Rams Ride Risley, Aabel, Connolly in Carmel’s 1st Upset of Yorktown

Pleasantville Shakes Somers in OT; Playoffs on Tap for all

By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays

There’s a lot to like about CARMEL High senior and two-sport star Matt Risley, who has manned a spot on the varsity circuit since his rookie campaign as a fresh-faced, hard-nosed freshman. Leadership skills through the roof, a sense of humility and respect for others, likeability among the paths he regularly crosses, but more than anything is Risley’s want to compete at a prime level and a will to win that is second to none.

It was all on display in Carmel’s stunning 16-10 league win over YORKTOWN last Tuesday when the state-ranked (No.16) Class A Rams knocked off the state-ranked (No.4) Class B Huskers for the first time, and ‘Rizzles’ went off for five goals and one assist while his teammates around him all stood on their head for the biggest win in program history.

“We couldn’t be happier,” Risley said of the Yorktown win. “We knew that if we did what we were capable of, we could get the job done. As long as we believe in ourselves, which we do, this train won’t stop rolling anytime soon.”

The bar car was full of frolic afterward as the Rams celebrated their history-making win after Thomas Connolly (4G, 1A), Ryan Aabel (3G, 4A), Jake Lotz (2G, 2A) and Jeremy Smith (1G) answered every Yorktown run with one of their own. Carmel G Jake Meissner (22 saves) may have played his finest game, holding down a potent Yorktown attack, which was led by Gianluca Marchini (4G), Ryan Vogel (2G), Frank Ofrias (2G), Dylan DelVecchio (1G, 1A) and Chris Constantine (1G).

The Rams clinched their first league title by going 5-0, including their first win ever against Mahopac, so to beat both for the first time is a pretty huge deal, even for those that were seniors when Risley made his initial varsity impact as a freshman in 2021.

“If it weren’t for covid (2020), he would have played varsity with us as an eighth-grader,” said former Ram captain Ryan McDonald, now a junior playing at Springfield College. “His competitiveness was through the roof. Every time a play didn’t go his way he still made up for it with effort. He just wants it more than most.”

Carmel seemed to want it a tad more than Yorktown did. Anyone watching expected Yorktown to make one of its patented runs and pull it out. Did Yorktown look past Carmel? Was it a Murphy Cup hangover? Or is Carmel that good?

We checked in with former Yorktown All-American and current Carmel Coach Matt Caione, who needs to be credited with building something from nothing when he took the Ram job nearly a decade ago, and Carmel’s best stick skills were using them as weapons.

“These kids played out of their heads, it’s all about them,” said Caione, an All-American at Syracuse (1999-2000).

Vogel, a senior captain at Yorktown, gave an honest assessment.

“We just were very flat,” Vogel said. “We completely under-judged Carmel and they came to play. They are a very good team, but we definitely should have played a better game. We don’t want to make excuses, so we know we have to just work very hard this week of practice and come to play in the playoffs. We will learn from this game and make it a learning experience for all of us.”

The problem for Yorktown, and Somers or Lakeland/Panas, for that matter, is that we have three Long Island clubs – Section 8’s South Side (No.1) and Garden City (No.2) plus Section 11’s East Islip (No.3) – ranked ahead of them in the state rankings, so the road to the state finals will potentially go through one of three semifinal teams at SUNY Albany ranked ahead of the fourth-ranked Huskers, provided Section 1’s top dawg can survive the rigors of Section 2’s Nisky (barring a major Section 2 upset) in the quarters…

As we digress: There are plenty of Carmel lax brethren behind the scenes that deserve a pat on the back for reaching a goal they set about a dozen or so years ago when Karyne and Eric Aabel established a youth program with the goal of one day challenging Yorktown, which they did on cue.

There will be heavy debate at the coach’s roundtable when the gavel strikes down and the discussion of Section 1’s All-Americans is bandied about. Truth be told, we have a slew of worthy laxers this season, but if we’re truly going to grow the game as intended, Carmel might deserve some strong A-A consideration after its finest regular season in history. Risley – a four-year starter – meets the criteria and needs to be seriously considered at the very least. Of the nine Section 1 All-Americans selected in 2023, only two returned in 2024; Yorktown senior LSM Constantine and Pleasantville M Daniel Picart. Both should repeat this spring as no-brainer A-A’s, leaving seven spots up for grabs. Why not recognize Carmel by naming its first All-American in a year of firsts for the Rams?

Second-seeded Carmel was ready to take on No.7 Arlington in last night’s opening round, as was No.4 WHITE PLAINS against No.5 North Rockland.

CLASS B

No.9 MAHOPAC (4-12) showed some grit, rebounding from a dismal regular season, posting a 13-5 playoff road win over No.8 Harrison behind four goals and two assists from St. John’s-bound senior Danny Koch (4G, 2A), who slid his way past Craig Georgalas for No.5 on the all-time scoring list at Mahopac with 203 points. With three more points, Koch will finish fourth all-time at Mahopac #NiceCareerSon.

Additional contributions came from Liam Scanlon (2G, 2A), Liam Jones (2G, 2A), Brayden Torrey  (2G, 1A), Bryan Margolis (2G), Bobby Egan (1G), Patrick Mahoney (1A), Ryan Larue (1A) and Gio Mirable (15/21 FO) in front of emerging G Lucas Lambertson (8 saves), who will need to be atop his game in today’s quarterfinal round against No.1 YORKTOWN.

