton 4 Blue Outlasts Darien White, 6-0
On a perfect day for football, Wilton 4th grade Blue and Darien White collided in a defensive gem, with the Warriors coming out on top. Wilton’s defense was stellar all day, never allowing Darien to get into a rhythm. The defense got out to a strong start on Darien’s first drive with Cole Siegel (#99, pictured above, with #82 Jack Schwartz) coming up with two big tackles for a loss and Charlie Keller making an acrobatic interception of a Darien pass. The strong tackling continued with Liam Snyder, Ray Ferranti, Ryan Luchetta, Cael Dexter, Liam Murphy and Connor Boland all making big stops against the Darien offense.
Meanwhile the middle of the defensive line–Henry Soojian, Liam Murphy, Siegel, Ryan Stocker, and Jaxon Thomas–kept pressure on the Darien quarterbacks all day and didn’t allow any room to run up the middle.
Coming out of halftime, Wilton quickly got the momentum moving in their direction with an interception by Luke Ginsburg on just the third play of the half. With good field position, the Warriors marched down the field behind strong blocking from Jack Huntley, Maja Driscoll, Cole Galante, Ryan Meenan, CJ Young, Will Cristini and Liam McKiernan. Schwartz and Jackson moved the ball consistently up the field and Ginsburg punched it in from inside the 5-yard line, providing the only points of the ball game. The defense did the rest, holding Darien without a first down for the rest of the game. Thomas and Siegel came up big with a sack on Darien’s last offensive play to seal the 6-0 victory for the Warriors.
Wilton 8 White Takes Tough Loss to Fairfield Black, 8-14
Wilton 8 White lost a hard fought battle Saturday, Sept. 24, at home against Fairfield Black, 14-8. Wilton started the game on defense and held Fairfield to short yardage and had to punt. For the rest of the first quarter, it was a back and forth between two evenly matched teams. On offense, quarterback John Stanley, and running backs Trevor Martines and Sean Sullivan each added to the running attack as Wilton tried to move the ball. The offensive line led by Matt Gulbin, EJ Fasano, Michael Burton, Evan Kauh, Quinn O’Connor, and Michael Coffey battled a strong Fairfield defensive front. Stanley looked to receivers Jimmy McKiernan, Nolan Graham and Mattias Onnerud. The first quarter ended with the score 0-0.
However, not long into the second quarter, with Fairfield on offense, a Fairfield runner broke through the line en route to a 55-yard touchdown run. The extra point was no good. Later in the second quarter, Fairfield again scored on a 40-yard pass play. The is extra point was good and the half ended with the score 14-0.
The second half started with Wilton possessing the ball, and though Wilton had some very nice runs, unfortunately several drives ended with punts. The defense turned things up in the second half and behind strong play by Ryan Witty, Max Greenberg, Howie Long, Will Rath and Gulbin, Fairfield scored no more points. Mack Kepner intercepted a pass which he returned into Fairfield territory. In the fourth quarter, Long intercepted a pass and returned it to the 3-yard line. Martines ran it in for a TD and Ryan Van Heist added the extra point, making it 14-8. It was a team effort of which all should be proud.
Wilton 7 Blue Wins Third Straight Over Darien, 27-12
The Wilton 7th Grade Blue football team won its third straight game in convincing fashion 27-12 versus Darien White. The Warrior defense with key plays by Michael Whitman, Joe Schiavone and George DiRocco stopped Darien on the first drive of the game at the Wilton 25-yard line. Sean Wiseman broke a few tackles and moved the ball to the 33-yard line for Wilton. On the second play from scrimmage the offensive line for the Warriors, led by Connor Robertson, Dylan Smith, Michael Breen, Daniel Doran and Matthew Giller, allowed Jake Sommer to run right untouched for a 67-yard touchdown, putting Wilton up 6-0.
Darien was stopped again without gaining a first down on their second possession. Craig Hyzy and Eddie Keller had tackles for losses, and Nevin Belanger and Mikey Longo made key deflections to stop Darien White. The Warriors struck again as Sommer ran up the gut for 40 yards to pay-dirt from excellent blocks by Quinn Kiss and Michael Munrow, and Wilton led 13-0 at the half after a Smith extra point.
