Greeley in a Groove; Yorktown Topples L/P; White Plains Rolling

By Tony Pinciaro

The schedule-makers were not kind to HORACE GREELEY to start the season.

Not only did the 2023 Section 1 Class B finalist Quakers open a week later than their first two opponents, they had to face two 2023 Section 1 champions in Yorktown (Class B), ranked No.10 in NYS, and Bronxville, ranked No.8 in Class D.

“We had a late start to our season, and these two teams already had 2 or 3 games under their belts,” said senior and co-captain Bae Bounds. “It took a couple of games for us to adjust to the new team, players, plays, and team dynamics. However, these were two great teams who showed us what we needed to work on, so despite the losses they came as learning experiences for us.”

The Quakers quickly reversed their fortunes, reeling off a five-game winning streak. This was highlighted by wins over perennial Connecticut power, Greenwich, and archrival Fox Lane, last week.

Horace Greeley rallied from a 5-1 deficit against Greenwich as Bounds would score the winner, on a feed from Rowan Edson, with five seconds remaining in the game.

Edson had a team-leading four goals, including the 100th of her varsity career. Taylor Rice added two goals and goalie Tatum Walsh was huge with 14 saves.

“After a few wins our team really began to show our strengths and shine after our win against Greenwich,” said Rice, also a senior and co-captain. “Our energy throughout the whole team was unmatched. The key to the win over Greenwich was our communication and continuing momentum throughout the whole game. As a team we never quit even after being down 5-1.”

Bounds and her teammates did not have a chance to savor the victory the following day because they played their archrival.

Bounds, despite battling the flu, netted a game-high seven goals against the Foxes. Sami Rose scored four goals, Edson added a hat trick and two assists and Grace Richards and Rice each had a hat trick.

“In Greenwich we had such an exciting environment and energy,” said Bounds, who will attend Brown University in September and also play lacrosse. “We were visiting a team we knew were good and had great players, so it was a great opportunity to prove ourselves. We’re often the underdogs in big matchups, so being able to get this win on an out of state away game was huge for us.

“As for Fox Lane, we were coming off three games back-to-back-to-back. Inevitably, people were tired and sore, I even had the flu that day and almost didn’t play. I can’t say exactly what was clicking that day, but we came together as a team to pull out that win.”

The Quakers open the second half of their season hosting Mahopa, Thursday, then travel to Byram Hills, Saturday.

Even though undefeated Nyack halted the Quakers’ five-game winning streak to conclude the week, Rice and her teammates were right back at practice working diligently.

“The team is confident going into our second half of the season even after the tough loss to Nyack,” said Rice, who will attend the University of Colorado in September and also play club lacrosse. “We have learned something from every game and we will take that learning game-by-game going forward. We have a strong team and know it is not how we started the season it is where we end.”

WHITE PLAINS had a busy, but successful week, winning three of four, highlighted by a last-minute victory over Byram Hills.

Caitlyn Hyatt had two goals and Kleoniki Snyder added a goal and an assist in the loss to Horace Greeley.

White Plains scored nine goals in the first half en route to a 14-4 triumph of Nanuet.

Chloe Ryan scored a season-high six goals while Snyder chipped in with two goals and an assist. McKenna Austin finished with a goal and two assists and Brooke Thomas scored her first varsity goal and point.

The defense had the spotlight, holding Ossining to one goal in a 13-1 win.

Ryan led the Tigers with a hat trick and Kelly Constantino added two goals and three assists.

Snyder scored twice and set up a goal and the duo of Micalyn Kelly and Quinn Stirling each scored their first varsity goal.

Snyder capped the week for the Tigers in thrilling fashion, scoring the decisive goal with eight seconds remaining for a 10-9 win over Byram Hills.

White Plains’ coach Kasey Rubenstein credited her defense, specifically Vogue Friend, with its play against Byram Hills’ leading scorer Anastasia Byrnes, who had 12 goals in her previous two games.

“Our game plan was to shut her off as much as we could,” Rubenstein said. “Vogue, who is a midfielder, was designated to face guard her off the draw if we didn’t win the ball. Vogue did a great job because Byrnes is fast and is physically very strong.

“But, I was impressed with my defense’s ability to switch quickly off picks that were set for Byrnes and then shut her off. (So we had multiple people face-guarding her throughout the game.) She is a lefty so our defense did a nice job of forcing her to her weak side, as well. But, Byrnes is a great player and despite all that we did, she still got three on us.”

WESTLAKE continued its excellent play with victories – Croton (10-7), Putnam Valley and Sleepy Hollow (15-4).

