Boys Lax Notebook
All Yorktown From Start to Finish in 12-3 Murphy Cup Win
Class A Lakeland/Panas Underwhelming in Loss to Class B Heavy; Somers Strong in Win vs. Foxes
Yorktown High came out zooming in the 28th annual Murphy Cup game against visiting Lakeland/Panas last Saturday, and the state-ranked (No.3) Huskers (8-3) didn’t take the pedal off the medal until building a nine-goal cushion in a 12-3 win over the shell-shocked Rebels (11-2) at Charlie Murphy Field.
In a game that probably could have been worse than the final score would indicate, Yorktown senior captain Kyle Casey delivered time and time again, scoring three goals and setting up three more; doing so with the initials C.M. eye-blacked into his face and Yorktown’s robust tradition on his mind.
“We all wish we could have met him,” Casey said of Charlie Murphy, the beloved Godfather of Yorktown lacrosse, the man partly responsible for helping to build a nationally-respected empire before passing away in 2005. “The only reason we play lacrosse in this town is because of Charlie Murphy, and we want to make sure the cup comes home every year. It means so much to us. It’s the biggest game of our regular season every year. Coaches talk about it every day. Every year we get the Charlie Murphy speeches to remind us.
“We were not going to give them a shot today,” Casey added after scoring his 43rd points of the season. “It’s my senior year and the seniors reminded each other that we’d never play in another Murphy Cup game, so we just wanted to go out with a bang. I was lucky and fortunate to play the way I did today.”
The first quarter set the tone and it was never a game from that point on, as state-ranked (No.13) Class A Lakeland/Panas never got any traction against the 2016 NYS Class B runner-up Huskers, who went 25-3 in Murphy Cup games and have won the last seven in a row.
Yorktown M Hunter Embury was prepared from the get-go. His spinning left-hand crank in the opening minute gave the Huskers a 1-0 lead. Casey followed high at far post of Rebel keeper Kevin Dykman (6 saves) and crafty Jamison Embury (2G, 3A) went low, providing the Huskers a 3-0 lead, giving him 44 points to lead all Huskers.
Three minutes in, the Rebels were calling for a timeout.
“We’ weren’t prepared and that’s on me,” Lakeland/Panas boss Jim Lindsay said.
Hunter Embury scored his second of three goals (24 for the year) when he dodged man-up for a 4-0 lead. Casey then dished twice, finding Shane Dahlke (3G) and Hunter Embury for a 6-0 lead after the game’s first quarter expired.
“That was key,” Yorktown Coach Sean Carney said of the start. “That’s key to any game, but in a rivalry game with everything on the line, that’s vital. We wanted to come out flying. The kids are typically motivated for the Murphy Cup, so to win the ground balls, that really set a tone.”
Hunter Embury, Anthony Altimari and Brendan Williams controlled the X, winning 63% of the draws.
“It starts out with our face-off guys,” Notre Dame-bound All-American senior Jose Boyer said. “I don’t think they lose one of the first six face-offs. They did awesome. Our offense did a great job of controlling the ball and canning their shots and face-off guys on the wing were awesome. Obvisouly, we’re not the same defense without Brett (Makar, injured and out for the game). He’s an amazing player, but Connor (Koelsch), Brandon (Meyreles) and C.P., Chris Perrino, all stepped up today, and Louis (Ragusa, 8 saves) made all the stops today.
“The main goal is in sight, but we’ve got a lot of big games to play,” said Boyer, who should be a shoe-in for a second All-American nod later this month. “We hadn’t played in a while and we did a great job against a great team today. Winning the Murph Cup is one of the most prestigious things you can do here at Yorktown. Every time we win it, it’s awesome. Nothing can top that.”
Well, maybe Yorktown’s 40th Section 1 championship overall or its eighth NYS title in AD Fio Nardone’s final go could do so…
SOMERS continued to creep below the Class B radar, doing so with an impressive 14-7 win over Class A Fox Lane. Somers got five goals and an assist from Vince Cartelli and three goals and three assists from Graham Roediger as the Tuskers improved to 8-6…
CARMEL (7-5), which was blown out by Croton, HEN HUD (4-8), which scored once in a 3-1 loss to Lourdes (yes, Lourdes), PUT VALLEY (6-7) and BREWSTER (3-10) have all been underwhelming this season. It would take quite a bit for any one of them to advance to the second round of the playoffs this season; though that’s the goal. I would say Put Valley and Hen Hud need to find a way in Class C, or this will be a tough year to look back upon…
There have been some down years in the Northern Westchester/Putnam region before, but it’s tough to spot the contenders from the pretenders this season (Putnam County is way down) because the contenders seem few and far between, though we hope like heck we’re wrong. Still, there’s a clear path to a Class A championship for Lakeland/Panas, if they can put the Yorktown debacle behind them, and another for Yorktown in Class B, though John Jay CR, and my man, Indian Coach Tim Schurr, and his Indians are worthier than many observers believe…
Scoring Leaders: Ossining’s Liam Connor has 57 points for the 1-13 Pride; Sean Makar has 63 for the Rebels; Luke Colon has 43 for Croton; Connor Gallagher has 42 for Hen Hud; Fallo has 41 for Rebels, including one in Murphy Cup loss; Mike Nolan leads Put Valley with 32
NWE/Putnam Examiner Fab Five
(Includes only teams in N.West/Putnam area)
No.1 YORKTOWN – The Huskers have put some serious distance between themselves and the four teams beneath them in this poll.
No.2 LAKELAND/PANAS – Stunning to see L/P crush Somers, 17-5, and then get absolutely waxed by Yorktown. Stars have to play like stars if Rebels are going to win third title in four years, otherwise we’ll just hand Class A crown back to Mamaroneck.
No.3 SOMERS – Even more stunning to see what the Rebels did to the Tuskers. How can we continue to tout the Tuskers as legit Class B challengers after that effort? Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?
No.4 MAHOPAC – Wasn’t expecting the see the letter L up alongside recent losses to Scarsdale (4-3) and Fox Lane (7-6). I was told by some Indians not to sleep on Mahopac, but I’m getting a tad bit weary with the Indians having now lost to every upper echelon team in Class A (L/P, Mamo, Foxes and Muffy/Buffy), if there’s even such a thing as upper ech’ in Class A this season.
No.5 HEN HUD – Even the most ardent supporter of Sailors (4-8) sports had to be shocked by the sub-par 3-1 loss to Lourdes; seriously?
Ray has 33 years experience covering and photographing local sports in Westchester and Putnam counties, including everything from Little League/Travel Baseball to varsity high school prep sports and collegiate coverage. He has been a sports editor at Examiner Media since its inception in 2007.
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