NORWALK -- Perhaps it is a simple case that this is just Darien High School's year for dominance in boys lacrosse.

Last year it was the year of the Rams as New Canaan went 22-0. They also prevented Darien from winning a fourth straight Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference championship.

Not having won the FCIAC last year was a bit of a void for the Blue Wave. A void they definitely wanted to fill.

And that they did last night at Norwalk High School's Sam Testa Field.

They vaulted out to a 5-1 lead against fellow perennial power Wilton in the game's first 20 minutes and that paved the way for a 12-7 victory for their fourth FCIAC championship in the last five years and their sixth in the last eight years.

"They're always nice. It's something you never get tired of," Darien coach Jeff Brameier said. "We know we beat a good, solid team. Wilton was champing at the bit to get a title. Any time you win a title it's nice. Particularly when you can get it against Wilton, which is obviously a storied program itself."

Darien now has the second most FCIAC championships with eight overall. Wilton still holds the record of 13 FCIAC titles. New Canaan won its seventh championship last year.

Kyle Hollingsworth had three goals and two assists while Marc Albu tallied three goals and an assist last night to lead to lead the Blue Wave (17-2) to their 15th straight victory since an 8-4 loss to Yorktown (N.Y.). They are undefeated against foes from Connecticut this year.

Nick Pizzo scored two goals to lead Wilton (16-3), which had won 10 straight games since a 7-4 loss to Darien.

"Darien played very well tonight," Wilton coach Paul McNulty said. "I liked the way our kids kept fighting the whole game. I liked that spirit. We've had that kind of spirit all year. We've got an excellent group of players who have excellent spirit and camaraderie."

Cooper MacDonnell collected two goals and two assists, Jack Ryan tallied two goals and an assist, Andrew Roberto had a goal and two assists, and Charlie Wiggins scored a goal for the winners.

Wilton goalie Bill Curry had a dozen saves and Darien's Chris Madalon stopped seven shots as Darien had a 31-24 advantage in shots.

Darien has had balanced scoring all year, but the foundation of this year's team is solid leadership and veterans on defense such as senior captains Mike Abbott and Tim Shaw.

They were both outstanding last night, as were Danny Sartori, Charlie Wiggins and Brendan Sullivan.

Abbott was all over the place, forcing turnovers and getting the transition game going, which is why he was selected MVP.

"Mike is a phenomenal kid," Brameier said. "He was just awarded the James Girard Scholarship Award. He really is a special kid. He does all the little things that sometimes go unnoticed. But he was really noticed tonight. He was like the Energizer Bunny the way he was all over the place. Obviously we had a number of kids who had great games. But when you think of the team concept, there wasn't a more deserving kid than him. He clearly was deserving of that award."

After the teams felt each other out and shut each other down for the first five minutes, Hollingsworth opened the scoring on an assist from MacDonnell with 6:51 left in the first quarter.

Wilton's Eric Lindner tied it 10 seconds later after winning the faceoff.

But then Roberto made a nice long pass over the defense from far on the right side to set Albu up on the left side for the goal that began Darien's run of four straight goals.

Albu made a sweet centering pass from behind the net and through tight traffic to set Roberto up for the goal that increased the lead to 5-1 with 4:15 remaining in the half.

"When we went up 5-1, with our defense, I feel we're in pretty good shape," Brameier said. "Between our ball possession and the way our defense plays, we can hold most teams in check."

"It's all about team defense," Abbott said. "Coach realizes we're all good one-on-one defenders, but he wants us to play as a team. When we play as a team we shut them down and create turnovers."

The Warriors fought back and cut their deficit to 6-4 on Joe Somerdyk's goal with 5:14 left in the third quarter, but the Blue Wave broke it open with four unanswered goals.
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