If Fairfield Prep senior attackmen Kevin Brown and Tim Edmonds look as if they have some chemistry, there's a reason for that. The Jesuits (10-4, 8-0 SCC) maintained a 5-1 lead for much of the second quarter before Brown scored two goals in 11 seconds. Fairfield Prep remained unbeaten in nine games against Connecticut competition. The Jesuits face Shelton on Wednesday and finish the regular season at No. 10 Guilford, which beat Xavier 7-6 on Friday.. Xavier (12-3, 7-2), a program on the rise, tied the game at 1 at 2:19 of the first quarter, with sophomore Wesley Reid answering Brown's first goal. Scoring: X--Wesley Reid (1 goal), Parker Reid (1g), Greg Onofri (1g), Bob Coleman (1 assist); FP--Tim Edmonds (3g, 5a), Kevin Brown (6g), David White (1g, 3a), Austin Sims (4a), John Edmonds (2g, 1a), Cam Harris (2g), Burke Smith (1g), Colin Smalkais (1g), Joe McBride (1g); Goalies: X--Matt Gajowiak (11 saves); FP--Connor Henry (6), Logan Cotter (4); Shots: X--20; FP--34

Westhill tops Fairfield in boys swimming [...] this FCIAC season should be a nice change for him and the Westhill-Stamford High Co-op squad. A campaign devoid of unnatural expectations. Wednesday was a good day for Westhill-Stamford, which defeated Fairfield Co-op, 103-79 at its home pool. Westhill-Stamford took first place in nine of the 12 events while improving its record to 2-1. Westhill-Stamford freshman Oscar Ike captured first place in the 200-yard individual medley (2:05.26), 100 yard butterfly (57.97) and swam legs on Westhill-Stamford's victorious 200 Senior captain Michael Hopkins and senior Justo Karell (50 free, :24.66) swam legs on both winning Westhill-Stamford relays. The flu epidemic hit both squads but impacted Fairfield much harder. Justo Karell (West-SHS) 24.66; Diving (1 meter): Sean Burston (West-SHS) 282.55 points; 100 Butterfly:

Trumbull beats Staples for first outright FCIAC boys soccer title How else to account for Trumbull High School boys soccer coach Sebby Gangemi's sentiments when sharing what was going through his mind at halftime of Friday night's FCIAC championship game against Staples? Gangemi chuckled when considering the alternative, and there was nothing flawed about the Eagles' senses after they held on for a 2-0 victory at Fairfield Ludlowe, denying the Wreckers a fourth straight league crown. If the fourth-seeded Wreckers (12-3-4) could take away any solace, the outcome was due not to their failures but two well-played goals, the second coming just two minutes prior to the intermission. The Eagles dominated possession time in the first half, their chances usually involving work done by Bond, whose combination of speed and technical skill has flustered the best defenses. After a few near-misses, Trumbull finally struck in the 24th minute, and Bond was the catalyst, beating a defender with a nifty move before setting up Chase, who was alone in front of the goal. There was some controversy in the 32nd minute, when the Wreckers thought they had equalized off a corner kick by Steve Smith. Following a shot off a scramble, Trumbull goalkeeper Nick Weinstein's foot -- but not the ball -- appeared to cross over the goal line,

Gravitte had a touchdown run, touchdown catch and scored on an 85-yard game-breaking kickoff return early in the fourth quarter to lift the Tigers to victory. Gravitte fielded the ensuing kickoff at about the 15-yard line, started up the left sideline and then cut right, breaking three tackles on his way to the end zone. After winning the coin toss but electing to kick off, the Tigers' defense held Warde on downs. A 21-yard punt return by Gravitte gave Ridgefield the ball on the Warde 48, and John Turner broke through the left side of the line on the Tigers' first play from scrimmage to score on a 48-yard touchdown run. After holding on downs again, Gravitte scored on a 51-yard run on Ridgefield's third play from scrimmage in the game with 8:10 still to play in the first quarter. Warde was threatening to score in the final minutes of the second quarter, when defensive back Mickey Hicks layed a good hit on Warde quarterback Chris Foley and forced a fumble. Ridgefield received the kickoff in the third quarter, and the offense ate up almost nine minutes of the clock with a drive that culminated with a 28-yard field goal by Griffin Jones.

The Jesuits jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and held on to snap a two-game losing streak, beating Notre Dame-West Haven, 5-3, on Monday afternoon at Quigley Stadium. Prep jumped out in the first inning when Redamonti helped his own cause with a two-out RBI single, scoring CJ Donohue. The Jesuits scored two in the second inning, when Ryan Wright singled home Matt D'Ambrisi to give Prep a 2-0 lead. Sinclair and Redamonti walked, and Heiman doubled down the left field line to score Smeriglio and Sinclair to put Prep up 5-1. Mollo then gave up a single to Brandon Wynne and walked Kris Matthews to load the bases.

