CLASS A
Mamaroneck stays on course, advances to state final four
MIDDLETOWN – Now comes the hard part.
After four straight blowout wins in the playoffs, Mamaroneck is again in position to make history. The Tigers beat Monroe-Woodbury and the incoming storms, posting a 23-5 win Saturday in a NYSPHSAA Class A regional at Middletown High School.
Now they have to deal with the Long Island champion in an East Semifinal and there is no margin for error.
Mamaroneck needs to send Massapequa home to keep its state title hopes alive.
“We’ve seen that team before and know they’re out for vengeance,” senior defender Brady Smith said. “We talked about it here on the sideline … this week coming up has to be our best week of practice of the entire season. We have to all stay locked in, no goofing around. We have to be dialed in the entire time.”
The Tigers jumped ahead early in the first meeting and came away with a 16-10 win but a lot of time has passed since that March 28 road game.
Mamaroneck did load up the schedule this season to get ready for this game, playing a number of Long Island and Connecticut heavyweights.
Knowing the Crusaders weren’t likely to provide much resistance, the Tigers scrimmaged Rye after winning a third consecutive Section 1 championship. The offense was on target here from the start and built a 16-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The starters were on the bench the rest of the game.
“Everyone is so unselfish,” senior midfielder Jake Reese said after starting the opening barrage. “Nobody cares who gets the goal. We have an, ‘Everybody eats’ mentality. We’re moving the ball at good speeds and taking the right shots. Everyone is scoring. Everyone is having a blast and I think that makes our offense go.”
Consistency quarter to quarter was the biggest issue this season for the Tigers, who for the most part reached a point late in the season where they were strong on both ends of the field over 48 minutes.
Will that remain the case even though it’s been a while since this team has been pushed?
“I think it definitely carries over,” Smith said. “I know the first time we played Massapequa there was a lot of inconsistency. We went up early and they came back. We had problems clearing in that game, knowing that we’ve gotten better in that area helps.”
Box score
Mamaroneck (17-3): Jude Miesner 2G; Carsen Winters 3G, 1A; Brian Auker 3G, 4A; Jake Reese 3G; Owen Reese 1A; Jared Rabina 1G, 3A; Nate Kulish 1G, 2A; Noach Balagot 1G; Brady Barter 2G; Henry Chelala 3G, 1A; Ethan Gross 2A; Chris Menzel 3G, 1A; Spencer Hammond 2A; Max O’Connor 1A; Ben Bacallao 1S; Will Devendorg 12S.
Monroe-Woodbury (10-7): Jackson Wernli 1G; CJ Henderson 1A; Anthony Severo 1G, 1A; Gavin Fitzgibbon 2G.
CLASS D
Bronxville earns another shot at Cold Spring Harbor
MIDDLETOWN – Bronxville was looking ahead the whole time.
While the outcome was never in doubt, no assumptions were made Saturday when the Broncos stepped onto the field against Rondout Valley. A dominant 19-4 win in a NYSPHSAA Class D regional final at Middletown High School was an opportunity to dial in ahead of the biggest challenge of the season.
The degree of difficulty is going to climb exponentially when Bronxville squares off against Cold Spring Harbor for the second year in a row.
“We kept pounding the message in, ‘Hey, the game after this one is the biggest game of your lives … so let’s make sure we’re getting things right as we go into that one,’ ” Broncos head coach Patrick Henderson said. “We didn’t look past this game. Everything we do is preparing us for Cold Spring. We had to stay focused.”
Last year’s 7-3 loss to the Seahawks in a regional semifinal added fuel to Bronxville’s offseason preparation.
“We struggled at first to beat Pleasantville and we got over that hump last year,” senior attackman Nick Martinelli said. “We came in this year knowing we were capable of winning. Cold Spring ended our season last year and sent our seniors home. I’m really looking forward to another game with them and spending another week together with these guys.”
Martinelli and Chase Bacigalupo worked in combination to get the Broncos in front 9-1.
There was a lull in the second quarter, but Patrick Plunkett triggered running time five minutes into the second half.
Practice will no doubt have additional intensity this week.
Bronxville comes back for a 6:30 p.m. Thursday start against Cold Spring Harbor. The winner plays for the NYSPHSAA championship.
“They’re an awesome team,” Martinelli said. “They’re super-well coached so we’re going to have to leave it all out there. I know we have the guys, we’re capable of hanging with anyone, but we have to play our hearts out.”
Box score
Bronxville (14-6): Chase Bacigalupo 4G, 3A; Trevor Valente 4G, 1A Nick Martinelli 1G, 7A; Thomas Freeman 3G, 1A; Henry Bacigalupo 1G, 1A; Patrick Plunkett 1G, 1A; Henry Hawkey 1G; Michael Fahy 1G; Max Nazzara 1A; Theo McMurray 2G, 1A; Brian Formato 1G, 1A; Landon Hamerling 2S; Victor Aviles 5S.
Rondout Valley (7-7): Hayden Bowman 1A; Wyatt Ortner 2G, 1A; Joe Davies 1G; Trace Baker 9S; Matt Cole 2S.