The Warriors scored again on the first drive of the second half after Ciara Garcia and Munrow sealed the ends and Ben Calabrese and Wiseman ran several sweeps down the field. A brilliant Matthew Claps 20-yard run off tackle set up Sommer, who ran outside for the third TD to make it 19-0. Darien made it 19-6 to end the shut out as the fourth quarter began. Kevin Hyzy executed several QB sneaks before Sommer scored again on a 13-yard run to make it 27-6, with Smith converting a 2-point live conversion kick. The Warriors won 27-12 as Darien scored in the final play of the game.
Wilton 7 White Overpowers Aspetuck, 30-7
Wilton 7 White overpowered Aspetuck 30-7 Saturday afternoon at Fujitani Field behind QB Grant Masterson and receiver Eli Ackerman, each delivering over 150 yards of total offense. On Wilton’s first drive, Masterson ran three times for 47 yards before running back Joe deGrasse punched it in from 9 yards. Masterson hit Ackerman on a pass for the 2-point conversion.
Defensively, Tyler Hough had a huge day with six tackles, a forced fumble, multiple tackles for a loss and an interception that Hough would have scored on had he not stepped out at the 3-yard line in a great show of sportsmanship. On Wilton’s second drive, Masterson broke loose on a 35-yard touchdown run behind the great lead blocking of deGrasse, William Ryan, Cole Boniface, Kieran O’Neill, Jimmy Luce, Ben Pond, Ackerman and Andrew Pellicano. Masterson hit Max Silva for the 2-point conversion. After a quick three-and-out by the Aspetuck offense, QB Silva’s perfectly executed pass to Ackerman led to Ackerman’s 52-yard touchdown. Masterson’s extra point kick put Wilton up 23-0 early in the second quarter. Wilton’s defense again held firm behind excellent tackles by Ryan, Wade Steffens, Charlie Fischer, Chris Calderone and Luce, and stout line play by Ryan Keenan, Chris McCann and Ryan Farrar. Brennan MacGregor also had pass deflection at cornerback. O’Neill wreaked havoc with multiple tackles for a loss at nose guard as he overwhelmed the Aspetuck center.
On Wilton’s fourth drive, Ackerman took a direct snap 47 yards before stepping out purposefully on the 1-yard line to avoid running up the score. In the second half Ryan and Jackson Luther carried the ball multiple times for positive yardage, while on defense, Luther made a highlight reel open field tackle.
For the game, Wilton’s top tacklers were Hough, Masterson, Ryan and Steffens, with 11 different players tallying tackles for Wilton. After a late Aspetuck score, Masterson again hit Ackerman, who raced down the sideline for a 58-yard touchdown. Masterson successfully kicked the extra point kick.
Wilton 3rd Grade Defeats Rival New Canaan, 2-0
The Wilton 3rd Grade team pulled off a 2-0 (yes, two-to-zero) win against rival New Canaan Red on Sunday, extending their undefeated streak to three games under the watchful eye of head coach Chris Calabrese.
In the first quarter, Charlie Calabrese took a QB sneak to the New Canaan 5-yard line, and while Wilton could not punch it in for a TD, they did leave New Canaan with the ball on their own two, and set up the only score of the game–a Wilton safety, led by defensive linemen Marco Chila, Grant Stein, Dylan Gallo, Evan Christianson, and William McDonald.
The second quarter was an old-school ground-and-pound, with running back Craig O’Neill gaining 3-, 5- and 7-yard runs up the middle, and Jake Padilla cutting the outside corner for a 20-yard pick up behind a bruising O-line, including Quint Furman, Phillip Mouracade, Hunter Lishnoff, Joshua Meltzer, and Max Totten. As the second quarter came to an end, the crowd was treated a show when Theo Satrazemis pulled in a 20-yard pass from Calabrese, who was a work-horse all day.
Third quarter saw both teams marching between the 30’s, with terrific work on both sides of the ball from two-way stars Blake Ongley, Kieran Wiseman, Charlie Roy, Mason Behar, Will Byrnes and Trevien Goldman.
New Canaan came alive in the fourth quarter, but Wilton’s defense was too much to overcome, as highlighted by an incredible fumble recovery by Lincoln Jones when we needed it most, and the tackle of the game by Emma VanHeyst as the game clock ran down.
Wilton 6 Blue Triumphs Over Ridgefield, 18-7
On Saturday night in Ridgefield’s Tiger Hollow, Wilton’s 6 Blue met up with the Ridgefield Tigers in what would turn out to be a very physical and hard hitting game.
