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Darien‘s got its sights set on a state title.
The Blue Wave were knocked out of the Connecticut state tournament earlier than expected last year. This year, they look dialed in from the get-go. Saturday, Darien made the trip to Long Island and knocked off No. 11 Chaminade, 15-12, in a game featuring two of the country’s perennial powerhouses.
NLF No. 44 ’22 Matthew Minicus (Eclipse / Loyola) led the offense with four goals and three assists. Four-star sophomore Brady Pokorny (Eclipse) and senior Christian Allegrio (Eclipse / Navy) each tallied hat tricks for the Blue Wave.
NLF No. 7 ’22 Charles Balsamo (LI Express / Duke), featured in the newest episode of the NLF Insider Podcast, paced the Flyers with four goals and two assists. Gavin Creo (LI Express / Richmond) had three goals and three assists for Chaminade.
Check out the full game highlights from Ronald Jabouin.
Darien 15, Chaminade 12
Darien 5 5 2 3 — 15
Chaminade 2 2 5 3 — 12
Darien 2-0
Matthew Minicus ’22 (NLF No. 43 ’22 / Eclipse / Loyola) 4 goals, 3 assists
Brady Pokorny ’24 (Eclipse) 3 goals
Christian Alliegro ’22 (Eclipse / Navy) 3 goals
Joe Cesare ’22 (Eclipse / Georgetown) 1 goal, 4 assists
Tighe Cumiskey ’22 (Lafayette) 1 goal, 1 assist
Finn Pokorny ’22 (Eclipse / Harvard) 1 goal
Riley Strub ’22 (Salisbury) 1 assist
Cameron Weibel ’22 9 saves
Chaminade 3-1
Chaminade stats courtesy of Newsday
Charles Balsamo ’22 (NLF No. 7 ’22 / LI Express / Duke) 4 goals, 2 assists
Gavin Creo ’23 (LI Express / Richmond) 3 goals, 3 assists
Justin McMahon ’22 (LI Express / Penn) 1 goal, 1 assist
Ryan Landolphi ’23 1 goal, 1 assist
Ryan O’Rourke ’22 (LI Express / Monmouth) 1 goal
Gary Correa ’23 (LI Express) 1 goal
Aidan Lough ’23 (LI Express / Navy) 1 goal
Christian Alacqua ’22 (LI Express / Notre Dame) 2 assists
Matt Byrnes ’22 (LI Express) 1 assist
Jack Flaherty ’22 (Team 91 LI / Navy) 1 assists
Colm Flynn ’22 (LI Express) 9 saves