Yorktown Shoots to Win, Knocks of Rival Somers, 1-0
P’Ville’s Strong 2nd Half Knocks off Briarcliff, 4-0
Examiner Sport Editor
@Directrays
Class A YORKTOWN has come out of the gate with some great efficiency and proficiency, getting out to an unexpected 7-0 start under Coach Rich Armstrong.
In a physical, closely contested rematch with SOMERS Friday, Yorktown held on for a 1-0 victory behind a goal from sophomore Juliana Vano, who has taken the section by storm. With that win, and Saturday’s 3-1 win over Hen Hud, Yorktown improved to 6-0.
Against Somers, Yorktown’s Grace Pearce went deep downfield with a clear and Somers had trouble turning it the other way, leaving Vano open to take a combination feed from Tinaj and Grace Pearce. Vano, the splendid soph, jumped on the loose ball and delivered the game’s only goal. Husker junior G Erisa Krasniqi had seven big saves for the shutout and Somers G Noemi Lucciola had eight saves in one heck of a physical battle.
Against Hen Hud, Yorktown’s Drita Tinaj (1G, 1A), Emily Ward and Alicia Menduini each tickled twine for the Huskers while Vano set up two of the three scores. Erisa Krasniqi (2 saves) and Ciara O’Brien (5 saves) were solid in goal for the Huskers, who lost Sailor Kira Varada, off an assist from Lena Johnsen, for Hen Hud’s score.
“It’s a year of uncertainty but these girls have decided from the beginning of the summer that they were gonna put in the time and train with the hopes of a season,” Armstrong said. “From the two freshmen I carried, to the seven seniors and all the girls in between, we are “one. All of the seniors are leaders, as they should be, but my captains this year lead by example. They have tremendous grit and are a key to our success for many reasons.”
The week began with a tough 2-1 win over OSSINING, which held serve, 0-0 at half. Yorktown scored first off a corner kick, a Tinaj tally from Emily Ward for Tinaj’s first varsity goal. Ossining tied the game with a goal from Adrienne Kantrowitz, but Ward drilled the game winner off a rip to the upper 90 with 9:00 left in the game, assists to Grace Pearce and Kristin Linahan.
Yorktown followed that up with a 5-0 win over Panas. Sophia Spallone started the scoring with a PK 10 minutes in. Vano scored the second goal off an assist from Cate Ward and Spallone hit the third goal from an assist from Vano. Iva Chee scored her first of the season off an assist from Alicia Menduni and Olivia Luvas scored her first off the season off an assist from Tinaj to balance the sheet.
“Oh, what a feeling it’s been for these girls,” Armstrong admitted.
Somers (3-3) opened the week with a 4-0 win over BREWSTER behind a goal and assist from Noelle DeMarinis. Ella Kittredge, Dahlia Pepe and Tori Righetti each found the back of the net while Ava Giudice and Allie Zattola each dished an assist to support winning keeper Natalia Rukaj (3 saves).
In CLASS B action, a left wing blast from Pleasantville F Mary Grace O’Neill opened the floodgates for a pivotal 4-0 league win over rival Briarcliff Saturday. Her goal gave the undefeated Panthers (6-0) a 1-0 lead shortly before halftime, and the defending state champs put it in overdrive from there, scoring three unanswered in the second half, taking advantage of an early, second-half Briarcliff red card that threw the Bears (4-1) off their game.
“I thought our girls prepared very well the days building up to this game,” P’Ville Coach Christopher Osterhoudt said. “Both teams always seem to be ready and excited to play each other. We started off strong in the first 10 minutes of the game, in what we thought was our first goal of the game. However, the goal was called back for an offside. Briarcliff always does a tremendous job forcing teams offsides. With Mary Grace O’Neill streaking up the sideline, Katie Moses made a nice pass to her for our first goal of the game late in the first half. I thought we did a nice job controlling the middle of the field and attacked the outside lanes well. We had confidence at halftime with the way we were playing and it transpired into the second half.”
