By Andy Hutchison

FAIRFIELD–Staples girls soccer nearly pulled off an upset in the FCIAC Tournament semifinals before falling to Greenwich in penalty kicks at neutral site Fairfield Ludlowe on Friday.

The No. 4 Wreckers and No. 1 Cardinals finished regulation deadlocked at 2-2. The Cardinals prevailed 5-4 in penalty kicks to advance to the championship.

Riely Gullans and Alexa Van Aken scored for Staples in regular time. Alexa Van Aken, Emily Shiel, Sienna Schwartz and Maddie Johnson scored their PKs. Greenwich scored all five of its penalty kicks.

“We played very well — very proud of the kids,” Staples Coach Barry Beattie said.

No. 3 St. Joseph defeated No. 7 Darien 3-1 in the other semifinal. St. Joes and Greenwich will meet for the conference title Tuesday at Ludlowe starting at 7 p.m.

The Wreckers will look to bounce back in the Class LL State Tournament which begins later in the week (matchups to be announced). Greenwich is the second-ranked team in Class LL and Staples is ranked 12th.