Greeley vs. Yorktown Lax #BookItNow for Class B Title Tilt

By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays

Last spring, Section 1 went roaring like lions into the NYSPHSAA boys’ lacrosse tournaments in Classes A, B, C and D, but went out like lambs when the section was skunked in terms of a state championship appearance, much less a state title. Class A Mamaroneck, Class B Yorktown, Class C Rye and Class Pleasantville were all eliminated in the state semifinals, ending any hope of Section 1 winning its first state title since 2018 when Pleasantville knocked off Section 5 champion Penn Yan for the Class D title.

So, who, if anyone will be at Faller Field in Middletown for the state east semifinals on June 11? And who might have the moxie to make the trek to Hobart & William Smith Colleges for the state finals on Saturday, June 14? These are questions we hope to answer in this week’s vetting of our Examiner-area hopefuls. Please understand that we don’t have the means (or knowledge) to name every player that deserves mentioning in the space below, but we acknowledge every last thing you do to be the best you can be.

Local lax fans will recall 42-time Section 1 champion YORKTOWN having made back-to-back state final appearances in 2016-17 but haven’t been crowned NYS champions since winning their seventh title in 2014 when the Huskers won a 10-9 thriller over perennial Section 3 power Jamesville-DeWitt. Husker Coach Tim Schurr has done well to restore Husker pride, having secured consecutive Section 1 titles since being skunked between 2018-22 (no tourney in 2020 #CovidSucked) during some of the most trying times in program history.

After getting back on track the last two seasons, the Huskers can anticipate a massive run for their money from 2024 Class B runner-up HORACE GREELEY, which did suffer a 13-9 setback a year ago but might return more All-Section starpower in the likes of senior A Matthew Byrne and senior M Jameson Blakeslee.

“I’m so pumped up for this season,” Blakeslee exclaimed! “We actually had a very strong scrimmage against Darien (Tuesday), and I feel like we can compete against anyone. We have a super-strong schedule this year, which will get us ready. The Huskers are always a great program, but I am confident in our team’s ability, starting off Friday against Cold Spring Harbor. I feel like the team is ready.”

But lacrosse is a team game and oftentimes it’s the best team that wins, not the best stars; even though Yorktown has the biggest star in the section in junior All-Section G Hunter Mezzatesta; not to mention the likes of All-Section seniors D Brady McEnroe (among the top poles in the section) and M Chad Bowen (among the best at the X this season), budding junior M Gianluca Marchini (43P-13A-56P) and All-League junior JT Carney (26-10-36), who came on strong in the second half of 2024. 

“The team has been working hard throughout the winter and the early part of this season,” the UVA-bound Mezzatesta said. “We just officially started last week and have a few upcoming scrimmages that we’re excited about. As always with Yorktown lacrosse, we’re putting in the work — conditioning, building chemistry and preparing for our season opener at home on April 3rd against Arlington.”

Mezzatesta and McEnroe were both named captains, and are looking forward to leading the section’s most decorated program.

“We aim for our third straight sectional championship and to build on last year’s state semifinal run,” Mezzatesta said. “But I know those Greeley players well, having played with them on club teams and box teams since first grade. They are definitely a strong opponent, as we saw in last year’s sectional championship. We’re not looking too far ahead, though. Right now, our focus is on getting ready for our first game, and when the time comes, we’ll be ready to defend our title at historic Murphy Field.”

Yorktown, as always, will face – metaphorically – an albatross of a schedule, which could see the Huskers take some early lumps in order to be peaking come sectionals.  

Greeley is very talented. Coach Ben Potash’s Quakers move the ball well and have some serious talent. Blakeslee (51-24-75) and Byrne (30-54-84) are seriously legit offensive players and their staff does a good job moving the rock and playing an unselfish brand of offense. They believe, and rightly so, they are the favorites in Class B. If they didn’t think that way, why compete in the first place?  

