Field Hockey Notebook: The Victor Salad: Lakeland Dynasty Rolls to 4th-Straight Title: Three-Time NYS Champion Hornets Eyeing a Four-Peat at SUNY Cortland
A dynasty is born from collective, long-term will; the kind of resolve that festers year after year. On the Section 1 field hockey circuit, nobody pledges dominance quite like Lakeland High. Champions pay a great price and Coach Sharon Sarsen’s Hornets (18-1) are more than willing to buck up on an annual basis, which has yielded an unprecedented 13 sectional championships in Sarsen’s 31 years, seven since 2003.
“When you play year round and you work as hard as these kids do, good things continue to happen for us,” Sarsen said.
Five different players scored goals and three-time reigning NYS champion Lakeland High won its fourth consecutive Section 1 Class B title, whipping Rye, 5-0, last Thursday at Mamaroneck High. Lakeland followed that up with a 4-0 win over Rondout Valley in the opening round of the state tournament on Saturday, advancing to Monday’s Region 1 championship where the Hornets crushed Burnt Hills, 7-1. Lakeland will now face Section 3’s Maine-Endwell Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Cicero-North Syracuse in the NYS semifinals. Dana Bozek and Gianna Bensaia each scored a pair in the regional crisping of Burnt Hills.
Against Rye, game MVP Rebecca Bard, co-captain Gianna Bensaia, Steph Scala, Abby Murdock and Dana Bozek each banged the boards. Four of Lakeland’s five goals came on penalty corners. Seniors Kristen Conroy and Gab Celentano served as playmaker extraordinaire, each setting up a pair of goals. According to legendary Coach Sharon Sarsen, it was simply this group of seniors’ turn to step up and uphold Lakeland tradition.
“It’s all hard work and thanks to Coach Sars,” said four-time champion Bensaia, who along with Conroy and Bard has been on varsity since their freshman year; making them what is believed to be the first four-time champions in Lakeland history, in any team sport. “She is what keeps us going.
“We have concluded that we are a salad,” Bensaia added. “Everybody brings something to the salad to contribute to our success. We have a young starter program, the opportunity to play year round, the ability to bring young players up to compete at higher levels, a supportive community and dedicated coaches. With all these ingredients, we have created a dynasty that people want to be a part of and they know what is expected of them if they want to play for the Lakeland salad. Sars is the dressing that holds us all together.”
Bard, a four-year senior, was sensational at both ends of the field. “Rebecca marked Rye’s top forward and was dominant from the get go,” Sarsen said. “Our defense limited Rye to four corners and we earned our 13th shutout of the season.”
Elizabeth Bell, Sarah Fazio, Felicia Costanzo, Ellie Dineen-Carey, Marissa DiSisto, Kimberly Monteferante, Sarah and Rebecca Bard have stood tall before goalie Mairead Hourihan and backup Alex Halpin.
Against Rondout Vallley, sophomore Molly Fitzpatrick scored twice while Celentano scored once and set up another.
Celentano earned game MVP honors. “Her speed on the forward line created opportunities and changed the game in the middle of the first half,” Sarsen said.
Murdock added another for the Hornets, who had not allowed a goal in five games, outscoring their opponents 30-0 in that span (116-9 for the year).
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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