Boys Lax Notebook: Emergent Young Players Taking Lax Green by Storm
Yorktown Chalks up Two W’s; L/P Trips up Jay on Late Cortese Tally
Young studs were emerging on Day 1 & 2 along the Section 1 lax circuit, but none seemed more likely to open the eyes of the coaching tribunal than Yorktown sophomore LSM Jose Boyer, a stout 5’10” 180-pounder, who can essentially do it all. We’re not blowing this kid up as the second coming of the Gait brothers; Lord knows there’s work to be done, but we are telling you to game-plan accordingly. The eye test tells you more than most things do, and this kid really popped. He is super quick and strong off the draw, using his pole deftly to win face-offs and GBs and has a nose for the goal, scoring his first varsity goal in a 18-6 win over host Brewster last Thursday in the dense fog.
Yorktown’s attack, an admitted point of concern heading into the season, was crisp with senior Logan Peters (2G, 5A) and sophs Kyle Casey (5G) and Justin Cavallo (3G, 1A), bagging goals left and right with senior M Ryan Baker (4G) doing likewise. That’s 14 goals without even mentioning All-American hopefuls Mike Dedvukaj and Nick Del Bene.
Yeah, reigning NYS Class B champion Yorktown will not miss a beat this season, particularly with a defense that looked especially stingy leading the way. M Joe Guida had four goals for the Bears (1-1), who tuned up North Salem, 11-1, last Saturday behind a five-goal effort from Ryan Honey. Guida bagged a hat trick, giving him seven goals on the season, while his brother Jack hit for two.
Peters and Del Bene each had a hat trick plus an assist in the Huskers’ 15-8 win over John Jay (CR) last Saturday, with Cavallo (1A), Baker (1A), Dedvukaj (1A) and Casey (2A) each scoring a pair. Peters and Nick Delbene each had an assist for Yorktown (2-0), which won its 44th straight game against Section 1 opponents. With 15 saves in two games, G Liam Donnelly has made a seamless transition between the pipes. Jay led at the half, 4-2, but the Huskers went back to being the Huskers after the break.
“We’ve just have been starting games off slow,” Devukaj said. “And I think what took us so long was everyone was playing a little selfish, even myself, and once we talked about it at half we went back to playing our brand of ball. We should have played the whole game like we played that third quarter.”
Another youngin’ to open eyes was LAKELAND/PANAS junior Joe Cortese, who dropped five goals and two assists for the reigning Section 1 Class A champion Rebels in their 12-11 win over visiting John Jay (CR) last Thursday. Cortese, who saw minimal time late last season but showed flashes of excellence, has a blink-quick first step, so leave some cushion if you plan to pole this kid with sort of effectiveness. He will draw more slides than most of the Rebels, so game-plan accordingly.
“We had a lot seniors graduate and only one senior middie left on the offense, so we have to control the offense now,” Cortese said.
L/P rookies Tim Fallo (3G), Sean Makar (2G) and G Kevin Dyckman (12 saves) each had their moments, and the unit should rise to higher levels as the season progresses. Junior Kevin Prunty saw a lot of time last season as a soph and he suspects the Rebels are poised to defend their Class A title with the dignity befitting a champion.
“It felt good to get out there and beat John Jay due to the fact most people didn’t even think it’d be close,” Prunty said. Joe, Nick (Vazquez) and I all know what’s on our backs as leaders and scorers and we’re ready to step up and embrace it. We just want to play our best lacrosse in May and compete for a Section title like every other year regardless of how many kids graduated.”
PUTNAM VALLEY (1-0), which is almost in full reload mode, saw two juniors, Kevin Gallagher (2G, GWA) and Conner Cronin (2G), each establish themselves in their first real varsity burn during the Tigers’ 7-6 win over Wappingers and former PV Coach Brian Kuczma. Senior A Kyle Bronzo added a goal and two helpers while senior G Ryan Mello went coast-to-coast for a tally and added 13 saves. If the Tigers are going to do any damage on the Class C playoff circuit, emergent rookies like Gallagher and Cronin and senior M Jake O’Connell (injured last year) will need to continue to hone their skill sets in an effort to get ready for the Pleasantvilles and Bronxvilles, who they will see during the regular season.
HEN HUD (1-0) scored an impressive 17-4 win over Horace Greeley, in which junior M Nick Marra (4G), junior stud M Mike Smith (4G) and senior A Ryan Tandy (2G/3A) led the Sailors but it was quick-draw McGraw – junior M Jared Hershman — who went 20-for-22 in in the draw box. That’s a lot of juniors doing major damage, so, as evidenced by the demo job the Sailors did on the Quakers, it’s safe to wonder if Coach Solly has himself a team that just might be Class B Final 4 worthy, if not this year, then next.
In CLASS A, MAHOPAC (0-1) was sent an early message in the form of an 8-6 loss to up-and-coming host Arlington, whom we warned you about in our preview. The Admirals fancy themselves legit Class A contenders this season, but the Indians were missing a couple of key pieces in this early-season tilt. If the Indians plan on contending in Class A this season, they better figure out a way to lock off the opposition’s top sniper, which they failed to do when Arlington’s Kevin Litchauer scored six times.
“They were solid,” Mahopac Coach Mike Haddeland said of the Admirals. “We had so many first-game mistakes and we were without Donahoe, Ward and Buckley, leaving us with five O-mids. They should all be back for Tuesday.”
Junior M Dan Foley had two goals for Mahopac, which led 6-5 with 10 to play. Senior DJ Pearl notched a goal and two assists for the Indians while Shane McDonald had a goal and assist.
NWE/Putnam Fab Five Lax Poll
No.1 YORKTOWN – If this young attack unit can improve during the course of the season, Coach Dave Marr’s Huskers will be unstoppable in Section 1.
No.2 LAKELAND/PANAS – Curious to see Coach Lindsay’s club in person, but I think I’m higher on the Rebels than most people are. Juniors need to come of age in a hurry, though, and I don’t know of anyone I’m pulling for more than Joe Cortese, who’s had a pretty rough winter and all.
No.3 MAHOPAC – Coach Haddeland’s Indians are very athletic and we suspect they will get better when they are fully healthy. Playing without Christian Donahoe in 8-6 loss to Arlington, the Indians showed they desperately need him.
No.4 HEN HUD – Junior Mike Smith is a scoring machine, game-plan accordingly as he will set all the scoring marks at Hen Hud before he’s done.
No.4A SOMERS – Loss of Tyler DeVito (torn ACL) is a massive blow to Coach DeGregorio’s Tuskers.
HM PUT VALLEY – Not saying this because he’s my nephew, but there is some pressure on Kevin Gallagher to emerge as a weapon to take some heat off the Bronzo boy as Coach Ignatz goes through the feeling-out process with so many newbies on the field.
ON THE HORIZON:
Mahopac hosts Yorktown today, so we’ll see if the Indians can indeed run with the section’s top dogs… Somers hosts Brewster today and we’ll see how the Tuskers cope without DeVito, and they’ll see Rye Thursday and Yorktown Saturday; saddle up Tuskers, it’s a monster week… Carmel and Haldane square off Wednesday in a battle of Putnam County’s second-tier teams… Put Valley will host Pleasantville in a rematch of last year’s semifinals, won by the Panthers. Is PV ready to stake its claim in Class C as the team Bronxville will need to beat in the end?… Lakeland/Panas visits Suffern Saturday in a big Class A game to determine early jockeying.
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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