Yorktown’s Cardiac Kids Eke Past Rye; Somers Socks Greeley

By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays

Seven-time NYSPHSAA champion YORKTOWN High is going to have to find a way to put some distance between itself and its opponents because these one-goal games are going to find the “Goalie Moms”with the old ‘Clapper’ by their side in case of emergency #GodBlessTheGoalieMom.

Imagine you’re Mrs. Mezzatesta – the mom of Yorktown G Hunter Mezzatesta – and six of state-ranked (No.6) Yorktown’s 12 games have been decided by one goal this spring, four of which were wins against some serious Section 1 heavyweights, including Thursday’s 9-8 OT win over visiting Rye, plus other OT triumphs against Mamaroneck, John Jay CR and Bronxville.

“We are the cardiac kids,” Mezzatesta joked. “Of our 12 games, we had five OT games and seven games with two goals or less differential.”

One of those OT triumphs came against visiting Rye last week. It took a classic pull from All-American long stick Chris Constantine, his second of the game, for a 9-8 win. C.C. is a bad man.

Husker sophomore Gianluca Marchini (2G. 1A) stepped up big time, as did senior M Ryan Vogel (1G, 1A). Chad Bowen scored a goal and grabbed six GBs for the Huskers, who also saw James Carney, Brady Sheridan and Dylan DelVecchio score solo goals.

“I guess we like to make it more interesting and more entertaining for the fans, but luckily we have been able to win in overtime because of how hard we work and condition,” joked middie Vogel, in line for an All-Section nod. “We are able to play an extra quarter at the same level because of our work ethic.”

Mezzatesta made 13 saves for the Huskers (8-4 overall, 7-0 Section 1), who also thumped New Fairfield (CT), 14-4, behind four goals from senior Nick Carducci. DelVecchio, Carney and Vogel had three points apiece for the Huskers, who will close it out against Briarcliff, Mahopac and Lakeland/Panas in Saturday’s 2:00 p.m. Murphy Cup game before the season-ender against CARMEL, currently the No.2 seed in Class A.

We all get the fact that state-ranked (No.3) Class B SOMERS is the juicy favorite of Section 1 newbies, and with decent reason: First-year Tusker Coach Jordan Hirsch has his Tuskers (10-0 in Section 1, 12-1 overall) flying high behind a mix of two-way play that has been second to none to this point. The question/query some have, though: Has Somers faced enough rigorous out-of-section competition to prepare itself for the postseason encounters of Section 1 Class B, Yorktown in particular, which is as battle-tested as they come?

This current Somers squad has become the squad we hoped it would be, actually a year behind what we – in this notebook, circa 2023 – predicted it would/could become. All that said, outside of a 14-9 loss against Class B No.1 South Side (LI), Somers has a few sprinkles of light fluff in its schedule to open the 2024 campaign, but the back-end is loaded with the essential state-ranked tests – No.6 Class C John Jay CR, No.3 Class C Rye and No.2 Class D Pleasantville – the Tuskers will need to be better prepared for a potential championship showdown with Yorktown, and/or any other potential semifinal team the Tuskers might face. One of those potential challenges might come from a Horace Greeley team that got waxed in last week’s 15-6 loss to the Tuskers behind Ryan Brush (4G, 2A), Miguel Iglesias (2G, 2A), Mac Sullivan (2G, 2A), Grayden Carr (3G), Matt Mayfield (1G, 1A, 20/24 faceoffs), Cam Violante (1G), Jackson Forsberg (1G), Dylan Jimenez (1G), Logan Ruby (2A), Tristain Iglesias (2A) and oft-tested G Landon Pepe (20 saves).

Jameson Blakeslee scored three goals for the Quakers (6-3 Section 1, 7-5 overall), who also worked past a struggling MAHOPAC squad in 19-11 fashion.

The early 2024 returns suggest a Somers vs. Yorktown slugfest, which conjures up memories of the esteemed McElduff brothers vs. them Rabidou boys of Somers when – just around the turn of the century – the rest of Section 1 were just starting to sniff around the championship consistency of Yorktown. Somers was still in Class C back then, so there’s no championship history between the two rivals.

Not to put the cart before the horse, but Yorktown’s second-to-none coaching staff and championship pedigree (41 Section 1 titles since 1972 and 49 championship appearance #DoTheMath) will likely have the six-time Section 1 champion Tuskers in the underdog role when push comes to shove and worlds will hopefully collide in the first-ever lax championship clash between the neighboring rivals #DownWithTheSickness.

