Saturday, the Rams got to chance to face a team from outside the Constitution State and fine-tune their game before their quest for more hardware begins. Elizabeth Miller (four) and Olivia Hompe (three) combined for seven goals as New Canaan used a strong second half to defeat Fox Lane (N.Y.) 11-6 on Senior Day at Dunning Stadium for its sixth straight win. For the seniors this is our last regular season home game and we wanted to make it count. The stingy Rams defense held the visitors to just two goals in the second half as they piled on the offense down the stretch. Hompe (Princeton) was matched up against fellow Division I commit Kate Burbank (North Carolina) in the midfield and the duo put on a show for 50 minutes, both in the circle and running up and down the field. The Rams hadn't scored in eight minutes and the duo worked an outstanding give-and-go play to find the back of the cage.

The New Canaan and Greenwich baseball teams had both secured spots in next week's FCIAC tournament, meaning neither team needed a win Wednesday at Mead Park but that did little to diminish the playoff like atmosphere present from the opening pitch. After grabbing an early lead, Greenwich came from behind to beat the Rams 7-5, with the final two outs coming on strikeouts with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning. The strategy worked to perfection in the first inning as Olmstead led off with a single, Ricky Okazaki bunted for a single and Fujikura sacrifice bunted them to second and third before new clean-up hitter Vincent Ferraro sent a blast to the right center field fence to give Greenwich a 2-0 lead. Greenwich was on the verge of breaking the game open in the second inning but Alex LaPolice caught a fly ball in foul territory down the leftfield line and fired a strike to home plate to cut down the Greenwich runner attempting to tag up from third base. The Rams (15-4, 13-4 FCIAC) got on the board in the third with Henry Lavieri getting hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, followed by an infield single by Casey Ouellette and a wild throw to first base that allowed Lavieri to score. Greenwich built the lead to 6-4 on another RBI hit by Okazaki in the sixth, but New Canaan cut the lead to 6-5 on a sacrifice fly by Lavieri in the bottom of the inning.

Entering Tuesday's contest with New Canaan, the Westhill softball team had not scored fewer than eight runs in any of its previous 15 FCIAC games thanks to an explosive offense that has carried the team all year long. Kate Brainard delivered a walk off single in the bottom of the seventh inning that broke a 3-3 tie and sent Westhill to a 4-3 win over visiting New Canaan for its 11th win in 12 games. After the Rams (12-6, 11-5 FCIAC) plated a run in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game, the top of the Westhill order went right to work to earn the victory. After failing to get the bunt down the pitch before, Brainard socked a ball that went right down the third base line and stayed fair, allowing Kurtz to come home. New Canaan had a chance to do more damage in the top of the seventh after Jordan Ventura led off the inning with a double and scored on a fielder's choice. Later in the inning, the Rams had runners on second and third with two outs, but Westhill's Sadie Apfel got Abby Jenkins to ground out to end the threat. Apfel allowed just four hits and a walk over seven innings while Ventura fanned six Vikings and only gave up one extra-base hit.

Looking like a team on a mission, the Fairfield Ludlowe baseball squad continued its late-season surge by hitting the road and picking up its seventh straight win, a 7-4 victory over hard-hitting New Canaan at Mead Park on Monday. Ludlowe starting pitcher Andrew Salveson wasn't dominant, but he battled his way through six tough innings while giving up four runs (three earned), striking out six, allowing eight hits and walking none. The Rams drew even at 1-1 in the bottom of the first when Casey Oullette singled and later scored an unearned run on a Ludlowe throwing error. Trailing 5-1 going into the bottom of the second, the Rams opened the inning with a single by Nick Cascione, who stole second, an RBI single by Alex Curto and an RBI double by Henry Lavieri. Two batters later, Howell notched an RBI single and Kochiss launched a two-run double to make it 5-1. Arman led off the third with a towering home run over the left field fence to make the score 6-4 Falcons, and Salveson notched his second RBI on a single that plated Arman in the fifth to close out the scoring at 7-4. Highlights: FL--Mike Arman went 2-for-4 with a home run, three runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base.

Complete games are about as common as July foliage for the Stamford High School softball team. [...] when Joannou was nicked for a pair of runs by New Canaan in the bottom of the first inning Wednesday night, erasing most of a 3-0 lead, it seemed a season-long storyline would continue to play out. [...] Joannou, after giving up two hits, settled down and did not allow another until the bottom of the 7th, when the Rams, trailing, 7-2, rallied for three runs. [...] a little help from Schepps, a spectacular defensive play by the FCIAC's best player, and a return by Joannou to record the final two outs paved the way for Stamford's 7-5 victory. Gretta Buckley, who has been on a tear, went 3-for-3 and had what proved to be a critical two-run triple in the 6th inning, the decisive runs. Kelly DiPietro had a two-run triple in the first inning, two batters after Colleen Adams drove in a run with a triple, and Krista Robustelli added another home run. With one run in, runners on the corners and no outs, leadoff hitter Collette Pellegrini hit a hard grounder up the middle. Amanda Frattaroli had an RBI triple in the seventh for New Canaan (11-5, 10-4) and Jordan Ventura drove in a run with a base hit.

