By Tyler Pruneau
The New Canaan boys’ soccer team (0-2-1) tied 1-1 against the Ridgefield Tigers (0-2-1) at Tiger Hollow Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
Throughout the game, both programs played aggressively and landed their fair share of shots, but neither managed to earn a win. To kick off the clash, the Rams possessed the ball for most of the first half. By halftime, New Canaan targeted the net twice while the Tigers took one shot.
“The records coming in would say it was going to be a pretty even game and it was,” Head Coach Luke Green said. “We were really happy with things that we did and we’re still learning and developing some pieces as well.”
After trading blows, the Rams notched the first goal of the night. With 26 minutes left in the first half, the team connected with Blake Rossouw in the box and buried it in the back of the net to take a 1-0 lead.
For the remainder of the opening half, both squads continued to pressure the keepers, but couldn’t finish.
At the 20-minute mark, Leo Baroni fired from inside the Tigers’ box, but a defender deflected the ball out of bounds. On the corner, Ridgefield cleared it out.
Five minutes later, Patrick Quill sent John Burke a long ball. While going one-on-one with the defender, Burke dribbled into the box. Before taking a shot, the defender tackled him and kicked it away.
With five minutes left before halftime, Mason Fisher took a corner kick for Ridgefield. Both teams tried to make contact, but the ball soared over everyone. Coming down to the final two minutes, the Rams attempted to extend the Tigers’ deficit. Baroni took the ball up the sideline and crossed it into the box, but the defense stayed strong.
“I thought for the first 15-20 minutes we had the better of them,” Green said. “We won the ball in their half a bunch of times. [We] couldn’t really create clean-cut chances as well as we would like.”
Coming out of the break, Ridgefield stepped on the gas. Right off the bat, Lucas Green aimed for the left side of the goal, but keeper Zachary Symons saved it. Eight minutes into the second half, Fisher launched a free kick from the 45-yard line into the box and crossed out of bounds. A minute and a half later, Ridgefield bounced the ball throughout New Canaan’s box. The defense scrambled to control the ball and eventually drilled it out.
With 28 minutes remaining in the outing, Logan Seagrist nearly tied the game. Seagrist dribbled into the box alone with two defenders trailing behind him. The sophomore shot and nailed it off the left post for the Rams to knock out.
New Canaan answered and banked a shot of their own, but goalie Gavin McLaughlin made the diving save.
In response, Christopher Ganal deadlocked the contest at one apiece for the Tigers.
With 21 minutes left in the meeting, Seagrist danced up the far sideline and crossed the ball. At the top of the box, Ganal drained it in for Ridgefield’s first goal of the 2026 campaign.
While this was the final goal of the night, the Tigers wanted more and attempted a pair of shots. In the final 45 seconds, Ganal swerved around the defenders, took a shot at the top of the box and hit the crossbar.
Next up, the New Canaan Rams will travel to face Brien McMahon at Pride Field on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 11 a.m.
