Briarcliff No.1 Seed in Class B; Ossining, Somers No.3 in AAA, AA

Pitches Will be Poppin’, Playoff Fever Grips Section 1 Circuit

By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays

And in the blink of an eye, the Section 1 regular season is in our rear view mirrors and the pedal will be pushed to the medal this week as the playoffs unfold in what should be a wild run for the roses. A slew of Examiner-area teams enter the postseason with legitimate cracks at reaching their respective tournament finals, which could put them in line to represent in the NYSPHSAA tournament on Nov.1.

As of press time Monday morning (bear that in mind), the projections showed Class AAA OSSINING holding near and dear to the No.3 seed with No.1 Arlington and No.2 North Rockland entering as the favorites. Struggling WHITE PLAINS (1-4-1 in the last six) was hoping for a miracle with a 5-8-3 record as the No.11 seed.

In Class AA, top-seeded Scarsdale and No.2 Eastchester have the upper hand on No.3 SOMERS, which has a pair of one-goal setbacks at the hands of the Raiders and Eagles, but has the upper hands in terms of playoff experience, which should be beneficial for the Tuskers as the road to the finals will likely run through both. The Tuskers will likely open with No.14 Saunders and should see upset-minded No.6 CARMEL or No.11 GREELEY in the quarters. No.15 MAHOPAC will get first crack at NO.2 Eastchester while No.8 YORKTOWN – the reigning Class A champion – will host No.9 FOX LANE in Friday’s opening round in Class AAA, AA, A and B when upstart No.6 CARMEL was projected to host No.11 HORACE GREELEY in what should be a whale of a scrum.

Class A features top-seeded Tappan Zee and everybody else. Stranger things have happened but the undefeated, state-ranked (No.1) Dutchies are the cream of the crop with second-seeded Rye and No.3 Pearl River on the same side of the bracket as No.6 LAKELAND, which might be an easier road to hoe than fifth-seeded WALTER PANAS and No.4 BYRAM HILLS, who are on the TZ side of the bracket and are in line for an Examiner-area quarterfinal hookup if both take care of business in the opening round, with a semifinal match with TZ looming #Yikes.

“I’m thinking about Yorktown and then my first round matchup,” Byram Hills Coach Matt Allen said Sunday morning before the Bobcats trimmed Yorktown, 2-1. “Can’t touch the money, but I think Panas is the third best team in Class A behind Rye and TZ.”

In Class B, state-ranked (No.1) and top-seeded BRIARCLIFF has what some are calling a clear path to the semifinals, though, we play these games for a reason. Nobody should sleep on No.4 Irvington, which looks like the Bears’ true threat to the finals, considering last week’s scoreless tie between the two powers that be. Waiting in the wings is No.13 VALHALLA, which hopes to pick off Irvington but limps in with losses in five of the last seven. No.12 PLEASANTVILLE rounds out that side of the bracket but isn’t quite the threat the Panthers had hoped to be.

On the other side of the bracket, No.3 CROTON has had a terrific season and a nice path to the semis if they can oust the No.6 Bronxville/No.11 Hastings winner. No.15 PUTNAM VALLEY gets to open on the road with a disciplined No.2 Keio, which is not an easy place to play.  No.7 WESTLAKE has bracket-busting potential, having lost to the Bears twice, but only by a combined three goals, and the Wildcats could also visit Keio in the quarters should they oust No.10 Dobbs Ferry.

In Class C, reigning NYS champion HALDANE is seeded second to No.1 Leffell but has faced a much tougher schedule, which could enable the Blue Devils to reign supreme and represent in the state tourney. The Blue Devils will host No.3 North Salem, which won’t be easy given the recent history. Haldane’s two wins over the Tigers have come by just three goals in a pair of shutouts.

NOTES: BYRAM HILLS is flying below the radar. Ranked No.20 in NYS Class A, Coach Matt Allen’s Bobcats (10-2-4) have struggled to tickle twine, averaging just 2.1 GPG, but the defense has been stout (.5 GPG). The Bobcats gave state-ranked (No.11) SOMERS fits in a scoreless tie and a 1-0 setback last week, and we suspect yet another nip-and-tuck affair with PANAS should they square off in the playoffs as colliding seeds. Byram closed out the regular season Sunday in w 2-1 win over visiting Yorktown, who failed to contain Bobcat sniper Chris Amenedo (2G).

The last team anyone wants to see in Class A is Panas after the Panthers (10-5-1) won the League II-C title for the first championship of any kind in Panther soccer history after Saturday’s 2-1 sweep of Lakeland, which squandered a 1-0 halftime lead when Panthers Ronak Das and Koky Duarte scored unanswered in the second half. Can’t recall the last time a Panas team was this talented #MaybeNever. They are #CuckooForKokyPuffs over there.

“The boys have done something no other Panas boys soccer team has ever done before. It’s the first in school history,” Panas boss Peter Pryschlak said. “We are extremely proud of how hard the boys worked for this.They bought in and are playing for their school. We have developed our own brand of soccer. We share the ball and play as a family. We hope to carry this energy into the postseason.”

