The No. 3 seed New Canaan Rams defeated the No. 2 seed Staples Wreckers in the FCIAC girls’ soccer semifinal game on Oct. 25. The Rams scored twice and kept a clean sheet against the Wreckers to come out with a 2-0 win; they will face the No. 1 seed, St. Joseph, in the final.
The semi final between two of the FCIAC’s strongest sides was competitive right from the opening. Both teams demonstrated strong passages of play, but it was New Canaan’s Julia McPhillips who opened the scoring with a header 25 minutes into the 0-0 tie. New Canaan’s attack leading up to the goal began with stellar defense, which was a common theme for the Rams throughout the match.
“New Canaan had a very strong and organized back line, which made it difficult to break through and create scoring chances,” Staples captain Natalie Chudowsky ’26 said.
McPhillips’ first half goal gave the Rams a 1-0 lead at the halftime break. The game still seemed to be all to play for.
That said, the Rams came out strong in the second half, doubling their lead just a minute in thanks to a second goal from Julia McPhillips. The goal, which was New Canaan’s second of the evening, came after Staples failed to clear the ball off a set piece.
In the last 39 minutes of play, after New Canaan’s second goal, Staples managed to create a couple of decent looks on goal, but the New Canaan defense ultimately held strong to end the Staples girls’ soccer team’s FCIAC hopes.
Despite the loss to New Canaan, the Staples girls’ soccer team’s focus will fully shift to the state tournament, which kicks off on Friday, Nov. 1. Having won two out of the three last Class LL state championships, coach Barry Beattie and his squad will have their eyes set on another title.
“Even though we were disappointed to lose against New Canaan in the semi finals, we were proud of our performance,” senior captain Annabel Edwards ’25 said. “I think we need to continue that form and energy going into the state tournament. We’re looking forward to facing new competition and continuing to play how we’ve been playing.”
