Yorktown Nips Carmel for 4th Lakeland Summer League Crown
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays
Winning the Lakeland Summer Soccer League championship has been like the Madden Curse, the Sports Illustrated jinx or the simple kiss of death over the course of its 17 years of existence. Only two of the previous summer league champions went on to cop a Section 1 title (Rye in 2019 and Yorktown in 2022), but Yorktown is hoping to do so again after the Huskers, who will compete in Class AA this season, survived a 3-2 penalty-kicks win over Class AA Carmel, in Friday’s title tile between the two 2024 sectional title hopefuls.
The Huskers and Rams won’t have to wait long to find out where they stand this fall as they open up against each other in early September, giving Carmel an early chance at redemption after the 1-1 tie on Friday when Carmel’s Joel Cambizaca spotted the Rams a 1-0 lead just seven minutes in. Husker Ryan Dean responded in kind off a feed from Cameron Santos at 18:00. After a scoreless second half and overtime, the Husker prevailed on PKs to claim the title, making Yorktown the first four-time titleist in Lakeland Summer Soccer League history. Yorktown G Jozef Popovic cemented the win with a brilliant PK effort.
Yorktown advanced to the finals after a 3-0 win over Ardsley when junior Colin Warden provided a glimpse of the future with a hat trick of his own. A backup last fall, Warden is the real deal, a kid to keep eyes on as Yorktown looks to challenge for the AA title alongside other serious challengers like Carmel, who defeated Class A Somers, 2-0 in the semis behind goals from Christian Matera and athletic Kevin Hernandez, plus the Rams have one of the top players in Putnam in Zach Foltz.
Harrison and perennial power Tappan Zee are also expected to challenge in a somewhat watered down Class AA, with Somers and Eastchester dropping down to Class A, which is a bear to predict (where reigning sectional champion Byram Hills, Eastchester, Somers, Rye, Pearl River, Sleepy Hollow, Lakeland, Panas and Ardsley are all strong) and Scarsdale moving up to AAA to challenge 2023 champ Arlington.
It’s just around the corner kids, as the fastest growing sport in America is just a month or so away from the start of the 2024 prep campaign. Saddle up, y’all! It’s going to be bonkers.
“It’s going to be one heck of a fall season,” Lakeland coach and summer league director Tim Hourahan assured. “It’s so wide open (in all classes), and there are so many good teams and coaches out there now. No chalk this fall!”
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.
Visit Ray’s author bio page for more details. Also read Ray’s archived work here and his Direct Rays column here.