The Panas résumé reads as follows: despite losses they were tied with TZ at half, tied with Somers at half, and beat Lakeland twice, well deserved to be among top five seeds.

League II-D champion Somers (13-2-1, 7-0-1) Coach Brian Lanzetta took the chains off senior striker Nate Cohen last week as he unleashed three goals in a 4-2 win over Yorktown and set up Manny Perez for the winning goal against Byram. The Cohen kid provides an element of speed, size and strength that few defenders can match. Brady Leitner (1G, 1A) and Lucas Arbelaez (2A) were big as always for the Tuskers in the win over Yorktown.

YORKTOWN had won four of its last five against lesser competition, but if Nick Varela’s Huskers (7-9) can match the intensity they bring against Somers they can give both Fox Lane and Scarsdale a solid challenge should they hook up in the post.

LAKELAND looked to have turned a corner after its 5-0 rout of Peekskill, but the Hornets (9-5-2) could not carry that momentum later into the week. All-Section M Connor Daley (2G, 1A), Silvio Ahmataj (2G), and Jake Pepaj all found the back of the net.

OSSINING has one-goal losses to Class AAA state-ranked (No.3) Arlington and Class AA (No.1) Scarsdale, which clearly puts the Pride (12-4, 10-1) in any game against any team in the state, though the 3-2 loss to Port Chester is not the way Ossining wanted to enter the AAA sectional tournament this week. That said, the League I-C champion Pride had a 10-game win streak prior to the loss and have faced as tough a schedule as any team they will see in the playoffs and the community often backs its boys and travels when need be.

PEEKSKILL took a 1-0 decision from Sleepy Hollow when Umaru Conteh scored for the Red Devils (9-7) from Randy Tapia and a clean sheet from G Joe Guanuche (7 saves).

FOX LANE improved to 8-7-1 after a 2-0 shutout of John Jay CR behind goals from Gavin Morales and Fredy Contreras, plus the cleanest of sheets from G Eli Daglio (8 saves). The Foxes also nipped GREELEY, 1-0, when Oliver Ruiz scored from Jacob Miller and Daglio (10 saves) posted a second shutout in as many games. The Foxes also tied WHITE PLAINS, 1-1, as both Fox Jacob Miller and Tiger Eric Garcia scored.

Jack Muns bagged a hat trick in the Quakers’ 6-0 win over Lincoln. Ashank Majumdar added a pair.

BRIARCLIFF, ranked No.1 in NYS, was locked in a defensive struggle that saw both the defending sectional champion Bears and Irvington generate chances, which neither were able to convert. Briarcliff G Toby Young chalked up 10 saves for the shutout.

“For us, we always go one game at a time and never try to get ahead of ourselves,” said All-NYS D Miles Prosperino. “We play every game with the idea that it is win or go home. As we push into the final week of the regular season and into playoffs, our main goal will be to fight for each other each game throughout playoffs.”

The Bears had been warned about Irvington, had they read this space.

“Irvington came in with a game plan and executed it well,” Prosperino said. “They have a talented team. The best part about it is we have a week of practice to work on the little things that will prepare us well for the playoffs. Graduating only five seniors last year brings us a lot of experience as we head into sectionals. We know what it takes to win each playoff game and the section as well. We are excited for this next part of the season.”

In WESTLAKE’s 5-1 win over Nanuet, the Lyden brothers remained lit for the Wildcats (9-6-1). Thomas Lyden (2G) and Collin Lyden (1G, 2A) paced the attack, followed by Cian Kelly (1G), Elliot Albaum (1G) and Christian Farina (2A). Westlake also posted a 1-0 OT win over Blind Brook off a goal from Joseph Vulcano from Thomas Lyden. Keeper Jozsef Varadi (5 saves) was clean all day.

CROTON turned back PLEASANTVILLE, 3-2, behind a pair from Marcos Goni and another from Louie North (1G, 1A) as the Tigers moved to 10-3-1, among the finest seasons in school history. Croton also struck a 3-0 win over PUTNAM VALLEY behind three different scorers; Liam Stapleton, Gavin Cunningham and Goni, who also bagged an unheard of five goals in a 5-0 romp of North Salem #GottaBeASchoolRecord. Goni had yet another mega-day (4G, 1A) in Croton’s  9-1 win over Put Valley. Opponents will game plan accordingly, so someone will need to step up behind Goni.

The Panthers (5-8-2) did post a 2-0 win over VALHALLA when Oliver Giebelhaus and Sean McInerney each went for goals.

HALDANE recovered from its loss to Panas with a 2-1 OT win over Blind Brook behind a game-winning OT snipe from Clem Grossman and another from Brandt Robbins. That said, the Blue Devils (9-6) did suffer a concerning 1-0 loss to North Salem.

“We’re gonna get ready and do as much as we can to try to make the community proud again,” Haldane Coach Ahmed Dwidar said.