Class A Boys Lax Notebook
No.1 Lakeland/Panas Repeats, Wins 3rd title in 4 Years
Like His Brother Did in 2010, Fallo Clutch in Class A Title Tilt vs. Wappingers
If it weren’t for third-year Lakeland/Panas G Kevin Dyckman, there’s no telling what the outcome might have been. Sure, the top-seeded Rebels (16-3) prevailed and advanced to the NYS Class A tournament via a 6-4 win over No.4 Wappingers (15-4) in the finals of the Section 1 tournament behind four goals from senior Offensive MVP Tim Fallo.
But it was Dyckman, the Defensive MVP, who likely determined the outcome of the game by making four pivotal first-quarter saves before the Rebels ever got a shot on goal in a whirlwind session that signaled the upstart Warriors were here from start to finish in their initial title venture.
“(Wappingers) Coach (Brian) Kuczma is probably the best coach in the league and we knew, based on our first game and the level of improvement, that we were in for a game from start to finish, but, yeah, Kevin kept us in the game until we got settled in,” said Lakeland/Panas Coach Jim Lindsay, upon winning the Rebels second-straight title, third in four seasons and fourth since 2010. “Kevin kind of let us get into the flow of the game a little bit. He’s been doing that for three years for me, so that’s the luxury of having a senior goalie with his ability. He let us stem that run they had. We were able to settle in and play pretty good defense in front of him after that. But without a doubt, Kevin bailed us out early on.”
Once the Rebels settled in, Fallo took over and had a championship impact similar to his brother, Will, who cranked the game-winning overtime tally in the Rebels’ 8-7 upset of Yorktown in 2010.
“The Fallo boys are gamers,” Lindsay said. “They’re around sports all the time, the sons of a coach, three-year starter for me like his brother, so it’s not the first time he’s seen this kind of pressure, so it’s a luxury to have these seniors who have been here before. There’s been a lot of pressure on these guys, and we responded in the sectionals. I’m really proud of this group because today we didn’t really have it on the offensive end of the field, and we had to find another way to win and we did. We didn’t do that in our losses to John Jay, Rye and Yorktown, but when it mattered most we did. It’s the culmination of a lot of people doing a lot of hard work, including the youth guys, to develop the program. We’ve drawn the interest and gotten the kids back into the program, but it’s these kids: They’ve worked their butts off and do everything I ask them to do. It’s very rewarding.”
State-ranked (No.15) Lakeland/Panas (16-3), which got two assists from LSM Griffin Shiland and one goal apiece from JoJo Janavey and Matt Hodges, advanced to the regional semifinals where they will face Section 9’s Monroe-Woodbury on Wednesday, May 31, at Middletown High School (4:00 p.m.).
The offense, which was afforded multiple possessions on account of stellar faceoff play from sophomore middie TJ Bryant, will need to up the ante, but Fallo provided enough to get past an upstart Wappingers club that could be here to stay under Kuczma, who guided Putnam Valley to three sectional titles in its heyday.
“They had some athletes, some physical defensive players who made it hard to turn and go at the goal, but we found a way to get by them,” Fallo said. “We made some good decisions and finished. The lead was huge because we knew they were playing with a lot of confidence. Kevin was great, couple of those saves in close were huge and kept us in the game.
“This is awesome,” Fallo said when asked to compare his four goals with his brother’s clutch tally. “I saw him get that huge goal in a sectional championship win over Yorktown, so that was goal ever since, so to end up this way is just amazing. Coach has told us time and time again that we want to be at the top every year, and having repeated as champions is a good start to that. This is our first step for bigger and better things ahead.”
If Dyckman (11 saves) can play like he did, and the Rebels can get their offense into the rhythm it was in against Mamaroneck and Mahopac, Lakeland/Panas should find its way to Mohonasen High School to face the Section 2 champion – possibly state-ranked (No.8) Shaker or No.21 Shen’ — on June 3rd (10:00 a.m.) for the right to square off with the Long Island champion on June 7th at SUNY Albany (4:00 p.m.).
“The defense played well in front of me, they did their job,” a humble Dyckman said. “They let me get a look at the shots to make the saves, and I just try to do my best to make the saves that I can to keep our team in the game. We knew they were going to come out and play hard, so we knew it was going to be a tough game going in. This is just an amazing feeling to come out here and repeat. It’s the best feeling I can ever get. Coming from where we were my sophomore year when we struggled really bad, and to be here now is amazing. But we’re not done yet and that’s the focus now, the next round.”
Having repeated as section champs and having locked up three of the last four, a resurgent bunch of Rebels are poised to get back to the NYS semis.
“Last year’s title belonged more to the seniors, so it was their title, but to get back here and do it as a senior is huge,” L/P attackman Sean Makar said. “It’s been the goal since November, so to win back-to-back, there’s no better feeling than that. Wappingers gave us a game and Kevin kept us in, and we’re moving on.”
Only once time in history has four-time sectional champion Lakeland or nine-time sectional champion Lakeland/Panas, advanced past the Long Island champs to reach the NYS finals, circa 1991, the Ric Beardsley era… the standard-setting, golden epoch of Section 1 lax.
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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