Ridgefield started with the ball and on their first possession of the game was able to mount a 10 play drive to score the first touchdown of the game and take a 7-0 early lead. Fortunately for Wilton, they were able to make several defensive adjustments and keep Ridgefield off of the board for the remainder of the game. Inside linebacker Quinn Stengrim, defensive lineman Jamie Cristini and defensive ends Colin Randol and Nick Walden led Wilton’s defense. On the offensive side Wilton scored on their first two possessions. The first score was a 41-yard run by Charlie Guglielmo. A 36-yard completion by Caleb Rath to the 3-yard line set up a Stengrim run for the second touchdown of the night.
Wilton’s third touchdown came as a result of the 10-play drive, highlighted by several Christopher Capone runs, another long reception by tight end Rath and another blast by full back Stengrim on the last play of the half.
Wilton started with the ball the second half and was able to put together a 23-play drive that consumed all of the third quarter. Although Wilton did not score on this drive they were able to pin Ridgefield back inside their 10-yard line. Ridgefield was not able to get anything going after that and Wilton’s defense stepped up and controlled the remainder of the game.
Wilton 8 Blue Crushed at home by Westport, 14-28
The 8th grade Wilton Blue football team jumped out to a 7-0 lead over Westport North, but the visiting Wreckers stormed back to defeat the home squad 28-14 in a FCFL tilt on Sunday at Fujitani Field.
The Warrior defense, led up front by Trey Dexter, Brian Cipri, Christian “Animal” Theoharides, Kyle Jordan and Jack Carroll, tied up the Wreckers’ linemen on their first possession, allowing linebackers Kiel Polito, Ryan MacDougall and Jermaine Vincent to make tackles in the backfield, forcing a punt.
After trading punts the Warrior offense kicked into gear. Sprung by blocks from Jordan and Max Mannino, Vincent burst up the middle and then bumped his run to the outside for a 47-yard gain all the way to the Westport 2. Two plays later Polito bulled his way into the end zone. MacDougall’s kick gave the Warriors a 7-0 lead.
Unfortunately, two plays later, missed tackles allowed Westport to score on a 75-yard run to knot the game at 7.
Westport scored twice more before halftime to take a 21-7 lead to the locker room.
Undeterred, the Warriors came out strong to start the second half. Mixing runs by Vincent and MacDougall with passes from Everett Andersen to Connor Healey–including an impressive “toe tap” reception along the sideline for a 24-yard gain–and Polito, the Warriors moved the ball efficiently down the field. Vincent’s 5-yard dive for a touchdown closed the gap to 21-14.
The rest of the game was a seesaw affair that saw great effort by Bradley Barker, Nick Fahey, Matthew Goldstein, Sean Millar, Michael Ramirez, Robert Rios and Ryan Rogg, but Westport was able to punch in another touchdown, making the final score 28-14. The Warriors continued to be hampered by the loss of Wooder Thoby, who suffered a season-ending injury earlier in the season.
Youth Soccer
Wilton Boys U10 Blue Remain Unbeaten
The Wilton Boys U10 Blue earned a hard fought 4-2 win over Old Greenwich White on Sunday. The game scoring started on nice, one-touch goal by Amit Solomon on a cross from Stefano Cross. Cross notched the second goal of the game on a beautiful mid-field boot from Jack Barker, who started the game in goal and turned away all four shots he faced in the first half. Scoring continued on another one-touch goal from Evan Lalor on a magnificent cross from Will Soucy. The fourth goal of the first half for Wilton came on a nice deflection of Jack Crossen’s shot on goal with Alessandro Ochoa notching the fourth goal of the game. This put Wilton up 4-0 at the half.
The second half was dominated by physical and aggressive play from Old Greenwich on both sides of the ball. Matt Demasi, Charlie Roy and Luke Perna all countered with some strong physical play of their own in some very heated battles. Finn Burke faced 12 shots in goal in the second half as Old Greenwich tacked on a couple of goals of their own. Maddox Backman was once again a dominant force at the center of a defense that has allowed on average only one goal a game over the first three games of the season. The Wilton Boys look to continue their dominate play as they face the number-one team in the division, New Canaan, next week at home.
Unbeaten Wilton White 2007 Girls Win 4-2 over Fairfield
The Wilton White 2007 girls squad remains unbeaten after traveling to Fairfield and coming away with a 4-2 victory. Julia Munrow opened the scoring midway through the first half, and fellow forward Grace Ratcliffe powered home a shot a few minutes later. Mia Sommer finished her stint in goal with a clean sheet and the half ended with the score 2-0.
