Fox Lane Shocks Greeley in OT; Yorktown Takes Mamo’ in OT

By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays

From the ‘Nobody Saw This Coming’ Dept.: Host FOX LANE may have created what now appears to be a five-horse race for the Section 1 Class B title after the Foxes stunned HORACE GREELEY, 3-2, in overtime Wednesday night.

Skeptics will say it’s still a two-team race between Yorktown and Somers, but Fox Lane’s John Mains scored the game-winning goal from Declan Connors in extra time, after G Luke Valenti (14 saves) and the Fox Lane defensive unit held the high-powered Quakers (5-2 Section 1, 6-4 overall) in check, placing the Foxes (5-3, 7-3) squarely in race to the Final 4 with YORKTOWN, SOMERS, LAKELAND/PANAS and Greeley.

Foxes James Minotti and Ryan Hardie each scored a goal and Kevin New added an assist for the Foxes, who erupted in joy after the Mains tally.

“It was a massive team effort where every single person on our team did their job,” Fox Lane Coach Charlie Rice said. “The poles (Ryan Nathan, Will Oliverio, Brian Bailey and Lukas Stelter) all dominated their individual matchups putting a great amount of pressure on their offense to eliminate Greeley’s great ability to dodge and feed. Our short-stick D-middies are multi-sport stars, including James Minotti and Kevin New, who played huge roles in whatever we asked of them from playing guys straight up, face guarding, getting ground balls or clearing the ball.

“Freshman Goalie Luke Valenti played out of his mind making 14 saves, including some in OT,” the coach added. “I think the biggest thing we did well, going back to what I stressed in the preview, was the little things. We controlled the middle of the field in our rides, clears and getting ground balls. This led to a number of unsettled opportunities, especially with D guys Nathan, Oliverio and Stelter. Despite only cashing in on two of them, this gave us a great amount of energy and confidence to fly around and make plays.”

Connor Lummel and Tighe Dolan each scored for the Quakers while G Luke Kaplow recorded eight saves.

While state-ranked (No.3) Somers (8-0, 10-1) and No.5 Yorktown (6-0, 6-4) still appear to be the favorites in the title chase, No.12 Greeley will need to get back to the grindstone to produce the sharpness that had some folks believing that 2024 could be the Quakers finally win the title or perhaps make their first championship appearance since a 2006 loss to Somers. They will need to tighten some things up in a hurry for that to happen as this setback to Fox Lane, coupled with a 13-8 loss to John Jay CR Saturday, is likely to knock them from the meaningless state rankings.

And hats off to No.18 Class A CARMEL, which officially cracked the state rankings for the first time in school history as they chase No.9 Mamaroneck for the No.1 seed. Three Examiner-area Class D teams have also cracked the top 12 in NYS, including No.2 PLEASANTVILLE, No.8 HALDANE and No.12 WESTLAKE.

Congrats to all for the mid-season recognition, but as previously stated these NYSSWA rankings only make for good reading and a minimal gauge of current play: That’s about it!

CLASS B

Yorktown had the next big win of the week, disposing of visiting Mamaroneck in Saturday’s 10-9 overtime triumph of the visiting Tigers at Charlie Murphy Field where junior FOGO Chad Bowen’s inside roll notched the game-winning goal. Everybody loves a FOGO goal and the Huskers went ballistic after Bowen tickled twine. Yorktown senior Ryan Vogel admitted the team loved to see Bowen, a true grunt, get his moment in the sun.

“Chad is an excellent face-off player for us, but during practice he has been focusing more on the offensive aspect to his game and it has been paying off tremendously.,” said Vogel, who scored twice.

Gianluca Marchini (2G, 1A), Dylan DelVecchio (1G, 1A), J.T. Carney (1G),  Drew Weissman (1G; 1A),  Chris Constantine (1G, 1A, 6GB), Brady McEnroe (1G), Bowen (16/23 FO) and G Hunter Mezzatesta (16 saves) were central figures in a big team win.The one-goal win was huge for morale after a pair of one-goal losses to out-of-section powers Wilton (CT) and Cold Spring Harbor (LI).

Greeley did recover from the Fox Lane setback in a 13-9 win over Bronxville when Jameson Blakeslee (4G, 1A), Jack Holub (4G), Connor Lummel (3G) and Jason Kim (2G) showed the kind of firepower the Quakers needed against the Foxes earlier in the week.

Somers stayed in the thick of the No.1 seed chase by improving to 8-0 in Section 1, 10-1 overall, including a 12-5 win over Carey (LI) behind five goals from Grayden Carr and six points from Mac Sullivan (2G, 4A).  Miguel Iglesias (1G, 2A) added three points.

Lakeland/Panas is not ducking anyone and the Rebels may have come up short in a 6-5 loss to Section 2 Class B powerhouse Niskayuna (ranked No.9 in NYS), but these close losses will only better prepare the Rebels (2-3, 2-7) for what lies ahead. Will Moore (2G), Thomas Kuney (1G, 1A), Bubba Baumeister (1G) and Vinny Savastano (1G) found the stat sheet while goalie K.C. Bryan (13 saves) remains a game-changer between the pipes. Nobody wants to draw the Rebels in the early rounds.

BREWSTER is showing signs of improvement but the Bears (5-6) need a statement win before Section 1 lax fans look at them as serious Final 4 contenders despite a gritty 12-11 come-from-behind win over Arlington.

“We were down 5-1 and settled down to go on a 6-0 run in the second quarter to take the lead and were able to hold on for the win,” Bears Coach Ryan Cleary said after Luke Cunningham (4G, 3A), Jason Weller (4A), AJ Accurso (3G, 2A), Frankie Tuminello (2G, 2A), Harrison Schmitt (2G) and Paul Rienzi (1G) got it done.