Yorktown returns one hell of a solid nucleus, one that will be forced to fend off the hell-bent Quakers, plus seven other Class B challengers, including Ex-area teams MAHOPAC, LAKELAND/PANAS and BREWSTER, each of which will be hard-pressed to challenge the upper crust of the conference with all the WolfPac, Rebels and Bears have lost to graduation. 

Yorktown, in the past, has always liked being underestimated. It is a talented group with a high lax IQ that will grow as the season progresses. Greeley is hungry, senior laden and seeking their first sectional championship despite six finals appearances, so put it on the docket: Yorktown vs. Greeley at Murphy Field, June 3rd #GameOn #PackedHouse!  It could come down to Bowen vs. Luke Tavolacci at the X for #Possession, winner takes all. 

That Greeley vs. Yorktown rivalry did also extend beyond the boys’ action as it was the Quakers that rallied for a 10-8 win over the Yorktown girls in the Class B title tilt, leaving the two schools with a championship split. But it was Quaker senior Rowan Edson – an All-Academic American and AA Brown-bound Bae Bounds – who scored eight of those 10 goals, so Edson will need to find another partner in crime to hold off Yorktown senior Sophia Boucher and the All-Section Cunneen sisters, sophomore Annie Cunneen, and senior Ava Cunneen, plus senior Caitlin Mulvihill and the Huskers if they plan on reaching yet another NYSPHSAA Final 4. P.S. Sleep on FOX LANE at your own peril. Foxes Riley New, Stony Brook-bound Zoe Stonecipher, Sophie Abt, Cora Moore and Michaela Kaltsas all return for the No.2 seed from a year ago with a slew of others looking to challenge for the sectional title.

The optimism is palpable, according New.

“We are very excited to make our run this season,” she said. “We have a lot of returning players and a lot of young talent as well. As a team, we are all very confident with each other and we all work together really well. Just about all of us have played together since we were really young and we’re looking forward to a successful season.”

It’s a whole new era of lax at two-time reigning boys’ Section 1 champion PLEASANTVILLE, which returns All-Section senior A Nick Reich (64-10-74) and Oneonta-bound Shane Mueller, but loses a ton of talent, including the versatile All-Section Picart Bros. (Daniel and Aidan), plus All-Section talents Hank McCourtney, Andrew Nessel, Emmet McDermott and Erik Coleman. Can’t imagine that Coach Kear has anything like this group in his stable of returnees in 2025, which opens the Class D door to 17 title challengers, including Ex-area teams like PUTNAM VALLEY, which ushers in a new era under first-year Coach Blake Balcaen, and was once hotbed with three sectional Class C titles from 2004-11 #LongTimeAgo, but the Tigers think they are onto something this spring. As for the young ladies in PV, after a 19-13 win over Haldane, keep eyes on Bella Coletti (6G) and young Ella Wendol (6G, 6A), the apparently talented daughter of former lax ace Drew Wendol.

Remember when BRIARCLIFF owned the boys’ small schools from 2019-22 with three-straight sectional titles, and expect big doings from CROTON-HARMON, WESTLAKE and HALDANE.

Still, ya gotta knock off the champs and Pleasantville won’t go quietly.

“We are very excited about the start of the season,” Reich exclaimed! “I’ve been waiting for this one since I was a freshman. Being a captain on this Pleasantville team is truly amazing, and this team has such much opportunity ahead of it. We’re all pumped and determined to defend that title and three-peat, but with that comes lots of hard work, effort and resilience. We’re working together now to find an identity for this team and the season ahead. There are so many great teams in Class D trying to take back the chip and we know that each practice and game gotta be 110% from here on out. I know this group is ready to go and can’t wait to defend the title with everything we got!” 

While it’s a new era on the boys’ circuit, the P’ville girls are bringing back a slew of talent, thirsty for some championship bubbly. Pleasantville Coach Hannah Tiso returns one of the top scorers in Section 1 in two-time All-Section sophomore Faith Brown, who noted that she and her teammates are ready to erase the memory of last year’s 6-5 semifinal loss to mighty Bronxville, the reigning Class D champion.