Midfielders Ellie Drew, Caroline Cronin, Abby Phelan and Ashley O’Donnell kept the heat on in the second half, with Drew threading a pass that Munrow powered home early on and Cronin cashing in with a goal of her own to make the score 4-0. Stalwart defending from Chloe Flatt, Elizabeth Crocitto, Quincey Burke and Sophia Partola nearly resulted in a shutout but Fairfield managed to get on the board with a pair of goals shortly before the horn blew.
Wilton Boys U9 White Tie New Canaan, 1-1
The Wilton Boys U9 White team played the New Canaan White team to a 1-1 draw on Sunday. After surrendering a goal early in the first half, the boys locked down on the defensive end and shut out the home team the rest of the way. Jack McMenamey and Peter Braid helped control possession in the first half from the midfield. Anthony Palumbo and Wyatt Lee added pace on the offensive end and created some good scoring looks. Mick Hamilton was effective in the sweeper role and helped initiate the attack. Robbie Baronowski had a strong first half as goalkeeper and turned away some big shots from New Canaan, leaving Wilton down 1-0 at halftime.
The boys came out with some inspired play in the second half and broke through with a tally from Michael DiLullo. Jack Cunningham played goalkeeper in the second half and made several stops from point blank range to keep the score knotted at one. Greg Bocchino had some promising runs that resulted in scoring chances and well-earned corner kicks. Dalton Lee and Bar Eisdorfer played strong on the back line and helped maintain possession and constant pressure in the New Canaan end. The boys will look to build on their early season success with a home game against Weston on Sunday.
Girls U12 Blue Shuts Out Weston, 3-0
On a crisp sunny autumn afternoon the Wilton GU12 Blue soccer squad registered a 3-0 victory in workmanlike manner over a talented Weston GU12 team. The first goal of the game was notched by Isabel DiNanno‘s passing strike. The Lady Warriors’ relentless first-half attack was led by Whitney Hess, Anya Iyer, Miya Lasher and Olivia Mannino with Hannah Fitzgerald stonewalling Weston ‘twixt the pipes. Mary Scally put Wilton up 2-0 with a deft shot past Weston’s keeper. On defense at times, Charlotte Casiraghi, Kelly Holmgren, Siena McDermott and Amanda Prather kept Weston off Wilton’s side of the pitch.
Strong second half play by Larsen Burke, Grace Duvall, Caitlin Ongley, Georgia Russnok and Ella Savage assured Wilton remained on top. The third and final tally of the day was provided by Morgan Felipe‘s boot as Wilton went up 3-0. Natalie Cronin preserved the shutout with truly inspired goaltending.
Wilton Girls 2006 Blue Notches First CT Cup Win
The Wilton Girls 06 Blue Team won its first CT Cup game against New Canaan Black. Fiona Gibbons, Addison Patillo, Alexa Furst and Kaitlyn Zizzadoro came out strong in the first half with goals being scored by Zizzadoro and Patillo. The streak continued with an assist by Isabelle Barbieri to Riley Fitzgerald. With Brook Aleksiejczyk in goal and Morgan Barbieri, Cosette Lepore, Molly Kaeyer and Isabelle Breakey playing defense, New Canaan couldn’t break through. The scoring went on with assists by Kaitlyn Sullivan to Jane Hughes as well as Aleksiejczyk. Guest player Addison Dobson played goalie in the second half. The girls continued to do well with goals by Barbieri, Fitzgerald and Patillo for a final score of 8-0.
The successful weekend continued on Sunday with a 3-1 win against Old Greenwich.
Wilton Boys U9 Blue Tops Greenwich Spurs, 5-1
Consistent pressure, timely passing, and stingy defense help the Wilton Boys U9 Blue team past the 08 Greenwich Spurs 5-1 on Sunday afternoon. Wilton controlled most of the action in the first half as Jake Padilla led the offensive attack helping to set up James Dineen for Wilton’s first of five goals on the day. Brad Mallory and Eamonn Zadourian added first half goals and Wilton led 3-1 at the break.
The second half Wilton’s defense anchored by goalie Cooper Buchichio, Harrison DeStefano, Nicholas Marini, and Blake Ongley kept Greenwich scoreless. Liam Joy, who had several shots on goal, was able to break through Greenwich’s excellent goaltending to score a key, second-half goal. Brendan Morris contributed all day with impressive tackles and added the last goal of the day.
