Somers Finding its Groove; Put Valley Win Streak at 9; Greeley Rolls on

By Tony Pinciaro

The end of the 2022-23 school year brought the Somers’ varsity field hockey program to a crossroads. The Tuskers graduated 10 seniors and would also be welcoming a new coach.

When senior and captain Julia Vecciarelli and her teammates learned their new coach was going to be former Lakeland field hockey great and Michigan standout, Shannon Scavelli, Somers was psyched.

“We were very excited to learn from the knowledge she has on the sport and start a new team together,” said Vecciarelli, a three-year starter. “Since we had lost 10 seniors from the previous season, knowing that Coach Scavelli has so much experience definitely gave us a positive outlook for the new season to begin.”

Somers did not waste any time preparing for the 2023 season. The Tuskers began with open turf sessions in July.

“Because we had open turf sessions twice a week during the summer months, once preseason began, all of us felt comfortable and accustomed to Coach Scavelli, with an idea of what her expectations were for us for the rest of the season,” Vecciarelli said. “We knew right away she was going to be a great coach through her hard work and dedication she was putting into our team from the very beginning.”

Somers had a rough first few games, which is understandable. The Tuskers have since rebounded, winning four of their last six, including victories over Rye Neck and Panas, last week.

The Panas game featured a pair of Lakeland graduates as Panas is coached by Leah DiSisto (the starting goalie on Lakeland’s 2006 Class A state-title team). Marissa DiSisto, Panas’ varsity assistant, and Scavelli were high school teammates.

“I think that with a brand new team, adjusting to each other as well as a new coach was definitely a difficult process for us at the start,” Vecciarelli said. “However, Coach Scavelli taught us what it means to put in 110% effort every single day. And,  after a rough start, as a team, we figured out who we wanted Somers field hockey to be.”

Vecciarelli, along with fellow captains, Campbell Sternberg, and Caitlyn Janecka, have witnessed the team’s daily progression since day one of preseason. The current run bears this out.

Nicole Mack, Charlotte Carroll and Sternberg scored in the 3-0 victory over Rye Neck and Julia McCartin recorded two assists.

Willow Browne, who has been outstanding in goal, made four saves.

Browne handled eight shots in recording her second consecutive shutout – a 2-0 triumph of Panas as Vecciarelli and Sternberg scored, both assisted by McCartin.

“I truly feel that this season I’ve seen a huge difference in every single player and our team as a whole,” Vecciarelli said. “When I look back at preseason, and I see where we’re at now, It makes me proud of the hard work and determination we’ve all had in us to get here. Now the goal is to work even harder and only go up from here as we finish off the season strong!”

YORKTOWN was held scoreless in a 0-0 tie with Pelham as Annie Durante made nine saves.

The game without a goal was an aberration as Yorktown’s offense came alive in wins over Hen Hud (5-2) and Somers (3-1).

“Pelham had a strong defense so it was hard for our attack to get a goal,” senior and captain Katie Taormina said. “We were fired up to get wins for the Hen Hud and Somers’ games, especially since they were league games.

“Our communication definitely improved and we had amazing give-and-go’s, which was definitely to our advantage. Trust between our team has increased tremendously and we’re excited to see how we improve throughout the rest of the season.”

Brie Gaccino scored a career-best four goals against Hen Hud and Katie Taormina had a goal.

Gianna Popovic, Sammy Robustelli and Dana DeCourcey registered assists.

Robustelli had the hot hand with two goals against Somers and Taormina scored for the second consecutive game.

PUTNAM VALLEY shut out its three opponents this week, improving to 9-1 this season.

The Tigers are riding a nine-game winning streak since losing their season-opener to Lakeland.

Maggie Sampson, Ava Harman, Adrienne Jenness and Izzy Walther each scored and Gaby Alvarez collected two assists in a 4-0 win over North Salem.

Putnam Valley Coach Tracy Parchen cited the play of her defense – Kate Nielsen, Julia Toth, Sierra Gabriel and Maggie Caputo – against North Salem.

Putnam Valley outscored Hastings and Croton, 19-0.

Ava Buerkle scored twice and added two assists against Croton and Ava Harman added a goal and two assists.

HORACE GREELEY had a double hat trick with three victories all by shutout – White Plains (1-0), Suffern (8-0) and Fox Lane (4-0). The Quakers are now 7-1-1 this season.

“I think we played very well,” Greeley Coach Suhk Sandhu said. “Suffern and White Plains barely came to our circle at all. We were unable to finish against White Plains, but we still played well.

“We played incredibly well against Fox Lane for the first three quarters, then we started subbing and they found a couple of nice attacks without success.”

Florence Moraes netted the goal against White Plains with Eve Rutman assisting. Along with the shutout, goalie Meredith Dalrymple did not face a shot.

Phoebe Warshaw took over against Suffern with a career-best four goals and Aidan Lane registered a hat trick in Greeley’s highest single-game output this season.

Lilah Tainsky added one goal and one assist and Moraes collected two assists.

Lane led the way against archrival Fox Lane with two goals and an assist. Warshaw added one goal and one assist and Nina Byrne also scored.

WHITE PLAINS continued its solid play this season going 1-1-1 for the week. The Tigers (3-4-2 this season) played Clarkstown South to a 1-1 tie as Alexis Tighe scored assisted by Kayla Brogan. Saumya Sawant made six saves. White Plains followed up with a 3-0 victory over Ossining behind a goal and an assist from Chloe Ryan and two assists from McKenna Austin.

Sarah O’Rourke scored her first varsity goal and Tighe also had a goal. Abigail Arndt stopped three shots.

OSSINING’S Brenna Cober was excellent making 14 saves. Horace Greeley spoiled White Plains’ week with a 1-0 victory.

HEN HUD split two games – beating Our Lady of Lourdes (5-1) then falling to Yorktown (5-2).

Rowan Dapson and Carleigh Ortiz each scored two goals and Kayla McArthy added a goal against Lourdes. Caitlyn Pignataro registered two assists, Eva Facciola had one and Emily Hunt made six saves. Gianna Gagliardi and Pignataro had goals against Yorktown.

LAKELAND snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-0 victory over rival John Jay-Cross River. Balanced scoring was the word as Gabby Santini, Bella Basulto, Emily Yazzetti and Emma Nume netted goals and Keira Gallagher had two assists.

The Hornets are 8-3-1 this season.

PLEASANTVILLE somehow played four games last week despite the daily drenching rains. The Panthers (6-3 this season) blanked Hastings and Byram Hills, but lost a tough 2-1 game to Bronxville and also dropped a game to Class B power, Rye. Ella McCourtney and Ashley Vamossy each had hat tricks and Mackenzie Ennis added two goals against Hastings.

Abbey Gordon contributed a goal and two assists and Maya Fortier also rang up two assists. Eva Bucci, Ennis and Gordon scored against Byram Hills. The Panthers were right there with Bronxville as Vamossy scored with a double assist to Claire Collins and Gordon. Chloe Egan made eight saves. Egan was brilliant in the loss to Rye with a career-high 25 saves.