Undefeated P’Ville (5-0) went on to post its fifth shutout win to the season behind additional goals from Katie Moses, who drilled a PK for a 2-0 lead, and further insurance came from Grace Capko and Jess Beck, off feeds from All-NYS Moses (1G, 3A), who had eyes in the back and front of her head.
“We had a nice buildup to another scoring opportunity about 15 minutes into the second half when Amber Nanaj broke through the middle of the defense,” Osterhoudt said. “The Briarcliff starting goalie made a great effort to try and stop our scoring chance. Unfortunately, she had to leave the game after that sequence. Katie Moses was able to capitalize on a penalty kick that we were awarded.”
Several minutes later P’Ville made a similar run towards the goal and Grace Capko connected on another Moses pass. The last goal of the game was on a corner kick taken by Moses to freshman Jess Beck.
“We had a great overall team performance, Osterhoudt said. “We took advantage of our scoring chances and our defense did a nice job limiting Briarcliff’s opportunities.”
The P’Ville defense has gone above and beyond the call of duty to date. Center backs Analese Picart and Julia O’Reilly, along with the two outside backs, Carolyn Lee and Riley Vavolizza, have been steady on clears and transitions. Summer de Luca has done a nice job coming off the bench and senior G Lila Donohue has crushed it as the last line of defense. Donohue has been outstanding in all five shutouts.
“Our defense has been playing amazing all year,” Osterhoudt said. “I feel they don’t get the accolades that they deserve considering most of the time it is always the goal scorers. They play extremely hard and are very comfortable playing next to one another.”
Pleasantville also bested Westlake, 3-1, earlier in the week when Izzy Kapoor, Maddie Braverman, and Amber Nanaj tickled twine. Moses (6G, 5A on the year), Lauren Mathews and Jess Beck had one assist each. Westlake’s Jennifer Straface tallied off an assist by Krista Dronzek.
WESTLAKE opened the week with a 2-1 win over VALHALLA behind goal foals by Straface and Kalyna Raguso with assists coming off the feet of Maeve Sheehan and Straface.
CROTON posted a 1-0 win over HALDANE when Penelope Schneider scored off an assist from Emily Champlain. Croton keepers Tamera Taylor-Moore and Lucia Mancinelli combined for five saves in the shutout win while Ruby Poses (13 saves) was stellar on the other end.
PUTNAM VALLEY got in the win column after a 4-0 triumph of PEEKSKILL. Tiger Dannia Jadan put two between the pipes while GiGi Cartategui and Angie Anzano added one goal apiece to support G Karol Noguera (9 saves).
CLASS AA
MAHOPAC continued its solid season, scoring a decisive 5-0 win over RCK when Aunchalee O’Brien scored not only her first varsity goal, but added a hat trick. Piper Klammer (1G, 1A), Mia Klammer (1G) and Sophia Doupis (1A) all figured in the scoring for the 2019 runner-up Indians.
Earlier in the week, Mahopac salvaged a 3-3 tiw with John Jay EF behind two goals from sophomore Piper Klammer and a goal and assist from senior sister Mia Klammer. Senior Hailey Pereira finished with one assist for the Indians, who blew a 2-0 lead but rallied in the second OT to force a come-from-behind tie. The Indians were set to see where they stood last night, looking to salvage a split with mighty Arlington, which remained unbeaten as of Monday.
OSSINING took a 2-0 decision from WHITE PLAINS behind a goal and assist from Amanda Rios. Nyasha Nyoni added an insurance goal from Marlee Potillo to support G Marie Felipe (14 saves). White Plains G Natasha Mendez had 10 saves.
GREELEY’s Emily Nordberg scored twice in the Quakers’ 3-0 win over Edgemont. Ramsey Edson (1G, 1A), Jillian Gordon (1A) and Hannah Fetzer (1A) all factored in the scoring in front of keeper Ellie Handwerger, who had one save in the shutout.
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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