GREENWICH — Staples and Greenwich played an FCIAC soccer match Wednesday at Cardinal Stadium.

But they actually crammed three separate games into the regular 80 minutes. When it ended, the Cardinals prevailed, 6-3.

First, the hosts leaped to a 1-0 lead just 51 seconds after kickoff. Francisco Luzuruga pounced on a failure to clear, to give his side a near-instant lead.

The Wreckers were not rattled. They remembered two days earlier when their own inside-a-minute penalty kick gave them a quick edge, but Darien equalized three minutes later.

Although both the Cards and Blue Wave came into the Staples matches undefeated, this was not the same type of game.

Greenwich — which kept Staples pinned in their own end — did not allow the Wreckers’ first shot until 11 minutes in, by Jonny Costello.

In the 17th minute, the Cardinals stunned the visitors again.  A long throw was headed along, then headed in by Santiago Lattuada.

With Greenwich winning a majority of 50/50 balls, they struck again. Another poor clearance led to a close-in shot by Matthew Maloney.

That was the first game. The second took place the moment the second half began.

The Wreckers came out firing. Playing with pace and confidence — looking nothing like a squad down 3-0 — they got a goal back just 56 seconds in. Emmett Nivaud found Josh Whitaker; he laid off to Zack Gorin. The midfielder touched it with his right foot, and rippled the side netting with an important strike.

Less than three minutes later, Gorin struck again. His long blast into the far corner made a seeming rout into a very interesting contest.

The Westporters were on fire. The defense tightened up. Passes were crisper. Even the bench was louder.

But then came the third game. In the 50th minute, a Greenwich counterattack from the right side gave the Cardinals their fourth goal, and some breathing room.

Suddenly, they regained their footing and composure.

In the 64th minute, Christian Rinaldi made an excellent initial save for Satples. But the ball was not cleared, and another strong Card shot made it 5-2.

Staples continued to battle. The Wreckers did not give up.

But Greenwich was not through. One more initial save, and another non-clearance, resulted in their 6th goal.

The blue-and-whites fought to the end. They were rewarded with the latest goal in their 66-year-history. Aaron Varsov’s rocket was saved. But the ball rebounded to the feet of Brendan Allen. He powered it home, less than 1 second before the buzzer sounded.

Staples looks to rebound on Saturday. They travel to Wilton’s Lilly Field, for an 11 a.m. match against the winless Warriors.  (Game schedules are subject to change; click for the latest updates.)