Mahopac Squanders 5-2 lead, Falls in Class A Title Tilt
There’s no way in heck anybody outside of Mamaroneck saw it coming. The 10th-seeded Tigers believed all along that they could upset No.4 Mahopac, but nobody else in Section 1 went on record saying so. The bloggers, the chatters, the writers, the coaches… almost to a man/woman, everyone figured Mahopac would go on to represent Section 1 in the NYSPHSAA Class A playoffs.
But shockwaves reverberated throughout the section as Mamaroneck shocked Mahopac, 9-8, in last Wednesday’s Section 1 Class A championship to win the first boys’ lacrosse sectional title in school history. Mamo’s Scott Greenberg and Peter Conley each scored four goals apiece — including the game winner scored by Conley with 4:13 remaining — as the Tigers took it to the Indians in the second half at White Plains High School.
For some strange reason, Mahopac got away from what was working best. Indian junior Tyler Weisberg had scored three goals on inside rolls as Mahopac built a 5-2 first-quarter lead and seemed well on its way to winning its 10th sectional championship since 1992. But Weisberg got only a handful of touches the rest of the way, and the Tigers slowly crawled back in behind Greenberg and Conley, a veritable two-man wrecking crew.
“Overall, I think we just left a lot of plays out there,” Mahopac boss Mike Haddeland said of the Indians, who saw Anthony Berardis and James Schiera (1A) score two goals apiece. “We had the momentum in the beginning but for some reason throughout the season we let teams back in. We didn’t take advantage of the plays that were presented to us. When I look at this game on film, I’m not going to sleep well. I’m shocked at how many one-on-ones we missed, the pipes we hit and whatever else. They outworked us, though. That’s lacrosse nowadays: Anybody can beat anybody if they want it more.”
Mamaroneck went on to represent in the state tournament where it got seriously gonged by Section 2 champion Niskayuna in what can only be deemed a poor representation from Section 1 in a down year on the Class A circuit. Mahopac was ranked No.21 by NYS pollsters but will certainly fall out of favor in the next poll, leaving Section 1 without a single ranked team.
Now, Get This: Mamaroneck could enter the 2013 season as the “Team to Beat” based on what it returns. Certainly, Mamaroneck becoming a force is good for the game of Section 1 lacrosse, as it spreads down county where two teams south of the White Plains border were crowned champions for the first time in history.
But northern-based teams like Mahopac, Lakeland/Panas and Arlington can’t take this lying down. The base of Class A lax has been built on the back of Mahopac and L/P and Yorktown when it moves up from Class B occasionally, so dominance has now been threatened by a “new kid on the block” that could pose additional trouble next year with both Conley and Greenberg dangerously close to All-American threats.
Only three of the nine Section 1 All-Americans were from Class A schools, including Lakeland/Panas senior middie Chris Monteferante, who strongly earned the nod based on his extensive body of work and fine two-way play. And just five of the nine A-A’s were from northern-based schools with two coming from Rockland County and two others emerging from the south.
Possible snubs from up north include Mahopac junior LSM Brendan Hynes, Jay G Tom Branca and a host of Yorktown players, most notably junior D Trevor Koelsch and senior D Eric Cooley. We would expect Hynes, Koelsch and Yorktown junior A Nick Mariano and sophomore D Austin Fusco to be serious pre-season A-A candidates next season.
Hudson Valley Boys Lacrosse All-Americans
Jack Grass, Jr. A Bronxville/Hopkins
Jack Lambert, Jr. LSM John Jay/North Carolina
Kevin McNally, Sr. A Suffern/Albany
Kris Alleyne, Sr. G Clarkstown South/Rutgers
Conor Gately, Sr. A Yorktown/Marquette
Frankie Fusco, Sr. MF Yorktown/Drexel
Chris Monteferante, Sr. MF Lakeland-Panas/Army
Kevin Schurr, Sr. D Somers/Army
Matt Landis, Sr. D Pelham/Notre Dame
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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