The Wildcats are 5-2 as they embark on the second half of their season.

“We had a good week,” Westlake coach Dan Smith said. “We played well and came together when it mattered most.

“Our defense and goalie play have been so consistent and connected. Our attack and draw circle have also been big parts to our success.”

Shaina Picucci led the Wildcats with four goals against Croton and Lia Prosperino added a hat trick/ Maeve Walsh and Picucci each had two straw-controls.

Mia LaVecchia contributed two goals and Hailey McCloskey and Bridget Doherty had one goal apiece. Maura Spruck preserved the win with seven saves.

Walsh registered a season-best six goals against Sleepy Hollow and Picucci scored three times.

Prosperino and McCloskey each scored twice, LaVecchia finished with one goal and one assist and Isabella Schliman recorded six draw controls.

BYRAM HILLS won two of three for the week. The Bobcats opened with a 10-8 win over New Rochelle and followed it up with a 13-7 triumph of Edgemont. However, White Plains ruined the Bobcats’ perfect week with a 10-9 victory.

Anastasia Byrnes and Keira Eckhardt accounted for five goals apiece against New Rochelle. Byrnes added four assists and Eckhardt collected three assists. Ava Gitler added two assists and Kendall Sorenson made nine saves.

Byrnes was on fire against Edgemont with a season-high seven goals and she also assisted on three. Lila Vincequerra, Jordyn Wolf and Eckhardt all netted two goals. Eckhardt also added two helpers.

White Plains did a good job on Byrnes, holding her to a hat trick. Gitler and Wolf each scored twice and defender Sydney Hecht had a goal. Sorenson was excellent in goal with 17 saves.

“It was a great game,” said Byram Hills’ coach Kristin Sheely of White Plains. “We lost in the last 30 seconds. The girls played so well and even though we lost, they were happy with how they played.

“Both wins were great and definitely helped with the girls’ confidence. The first part of our season was super tough so to get a few wins under our belt has been great.”

YORKTOWN bested Lakeland/Panas, 16-7, in its lone game of the week behind a game-high five goals from Ava Cunneen, who also had four draw controls.

Sofia Boucher added a season-high four goals and Annie Cunneen and Ava Ryan scored two goals apiece. Cunneen had a team-leading seven draw controls and Lily Diz rang up six draw controls.

Yorktown has a tough week playing rival Somers, Thursday, and at Shaker (Section 2), Saturday.

FOX LANE sandwiched wins over Harrison (15-14) and Brewster (14-3) around a loss to rival Horace Greeley (17-13).

Michaela Kaltsas fueled the offense with five goals against Harrison. Cora Moore added four goals and Zoe Stonecipher had a hat trick, assisted on four goals and had three draw controls.

Stonecipher led the Foxes with five goals and three assists against Horace Greeley and Kaltsas contributed four goals and two assists.

Stonecipher led the Foxes with four goals and three assists against Brewster. Kaltas had a hat trick and three assists and Kami Boniello and Moore also scored three goals apiece.

CROTON received five goals from Victoria Finn in a 10-7 loss to Westlake.

Lucia Thorsen and Katelyn Quinlan also scored goals and Quinlan also had seven draw controls.

VALHALLA dropped a 14-6 verdict to Blind Brook as Juliana Conley had a hat trick and one assist.

Gabriella Hendrickson found the back of the net twice, Claudia Hinze added one goal and one assist and Elisha Jenkins handed out two assists.
Isabella Cardozo had a season-high 16 saves.

MAHOPAC had a tough week with losses to Lakeland/Panas (12-11) and Somers (21-10).

Gianna Cirelli had a team-best six goals against Lakeland/Panas. Gianna DeVito and Juliana Mangione had two goals apiece.

Ashley Koch had a hat trick against Somers while Adrianna Pranzo and Cirelli each added two scores. Cirelli also registered three assists and Pranzo collected two assists.

State-ranked (No.11) Class D PLEASANTVILLE saw freshman Faith Brown notch the 100th goal of her already-fabled career in the Panthers’ 15-2 win over rival Briarcliff. Senior Erin Drillock (4G, 5A) added nine points for the surging Panthers (6-2). Drillock and Ella Collins each scored 7 points in a 19-4 win over HALDANE (3-4) while Brown added six. The Panthers are one of three Section 1 Class D teams ranked in the state (No.9 Magnus).

PUTNAM VALLEY has fallen on hard times with three consecutive losses to fall to 3-5.

Ray Gallagher contributed to this story

 

ANDY JACOBS GIL McMAHON/TONY HUMBERTO PHOTOS