“Last year’s loss to Bronxville did sting,” Brown admitted. “We put up a good fight and it allowed us to learn and grow as a group. Although our team is young this year, we have a ton of potential and raw talent that will be showcased throughout these next few months of the spring season. We’re excited to see how far we can go in the playoffs, and despite a tough schedule, we’re eager to rise to the challenge and have a strong year overall.”

P’Ville M Jess Beck has graduated and so has high-scoring Panther Athlete of the Year Erin Drillock, so the Panthers will need to figure out maintaining possession, because Beck was able to beat Bronxville to five balls off the draw last year #PossessionIsEverythingInLax, and Drillock drilled goals like there’s no tomorrow.

After an undefeated 16-0 regular season in 2024, WESTLAKE is hoping to thrive and secure its first boys’ sectional title since 2017 when the ’Cats reached the NYS Final 4. The Wildcats then reached a sectional final 2018 but have been skunked ever since.

Word on the street is that SOMERS might give Class C’s Rye and finalist John Jay Cross River a run for their money behind the likes of All-Section seniors M Matt Mayfield and Notre Dame-bound M Miguel Iglesias (44-31-75), among the most potent snipers in the state. In just his second season at the helm, Somers Coach Jordan Hirsch hopes to guide the six-time sectional champion Tuskers to their first title since 2009. 

“As far as I can tell, Class C is very competitive and we’re excited to have an opportunity to compete with the programs in Class C,” Somers Coach Jordan Hirsch said. “It’s certainly not a secret that Rye is talented and has the championship pedigree in the class. John Jay is always a contender and in the hunt for the long haul. I’d add that there is also a lot of depth in the class with teams that have been in the title hunt or have won the class in the last five years. It should be a really tough and competitive bracket.”

 

On the ladies side of the Tusker coin, senior Sydney Ingraham is as good as it gets, a 2024 All-Academic choice.

 

In Class A, it’ll be super-interesting to see if CARMEL can run with the big dawgs after losing to Mamaroneck in the 2024 finals, the Rams’ first crack at a sectional title in school history. Mamo, which has appeared in 11 finals since 2012, has been the cream of the crop. The Rams lost a ton of talent, so we’ll be anxious to see if they can sustain the superb run of the last two seasons under former Yorktown and Syracuse All–American Coach Matt Caione. Carmel will always put solid athletes out there on the field, but will the Rams return enough skill behind All-Section junior A Thomas Connolly (53-19-72)? 

Besides the aforementioned boys; #AllEyes on the following and too many others to mention #SorryBoutThat: Reid DuToit, Jr., A (56-20-76); Byram Hills; Christian Cipriano (Byram Hills) 21-15-36; Jr. M Christian Cipriano (21-15-36) Byram Hills; Sr. M Adam Lefkowitz Byram Hills; Albany-bound Will Oliverio, Sr., D, Fox Lane; Sr. Owen Baker (21-16-37) Fox Lane; So. G Luke Valenti Fox Lane; Aidan Mazzoni, Sr., G, Hen Hud: Henry Foy Sr. LSM/D/FO (All- League) Briarcliff; Sr. D Jack Weinstein (All-League) Briarcliff; Sr. M Alex Stuart-Lazarre Briarcliff; So. A Jack Brock Briarcliff; Sr. M Brayden Lingeza Westlake; Sr. M Cole Barnett (64-10-74) Westlake; So. M Nicholas DiNapoli (36-17-53) Westlake; Jr. M Dean Dable Westlake; M/A Tighe Dolan (28-19-47) Greeley; soph M C.C. Savastano (21-14-35) Lakeland/Panas); Jr. A Dakota Bourgie (38-20-58) Put Valley; Sr. A Andrew Grippo (23-31-54) Put Valley; So. M Mike Frye Put Valley; Sr.  M Caden Glenn Put Valley

RAY GALLAGHER/CHRIS SMAJLAJ/DAVID TABER PHOTOS