Boys U13 Blue Advance in CT Cup
The Wilton Boys U13 Blue team cleared round one of the Connecticut Cup series Saturday with a convincing 5-3 win over Stratford. The clear, cool day made for perfect playing conditions on Stratford’s home turf, and the Wilton boys opened with an intense attack that allowed Matt Tabet to take a pass from Ryan Leung and score in the first two minutes of the game. Jack Dodman, Dhruv Rokkam and Luke Barbieri helped keep up the offensive pressure, along with Connor Morneau and Luke Pacheco, pressuring the Stratford defense until Leung was able to take a pass from Pacheco and score in a breakaway run at the ten minute mark, taking Wilton to a 2-0 lead.
Around 15 minutes in, the Wilton squad made its first round of subs, bringing in Christian Marroquin, Declan Healy and Matt Tully to support the offensive push. Healy took a cross at the 20-minute mark, and was on a run when a Stratford defender made an illegal hit from behind, and Healy was given a PK. The left-footer outplayed the Stratford keeper and put a beauty shot in the right corner of the net, allowing Wilton a 3-0 advantage.
After being rocked back on its heels for the first 20 minutes of this match, Stratford then rallied and started to pressure the Wilton defensive line for the first time. Tommy Lowell, Tom Welch, Scotty Mills and Luke Medalla, along with keeper Luke Eberhart, were able to mostly contain the Stratford push, except for one shot lofted deep by a Stratford attacker. R.J. Bartels and Conor Lillis then led the Wilton effort to regain the momentum, forcing Stratford to commit several penalties and keeping them on defense for the remainder of the half. The two teams reached the halftime break with Wilton up 3-1.
The second half started off much like the first, with the Wilton middies and attackers exploding at the sound of the starting whistle. Both Dodman and Leung had near misses at the 50-minute mark, Tabet the same at 52, Leung again at 54, with Pacheco repeatedly breaking through on the right side to contribute to the cause, helping set up Barbieri for Wilton’s fourth goal at around the 60-minute mark. Leung scored for his second time on a pass from Dodman, giving Wilton a 5-1 lead. In strong position, Wilton rotated the lines at this point, subbing some of the defensive line who had held the backfield from the start of the match. Stratford then switched up its attack. Lillis was playing keeper for the second half, and found himself suddenly being peppered by a Stratford squad that managed to net two balls at the 80- and 8-minute marks, cutting Wilton to a 5-3 advantage. The U13 Blue team would not be denied, however, and turned the heat on again, finishing its first round of the CT Cup with a 5-3 win, and advancing to the next round.
Wilton Boys U10 White Defeats Trumbull, 7-1
Wilton’s Boys U10 Blue soccer team defeated Trumbull 7-1, and remains undefeated. The goal scoring barrage came from Matt Martins, Kenji Sahay, Andrew Partenza, Quinn Minozzi (2), Tyler Coppola and Conor Toohill. Coppola had two assists, while Martin and Partneza pitched in for an assist each. Wilton’s goalkeeping was nearly impenetrable with Evan Arghirescu and Partenza splitting duties. The defensive attack was led by Jack Vermeulen, Toby Plowright, Liam Christ and Dominic Ciliento.
Wilton Boys U11 Blue Win Two in CT Cup
The Wilton Boys U11 Blue Soccer Team won two games this past weekend. On Saturday in their first CT Cup game they beat Westport 8-1 with impressive performances from a number of players. Declan Zadourian had four goals for Wilton in a superb showing. Matthew Stepnowsky, Griffin Palmer, Charlie Clune and Connor Buchichio also scored. Westport was held to one goal behind solid defense from Henry Roy and Jamie Whittaker and the solid goal tending of Clune, Mac McGovern and Stepnowsky.
On Sunday, the team continued their winning streak by beating Trumbull 6-0. The defense was strong again in front of goal keepers Cameron Royle and Finn Kaeyer. Moving the ball well for the Warriors was Andrew Ryan and Luke Ginsburg. The goals were scored by McGovern with two in the first half off of nice assists from Buchichio and Tucker Farrell, and Farrell added another first half goal. In the second half, Buchichio took over, scoring two goals, one off of a nice assist from Ryan and Zadourian. The final goal was on a penalty kick nicely converted by Roy.