CLASS C
Rye earns another opportunity to make history
MIDDLETOWN – Next!
Rye finished with a flourish and dispatched Highland in a NYSPHSAA Class C regional championship Saturday at Middletown, posting a 19-3 win.
The Garnets got back on the bus with more hardware in hand, knowing what lies ahead.
Rye is one win shy of playing for another state title and will be coming back Thursday for a showdown against Wantagh in the East Semifinal.
Getting past the Long Island champion has been a nagging issue.
“It’s just extra motivation, the opportunity to make history,” senior midfielder Henry Gilroy said. “Obviously, we’ve never made it past that game, so that’s motivating, too. We’re going to get after it this week.”
This game is unique.
Section 1 is typically a heavy favorite and it’s human nature to hold back a little knowing what’s coming next. That explains the choppy start. Luke Weise had the Huskies up 2-1 four minutes in, but Rye answered with a seven-goal run.
It was a 10-3 after Max Niejadlik pushed the pace and found brother Will for a transition goal shortly before halftime.
After giving up the early goals, the Garnets defense wasn’t messing around.
“There might be times when the offense isn’t clicking, so it’s definitely important for us to show up and keep us in games,” said Max Niejadlik, a sophomore long stick midfielder. “It comes down to practice. We take every practice like were in a game. Playing against this offense with a lot of committed players, they get us better and we get them better. That’s iron sharpening iron.”
Rye continued to pull away in the second half. Henry Shoemaker fed Eddie Fernandes with 3:10 to go in the third quarter to make it a 15-3 cushion and keep the clock running.
Box score
Rye (15-5): Henry Shoemaker 1G, 4A; Will Niejadlik 3G, 2A; Charlie Brady 4G, 1A; Carson Miller 2G; Henry Gilroy 1G; Thomas Goldszer 1G; J.P. Treacy 1G; Jack Loguidic 3G, 1A; Eddie Fernandes 2G; Colin Nigro 1A; Nigel Strazzini 1G; Teddy Higgins 1A; Max Nejadlik 1A; Sam Scully 1G; Wilson Redd 1A, 16/20FO; Sam Lamonte 10S; Quinn McGill 1S.
Highland (16-2): Logan Davis 1G; Luke Wiese 2G; Mark Cureton 1A; Justin Caballero 16S.
CLASS B
Yorktown rolls into East Semifinal with routine win over Cornwall
MIDDLETOWN – Yorktown is big on routine.
The early start did not alter the usual approach or change the expectations. Brady Sheriden got the Huskers going with a goal in the opening minutes of a methodical 18-5 win over Cornwall in a NYSPHSAA Class B regional final Saturday at Middletown High School and it was same old, same old from there.
“We always knew we were going to be here,” senior defender Nick D’Andria said. “It’s part of the journey. Everything is the same, honestly, it’s a little different in terms of getting up and getting on a bus but the mentality is the same. We were locked in, listening to the same music, the same speeches. We’re just keeping it going.”
Yorktown is coming back Thursday to play in the NYSPHSAA East Semifinal against Manhasset at 4 p.m.
It’s the second final four appearance in three years for some in this group. The Huskers fell to South Side in 2024 and have not celebrated a state playoff win over the Long Island champion since 2017 when they beat Garden City in a 5-4 overtime thriller.
There were some turnover issues early in this game before the goals began to find the back of the net.
“Yeah, we have to stay more composed,” senior midfielder Gianluca Marchini said. “We can’t get think too highly of ourselves. We have to play lacrosse just like we always do.”
Yorktown was strong on defense and Tommy Carney netted three goals before halftime, building a 9-2 lead at the break. J.T. Carney had four goals after the intermission, pushing the game toward running time.
Pregame hype for next week’s matchup between two if the marquee programs in New York with a state championship berth on the line will not be necessary.
“My sophomore year we were up big (against South Side) and lost the game,” Marchini added. “We had too many penalties. “That’s something we’ve really worked on, being more composed as a team so that if we do get into a situation where a team makes a run on us we’re able to come back from it.”
Box score
Yorktown (16-4): Brady Sheridan 1G, 1A; Aidan Concannon 1G; Danny Weissman 1A; Tommy Carney 4G, 1A; Frankie Ofrias 3G; Vinny Marchini 1G, 1A; Cooper Constantine 1A; Gianluca Marchini 2G, 1A; Jayden Tyndal 1G, 1A; J.T. Carney 4G, 2A; Ryan Fastiggi 1G; Tyler Caricati 1A, 17/27FO; Hunter Mezzatesta 13S; Dom DeBellis 2S.
Cornwall (15-3): Jayden Saraceno 2G, 1A; Brock Suby 1G; Kyle Rose 1G; Danny Sullivan 1A; Matt Argenio 1G; Slav Mishkovski 13S.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Yorktown, Rye, Bronxville, Mamaroneck advance to boys lax state semis
Reporting by Mike Dougherty, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mike Dougherty, Rockland/Westchester Journal News | USA TODAY Network