Fairfield Warde head coach Dave Danko has been known to be a little intense on the bench, especially when things aren't going right for his girls basketball team. All my kids are told to square up and look at the basket, they were not showing any confidence (in the first half) in their ability to score. [...] that reluctance to shoot became amplified midway through the second quarter when Danbury center Casey Smith blocked a three-point attempt by Warde guard Kate Kerrigan. The Mustangs even got Smith, Danbury's go-to player, to sit in the first quarter because they drew her into a pair of fouls. The Hatters started a freshman, Rachel Gartner, at point guard, and just getting her through the pregame introductions was a struggle for Hatters head coach Jackie DiNardo.

TRUMBULL — St. Joseph seized the momentum during the first half of Saturday’s FCIAC showdown against Greenwich, but as the scoreboard indicated, the tide turned in the Cardinals’ favor in the second half. Suddenly, the 15-point halftime advantage the Cadets enjoyed was whittled down to two, and the home team was fighting for its’ playoff lives. [...] thanks to a key defensive stop and the hard running of Tyler Matakevich in the final quarter, St. Joseph held off the surging Cardinals, and held on to a berth in the Class S playoffs with a 22-20 victory. A year to the date after falling to Greenwich, St. Joseph returned the favor, recording a hard-fought win over the visiting Cardinals. With the win, the Cadets, who entered the game ranked fifth in Class S, solidified a spot in the postseason. “This was a huge game for us, it was real important,” said St. Joseph senior co-captain and quarterback Joe Della Vecchia, who threw for 124 yards and three touchdowns. Trailing 22-7, the Cards closed to within 22-20 by scoring two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a mere 10 seconds. On the Cadets’ first play from scrimmage on the ensuing possession, a high snap eluded the reach of Della Vecchia, who was in shotgun formation, and Cardinals senior linebacker Ben Cohn recovered the fumble at the St. Joseph 1-yard line. The Cardinals tried to tie the game, but Lombardi’s two-point conversion pass fell incomplete. [...] senior defensive back Brendan Donegan halted Greenwich’s drive, intercepting Lombardi’s pass on a fourth-and-13 play, and returned it to midfield. Matakevich, who rushed for 76 yards on 20 carries, took over from there, as his bruising running helped St. Joseph pick up two crucial first downs during the final minutes, the second of which came on a fourth-and-one situation.

Last week, the Greenwich High School girls soccer team scored a thrilling 1-0 double-overtime victory over Westhill in the FCIAC championship game, with the winning goal coming on a perfectly placed shot by Alex DiStefano -- in the 94th minute. The Greenwich Citizen caught up (via e-mail) with the head coach of the Cardinals, Danny Simpson, on the day after the big win to talk about the game, the victory, and what is up next for the Greenwich team -- the state tournament. First of all, congratulations on the victory over Westhill. The efforts of the ladies, the preparation of the coaching, the execution of the game plan and of course the quality of the game winning goal. At half time, we adjusted our defense to accommodate the way Westhill had made subtle changes, whilst altering our attack to counter there defensive structure. [...] to make sure they felt no pressure, we (Jason and I) played a fun game (totally out of context) to relax them and put a smile on their faces. Describe what was going through your mind as you watched the game-winning play develop between Shannon and Alex and your thoughts as the ball arched into the net.

Despite two fourth-quarter interceptions by sophomore Taylor Olmstead, the Danbury High School football team had put itself in position to reclaim the lead after holding Greenwich on a key third-down play near midfield. Two plays later, junior Shane Nastahowski raced into the end zone from 43 yards out for his third touchdown of the game as the Greenwich High School football team overcame five turnovers and an early deficit to post a 27-7 victory over Danbury at Cardinal Stadium Friday night. “We came out flat in the opener but we’re playing with a lot more intensity now,” said senior outside linebacker Jim Barrett, who led a swarming Cardinals defense that held the Hatters to 9 total yards rushing on 16 carries. The teams exchanged early turnovers — a common theme in this penalty-plagued contest — and the Hatters took advantage by marching 66 yards on 10 plays, punctuated by a 5-yard touchdown pass from senior Nick Hammed to classmate Deyon Rosado with 4:49 left in the first quarter. Greenwich had an immediate answer to Danbury’s lone score as Nastahowski capped a 10-play, 71-yard drive by blasting into the end zone from 5 yards out in the waning second of the first quarter.

With a disappointing loss to Trumbull already in the books, Central football coach Dave Cadelina spent the past week urging his players to "take back our dreams" as they prepared for FCIAC powerhouse Greenwich, knowing another loss would probably mean the end of their postseason hopes. Christon Gill threw a first-half touchdown pass and ran for a second score in the third quarter and Central hung on for a thrilling 14-13 upset of the Cardinals Friday night at Kennedy Stadium. The senior signal-caller carried four times for 42 yards and finished things off with a slashing 11-yard run into the end zone. After the Hilltoppers appeared to stop the Cardinals short on a third-down pass at their 40-yard line, they were hit with two personal fouls (horse-collar tackle and unsportsmanlike conduct), giving Greenwich a first down at the Central 14 as the third quarter ended. Combining runs with short passes, the Cardinals went 79 yards on 10 plays and closed the gap to 14-13 on a one-yard run by Michael Dunster with 3:06 left in the game. The extra point proved to be Greenwich's undoing, however, as a shaky snap seemed to throw off kicker Oliver Ostrowski's timing and he pulled the kick wide left.