CLASS D

State-ranked (No.2) PLEASANTVILLE shook off the rust and a glut of easy league challenges in time to post an 11-10 OT win over state-ranked (No.7) Class B SOMERS in the regular-season finale for both clubs last Tuesday. P’Ville (14-2) secured the top seed in Class D while Somers (13-3) earned the No.2 in Class B.

It took some time for Pleasantville to shake off the rust of having not been challenged in recent league games, but the Panthers eventually showed the Tuskers why they are expected to reach the NYS Final 4 and then some after an expected repeat in Section 1.

Staring at a five-goal deficit early in the second quarter, Pleasantville tickled twine five consecutive times to get back in, then allowed a lead to slip away in the waning moments, before Erik Coleman found Aidan Cotter for the game-winning goal in OT.

“Our game with Pleasantville showed us a lot,” Somers Coach Jordan Hirsch said. “They’re a very organized and talented team that has great chemistry. Not the result we wanted, but certainly gave us some situations that we can lean into to learn and get better from. At this point, we have plenty of experiences to draw on from this season that we will be able to use as reference points going forward, but mostly those things are in the rearview. We’re facing forward and staring at the challenges ahead, preparing to extend our season for as long as we possibly can.

“I think the last week of the regular season really showed that Class B is stocked with quality teams and parody across the bracket,” Hirsch added. “It’s exciting to be able to play in a competitive tournament knowing that you need to play your best against the best to extend your season.”

Pleasantville finished 11-0 against Section 1 opponents and will head into sectionals as the No. 1 seed where they should cruise to the state tourney after Nick Reich (3G, 1A), Cotter (3G), Daniel Picart (2G, 3A), Michael Hundzynski (1G, 1A), Emmet McDermott (2A), Erik Coleman (1G, 1A), Hank McCourtney (1G) and G Andrew Nessel (11 saves) all did their part against a hardened Somers club.

The Tuskers were led by Mac Sullivan (3G), Miguel Iglesias (2G, 1A), Matt Mayfield (2G, 1A, 19/23 FO), Grayden Carr (1G), Tristan Iglesias (1G) and Ryan Brush (1G).

An intriguing playoff matchup in Class B pits No.3 HORACE GREELEY against No.6 FOX LANE, which both finished the regular season on a high note.

Greeley smoked Arlington, 19-9, when Jameson Blakeslee (5G, 3A), Matthew Byrne (3G, 3A), Connor Lummel (2G, 1A), Tighe Dolan (2G, 1A) and Ethan Stogsdill (2A, 19/25 FO) all stoked the fire, which they will need much more of in a rematch with Fox Lane. The Foxes stunned the Quakers in OT just a few weeks ago and will need much more from Declan Connors (2G, 3A), Ryan Nathan (4G), Owen Baker (1G, 3A), Kevin New (2G, 1), Will Oliverio (2G), John Mains (2G), Will Broghammer (1G, 1A) and James Minotti (1G), all of whom tamed Arlginton in a 16-8 romp to close the regular season.

And nobody finished the regular season quite like LAKELAND/PANAS did in an eye-opening 9-6 win over John Jay CR. The under-the-radar Rebels (8-8, 8-4) got contributions from the usual suspects, who will need more of the same as they ready for No.5 Clarkstown South before an expected semifinal showdown with No.1 Yorktown. Rebels Thomas Kuney (2G, 3A), Bubba Burmeister (2G, 1A), Will Moore (2G), C.C. Savastano (1G, 1A), Kyle Gallagher (1G, 1A) and Vinny Savastano (1G) will need to provide just enough cushion for sensational L/P goalie K.C. Bryan (12 saves) to stand on his head and get the Rebels to the finals, which is not out of the realm of possibility.

No.7 BREWSTER notched its first playoff win since 2019 in a 10-5 win over No.10 Clarkstown North, doing so behind four goals from A.J. Accurso.

Harrison Schmitt (2G), Luke Cunningham (1G, 3A), Paul Rienzi (1G, 2A), Tre Ficarra (1G, 1A) and Cameron LaMoreaux (1G) each played a big role in setting up the Bears (8-9) for a quarterfinal showdown with No.2 Somers.

“We played great defense all day, holding North to one late goal in the second half,” Bears Coach Ryan Cleary said.

CLASS C

Sixth-seeded BYRAM HILLS torched No.11 Eastchester, 14-1, in an opening-round win behind a hat trick from 100-goal scorer Reid Du Toit,  a sophomore, and some mighty big days from Logan Cohen (2G), Shane Horowitz  (1G, 3A), Erik Cipriano (1G, 3A), Christian Cipriano (1G, 1A) and Adam Lefkowitz (10/10 FO). The Bobcats (10-7) were set to face defending champion and third-seeded reigning champion Rye in today’s quarterfinal.

In a tuneup for playoffs, 4th-seeded HEN HUD eked past Byram Hills, 4-3, when Sailor James McManus (2G, 1A) notched the game-winning goal in OT. Kevin Ryan scored twice for the Sailors (12-3) while G Aidan Mazzoni made 11 saves. Du Toit (2G, 1A) and Christian Cipriano (1G) were the only Bobcats to beat Mazzoni. Quinn made 14 more saves, leading to his school record (731 career saves).

 

ANDY JACOBS/DONNA MUELLER PHOTOS