St. John’s-bound senior Danny Koch has been one of the few bright spots in what has become a difficult pill to swallow for MAHOPAC lax fans, but Koch (6G, 1A) shone bright in the Wolf Pac’s first win of the season, an 8-7 victory over Arlington, who could not stop the three-sport captain from scoring the 100th goal of his career while moving among the top six scorers in school history.

CLASS D

PLEASANTVILLE will be ready for the rigors of Section 1 after taking on state-ranked (No.2) Garden City, the reigning NYSPHSAA Class B champions, in an 11-6 Panther loss. All-American M Daniel Picart (3G), Erik Coleman (2G), Hank McCourtney (1G, 1A) and Emmet McDermott (2A) put up multiple points for the Panthers (5-0, 8-2).

Undeterred, Pleasantville responded with a massive 10-6 win over state-ranked (No.5, Class C) Shoreham Wading River (LI) behind Picart (3G, 1A), McDermott  (1G,1A), Nick Reich (4G) and Coleman (2G). There is no doubt this Panther unit is tested and ready to make an historical mark, but Class D’s top obstacle, as often, appears to come from Long Island where top-ranked Section 8’s Cold Spring Harbor may eventually lie in wait.

“We’re definitely trying not to look too far ahead and just play our best lacrosse now heading into the end of the regular season and beginning playoffs,” Picart admitted.

Everyone knows Pleasantville is the team to beat but WESTLAKE is making it tough to ignore what the Wildcats are up to, including a 19-12 win over Nyack, which discovered the horrors of containing Wildcat Cole Barnett (8G, 2A), who had a hand in 10 of 12 goals. Chase Sorby (4G, 3A), Isaiah Rivera (2G, 2A), Nicky DiNapoli (1G, 3A), Stephen DiNapoli (2G), Brayden Lingeza (2G, 1A) and Michael Pagan (1A) continue to provide the impetus on offense for the undefeated Wildcats (8-0), who may, or may not, have challenged themselves enough to be ready for Pleasantville in the end. Regardless, it’s been a great start.

“We definitely knew this was possible from the beginning, and the confidence is high right now,” Wildcat senior Chris Kalle said. “Everyone on the offense is playing lights out. But again, we are going to stay humble and take it one game at a time.”

In fact, the potential semifinal showdowns with HALDANE, Dobbs Ferry, CROTON or PUTNAM VALLEY could be epic as the Wildcats up the ante in the days ahead.

PUTNAM VALLEY rocked Class A OSSINING, 15-5, behind five points apiece from Thomas Cunningham (4G, 1A) and Andrew Grippo (4G, 1A) and another four from Dakota Bourgie (3G, 1A). Freshman Michael Frye (2G) and junior Caden Glenn (2G) are additional underclassmen providing a promising future for the Tigers (7-4), who were once the rage of Section 1 Class C between 2004-10, winning three sectional championships while appearing in six title tilts, but have yet to post a statement win in 2024.

Croton has won five in a row but the relatively-untested Tigers (6-2) get Hen Hud and Pleasantville as measuring sticks down the stretch.

At 3-4, Haldane is up and down but the Blue Devils get a tough test from BRIARCLIFF (1-7) this week after losing to Farmingdale (LI) last week. Both Haldane and Westlake best have May 8th circled on the calendar, considering it’s a potential semifinal preview #CircleItUpBoys!

CLASS C

HEN HUD solved an improving Bronx-based Cardinal Hayes unit, 11-8, when Dean Pastolove (4G, 1A), James McManus (1G, 4A), Kevin Ryan (3G) and Drew Hiltsley (2G) all scored multiple points. The Sailors also eked out a 5-4 win over Brewster, who had a tough time containing Ryan (3G, 1A), Hiltsley (1G, 1A) and Dean Pastolove (1G). Bears A.J. Accurso (2G), Paul Rienzi (1G, 90% FO wins), Jason Weller (1G, 1A) and Luke Cunningham (3A) kept the Bears in striking distance.

BYRAM HILLS struggled to knock off Pearl River in a 14-13 OT win. That’s the good news. The bad news is the Bobcats should not be in tough spots like this against a 2-7 Pirate club if they intend to make some noise in Class C. If not for Reid du Toit’s eight goals, the Bobcats might have been on the short end. The Cipriano bros., Christian (1G, 3A) and Eric (1G, 2A) and Ryan Pero (1G, 2A) converted just enough to escape with the win. The Bobcats (4-4, 5-4) also suffered a 12-3 loss to John Jay CR, showing how much improvement is needed to challenge for the Class C crown, which still clearly boil down to the Wolves and Rye; unless Tappan Zee (7-1), which upended Fox Lane, 4-3, is somehow legit.

CLASS A

CARMEL has passed nearly every test before it this season but time will tell if the Rams (6-1, 7-1) have what it takes to challenge two-time defending champion Scarsdale and state-ranked (No.9) Mamaroneck. A 14-5 win over Haldane was certainly a step in the right direction and the possibility of the Rams’ first win ever over Mahopac looms on May 10 before a rugged stretch drive against Yorktown, John Jay CR and Greenwich. If the Rams, currently the No.2 seed, can win one of those three final contests or at least challenge to the end, that would be a major signal they mean business come May.

WHITE PLAINS ended a two-game skid with a 5-3 win over Clarkstown North. Alex Spista (2G, 1A), Christian Biondi (1G, 1A), Brendan Kavanagh (15 saves) and Tyler Tan (10 of 12 on faceoffs) led the Tigers (6-4), the current No.6 seed.

Examiner-area boys’ lacrosse coaches are encouraged to email results, stats and comments to raygallaghersports@gmail.com or tag @Directrays on X for inclusion in our weekly boys’ lax notebook.

 

DAVID TABER/TONY HUMBERTO PHOTOS