It’d be a heck of a way to close out the 2023-24 school year. Imagine a football-like capacity crowd in a College Park-type atmosphere at ‘The Murph’ at 6:30 p.m. on May 29 #IfWorldsCollide #HuskersTuskers.

No.17 HORACE GREELEY remains enigmatic, as most had expected a better showing against Somers than the nine-goal setback and a five-goal loss to John Jay CR if the Quakers are serious about challenging for their first ever Section 1 title. Three losses in the last five games is not the way Greeley wants to head into the playoffs.

Three Section 1 Class D teams – No.2 Pleasantville, No.4 Bronxville and No.9 HALDANE – are ranked in the top 9 in NYS #MajorProgress.

Class D is Pleasantville, the current No.2 seed, and everybody else. The reigning Section 1 champion Panthers (8-0, 11-2) had an easy go this week as league play got going and P’Ville made short work of Ardsley, Pawling and Sleepy Hollow. There is one stiff test left for the Panthers as they square off against Somers on May 14th in a very intriguing battle. Current No.1 seeded WESTLAKE (11-0, which hasn’t faced the toughest of schedules, is hoping to navigate the early rounds of Class D in an effort to face P’Ville for all the marbles. The Wildcats will find out if they have what it takes when they square off against HALDANE this Saturday. The Blue Devils (5-4, 5-7) are lying in the weeds as the current No.8 seed. Either way, neither club wants to end up on the same side of the bracket as Pleasantville.

Since losing two of its first three games, Class C HEN HUD is on the come, having won eight in a row to move all the way to the No.2 seed behind Tappan Zee.

Hen Hud eased past PUTNAM VALLEY, 16-6 behind James McManus (7A), Kevin Ryan (6G) and Dean Pastolove (3G, 3A), all of whom posted six points in the win over the Class D Tigers, the current No.6 seed who have last three in a row and hope to stop the bleeding in a pair of tough games against Class B BREWSTER (5-8) and Lakeland/Panas. The Sailors followed that up with a 13-11 win over No.4 CROTON, which had no answers for Ryan (5G, 1A), James McManus (3G, 3A) and Pastolove (2G, 2A).

The Sailors (8-2, 9-2), though, have yet to post that statement win, the one which makes us believe they can go the distance. A win over Class B LAKELAND/PANAS (5-3, 5-7) or Class C BYRAM HILLS (6-5, 7-5) down the stretch would go a long way toward changing that mindset. The Bobcats have come on of late, posting wins in three of the last four and six of the last eight. Likewise, L/P is looking like a legit Final 4 threat in Class B with three straight blowout wins behind them. If the seeds shake out as currently defined with No.4 Greeley vs. No.5 L/P, we’d have ourselves a whale of a quarterfinal. Same can be said if FOX LANE, the current No.6, can slide into the top five, but the Foxes (6-5, 8-5 overall) have dropped three of the last four and come back to earth since shaking down Greeley in OT.

MAHOPAC may be struggling this season, but we try to find the good everywhere we can in this space. Mahopac senior and St. John’s-bound Danny Koch has stamped his legacy as an all-time great, according to Coach Jon Bota, who played alongside some great former Indians and has an appreciation for the program’s history, which is richer than most know.

“The kid is tops man,” Bota said of Koch, who recently scored his 100th career goal and moved into sixth place on the all-time scoring list at Mahopac. “In terms of skill set, work ethic, drive and then the ice in the veins to execute anytime, he’s tops. When it’s time to step up, he was always the one to say ‘gimme the ball’. He never backs down from a challenge and has a motor that doesn’t stop.

“I grew up hearing about 90s Pac lax,” he added. “I watched the early 2000s and played in the 2010 era. Koch is one of your old-school Pac players that you just don’t see often. I could go on about the accolades but the kid is truly meant to compete. He’s a next-level leader, always teaching the younger guys. We may not be there as a team this season, but I would put him in the conversation up there with the best to ever come out of Pac.”

Probably wouldn’t get much of an argument from the likes of former all-timers like Ryan McClay, Merrill Turnbull and Jeremy Guski, just to name a few of Pac’s finest.

 

ANDY JACOBS/DAVID TABER/ROB DIANTONIO PHOTOS