Playing what head coach Chip Buzzeo described as "the first complete game we played all year," New Canaan seized a six-goal halftime lead and never looked back, coasting to a resounding -- and somewhat surprising -- The Cardinals (8-3, 7-2 FCIAC), who had won eight of their last nine going into Thursday's game, suffered their third straight loss to the Rams dating back to last season. Bulkley, who is in his fourth season at the helm, was suspended from his coach duties regarding a team matter, pending an investigation according to athletic director Gus Lindine. Since taking over as coach of the Cardinals in 2010, the team has won an FCIAC title and qualified for the conference and state tournaments each year. Facing a red-hot team like the Rams, the Cardinals also weren't aided by the absences of senior attack Alex Moeser and sophomore attack Decker Curran, both of whom are nursing injuries. Richardson displayed his athletic ability and shooting touch early, putting a low shot past GHS goalie William Waesche while falling to the turf for the game's first goal 2:51 into the opening quarter. Greenwich's best scoring chance in the opening half occurred when senior attack Will Gibian's shot hit the post midway through the first quarter. Seniors John Rhudy and Eric Persky led a Rams defensive unit that has helped limit the opposition all season.

In the preseason, it was apparent both the New Canaan and Darien boys tennis teams had their April 25 matchup circled on their calendars. Both squads indicated that they were looking forward to the next chapter in their long-standing rivalry, but it was New Canaan prevailing with a 5-2 victory over their border rivals on Thursday afternoon. A key for New Canaan was its ability to win in straight sets in the top two singles spots, as Will Burger defeated Darien's Thorne Gregory at No. 1 singles 6-1, 6-2 to put his team up 3-1. Darien kept its chances alive when No. 3 singles player Alex Swords captured a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles over New Canaan's Tim Casavant, but the match was in the bag for the Rams when New Canaan's Tommy Worcester scored a 6-2, 6-3 win over Darien's Ryo Usami at No. 2 singles to put New Canaan in front 4-2 overall. Darien took a brief 1-0 lead when Uday Avula scored a quick 6-1, 6-1 victory over New Canaan's Michael Hartnett at No. 5 singles. At first doubles, New Canaan's tandem of Andrew Penchuk and Digby Philpott took the first set 6-0 before the Darien duo of Dominic Hansford and Nick Howe won the second set 7-6 (7-3). The Rams won the ensuing 10-point tiebreaker 10-7 to close out the overall match with a 5-2 victory.

New Canaan and Darien entered Thursday's girls lacrosse game tied atop the FCIAC East division standings, but on the field, the gap between the two teams was big enough to drive a bus through. The immensely talented Blue Wave used a flurry of second-half goals en route to a dominant 14-7 victory at Dunning Field in New Canaan. The Rams, who entered the game 7-0, including a 5-0 mark in conference play, came out of the gate strong. Two minutes into the contest, Olivia Hompe beat Darien goalie Caylee Waters from near the top of the circle to give New Canaan a 1-0 advantage. New Canaan's star player put a nice spin move on the Darien defense and beat Waters to give the Rams a quick, 2-0 lead. Standing just outside the circle, her initial shot beat O'Sullivan, but clanked off the crossbar. At the 14:45 mark, Hardison went back to being a playmaker, finding Jens Fritz cutting to the net and fed her with a nice pass, which Fritz fired home to give Darien a 3-2 advantage. The Blue Wave scored five unanswered goals to break the game wide open. Mentally, it was a huge aspect, said Waters who finished with 11 saves I was confident in the defense sliding over the offense did a great job.

The Ridgefield High baseball team must have thought the New Canaan Rams were hungry in the sixth inning because they served Sammon for dinner. The senior left fielder hit a towering three-run home run in the sixth inning as part of a two-hit, two-run, three-RBI night in the Tigers' 9-7 victory at Old High School Field, snapping New Canaan's six-game winning streak. The blast put the Tigers up 9-3 and proved to be crucial insurance when the Rams scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning in a comeback effort. Even when we're up late we take our at-bats seriously, like Phil did and hit that three-run homer and it turns out to be the difference of the game. The game was a pitching duel for the first 3ï¿1/2 innings, before the Tigers broke a 1-1 tie with a five-run fourth inning led by a pair of two-run doubles by Ryan Debany and Adam Zandri off New Canaan starting pitcher James Guisti. For the Tigers, winning pitcher Chip Papa had a solid outing, pitching four innings, scattering six hits, allowing one run, and striking out two.

The New Canaan girls lacrosse team kept its perfect season intact Tuesday, exploding for 11 goals in a dominant second half to score an 18-5 victory over visiting Staples Tuesday night. The Rams lead was only 7-4 at halftime, but the 11-goal outburst put the game fully out of reach. [...] it's a tough stadium to play in; there's no question there's a home field advantage, Najarian said. New Canaan's Olivia Hompe spearheaded New Canaan's offensive output by notching the game's first three goals, with Eppler assisting on two for the 3-0 lead. Staples got back in the game when Jenna McNicholas and Ryan Kirshner scored on penalty shots to close the deficit to 3-2, and the rest of the first half was fairly evenly played. After more than six minutes of scoreless play, Staples' Deanna Schreiber got one back for the Wreckers to make the score 6-4 with 2:15 left in the half, but the Rams' Lily Citrin scored her first of three goals for the 7-4 halftime advantage with 1:15 remaining. Staples (6-3, 3-3) got one back, but New Canaan scored the final six markers to cruise to its eighth straight victory to start the season.