There isn’t much movement in the rankings this week, but a couple of the better teams did flex their strength. Rye affirmed its standing with a series of dominant wins, Yorktown extracted the Wilton thorn from the side of Section 1, and Rye Country Day School scored another perspective-adjusting win.
The teams at the bottom of our top 10 have faltered a bit lately, and a couple of those “bubble” teams are beginning to knock loudly.
Girls Lacrosse Power Rankings
Records are as of the morning of April 21.
1. Nyack (4-3)
The RedHawks have had a rough stretch during this designed-to-be-difficult portion of their schedule, dropping three straight to elite teams outside of the section. On the bright side for them, those losses to Wilton, New Canaan and St. Anthony’s were by two or fewer goals, which suggests the gap between Nyack and those teams isn’t a chasm. They’ve got local games upcoming against Ursuline and North Rockland before gearing up for showdowns next week with Rye and Darien. Last week: 1
2. Rye (5-3)
They’ve had three straight wins, each by considerable margins, and the most significant was a 15-9 victory last Saturday over Yorktown, the defending Section 1 Class B champion. Duke-bound senior Beau Whaling notched her 100th career goal in that contest. The Garnets have a busy week ahead with three games, culminating with them hosting New Canaan on Saturday. Last week: 2
3. Suffern (7-1)
The Mounties had decisive wins over John Jay-Cross River and Section 2’s Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake before taking their first loss, 12-10, to Garden City. Suffern rallied from an early 6-0 deficit but the comeback fell short. Garden City is a longtime Long Island powerhouse, so there’s a “level of difficulty” credit here. Suffern has three big games this week, including visiting Bronxville and Horace Greeley. Last week: 3
4. Yorktown (8-2)
There’s a bit of “Rock, paper, scissors” irony here. The Huskers’ losses came against Nyack and Rye, sandwiched between a win over Wilton, a Connecticut squad that beat Nyack and Rye. Yorktown is legitimate, of course, and its schedule is littered with premiere matchups, including upcoming games against Ridgefield and Suffern. Last week: 4
5. Pleasantville (10-0)
The Panthers are among the few remaining undefeated local teams, and they’ve made it look easy, beating opponents by an average margin of 11.8 goals. They’ll face surging Briarcliff and Eastchester this week, then begin a challenging stretch that includes three straight games against teams in our ranking. Last week: 5
6. Rye Country Day School (11-0)
Measuring them against the elite Section 1 teams is somewhat hypothetical, but the Wildcats have done their part in eliminating some of the guess work. A 13-9 win over Bronxville last week — along with a comeback win over Pelham earlier this month — further legitimizes their place among the best in the Hudson Valley. Last week: 6
7. Pelham (8-2)
Colleen Sheehy showed out in the Pelicans/ win over Croton-Harmon last week, demonstrating her skills as a facilitator, scorer, defender and draw specialist. Excluding their losses to Rye and Rye Country Day, Pelham has won games by an average margin of 9.4 goals. They carry a six-game win streak into meetings this week with Edgemont and Minisink Valley, the defending Section 9 Class B champion. Last week: 7
8. Fox Lane (8-1)
The Foxes rebounded from a disappointing one-goal loss to White Plains with an 8-7 win over Section 2’s Shaker on Saturday. Nevertheless, that is a concerning dip in production for an offense that had averaged 16 goals in its five previous games. With only one game scheduled this week, Fox Lane will have some time to tinker and refine before visiting Brewster next week. Last week: 8
9. Wappingers (7-2)
They’ve played three straight nail-biters but eked out one-goal wins in the last two, including a 16-15 win over Mahopac. Wappingers hosts Clarkstown South on Tuesday then will prepare for Mamaroneck and Section 9’s Pine Bush next week. Last week: 10
10. John Jay-Cross River (5-5)
The Wolves are in a bit of a tailspin having dropped three in a row, including a crushing loss to struggling Greenwich (Connecticut) last Saturday. This team still is talented, of course, and they’re capable of bouncing back. John Jay faces North Rockland and Bronxville this week. Last week: 9
On the bubble: Bronxville (4-4), Somers (5-4), Horace Greeley (5-3), Briarcliff (8-1), Mahopac (7-4)
Stephen Haynes covers sports for The Journal News/lohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rye, Pleasantville surging in latest girls lacrosse rankings
Reporting by Stephen Haynes, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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