The Section 1 championship tripleheader last night at White Plains High School was a drama-filled, action-packed whirlwind in which two of the three games were decided by one goal for the second time in the last three years.
But this year will forever stand alone.
Thanks to Mamaroneck.
The Tigers pulled off what has to be the most unlikely journey to a title since Section 1 held its first championship in 1967, pulling out a dramatic 9-8 victory over Mahopac in their first sectional title appearance since 1988.
After all, Mamaroneck entered the season minus Colgate-bound senior captain, goaltender Jake Danehy, who suffered a shoulder injury playing hockey that has kept him on the sideline for all of the spring.
The team’s best all-around player, Georgetown-bound junior midfielder Peter Conley, meanwhile, missed 10 regular-season games with an injury of his own.
The Tigers endured an eight-game losing streak during the season that included two losses to White Plains, a setback to New Rochelle and 15-7 loss to Eastchester.
But this morning, the Mamaroneck Tigers are Section 1 champions for the first time in their history, and they beat defending champion Mahopac to do it.
Do you believe in miracles?
Yesterday’s tripleheader ended with another 9-8 game as Yorktown outlasted John Jay on a goal by Connor Vercruysse off a Conor Gately feed with 1:36 left in the first, four-minute, sudden-death overtime.
John Jay scored twice in the last minute of regulation to force OT, but in the end, Yorktown came away with sectional title No. 35.
Bronxville defended its Class C sectional title with a 12-6 win against Hen Hud behind the three-goal efforts of Henry Grass and Brewster Warble and the strong play of Andrew Walsh in the faceoff X.
West Islip won its ninth straight Suffolk County title, beating Ward Melville in the Section 11 Class A title game 9-6 yesterday.
Connecticut started state playoff action yesterday.
Here are updated brackets:
Boys
Girls
Before we look ahead to Saturday’s downstate New York quarterfinal schedule, we have a quick programming note.
Nine players from the Hudson Valley region will be selected as US Lacrosse All-Americans today. The meeting is early in the evening. Be sure to check here later on tonight to find out who was selected.
Saturday, June 2 regional finals
Long Island championships: Section 8 (Nassau) vs. Section 11 (Suffolk)
Games at Hofstra University, Hempstead
Class C
Shoreham-Wading River (Section 11) vs. Cold Spring Harbor (Section 8), 1 p.m.
Class A
West Islip (Section 11) vs. Syosset (Section 8), 3:30 p.m.
Class B
Sayville (Section 11) vs. Garden City (Section 8), 6 p.m.
Section 1 (Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess) vs. Section 2 (Albany area)
Games at Clarkstown South High School, West Nyack
Class C
Glens Falls (Section 2) vs. Bronxville (Section 1), 1 p.m.
Class A
Niskayuna (Section 2) vs. Mamaroneck (Section 1), 3:30 p.m.
Class B
Queensbury (Section 2) vs. Yorktown (Section 1), 6 p.m.
Downstate New York semifinal
Wednesday, June 6 at Hofstra University, Hempstead
Class C
Shoreham-Wading River/Cold Spring Harbor winner vs. Glens Falls/Bronxville winner, 3:30 p.m.
Class A
West Islip/Syosset winner vs. Niskayuna/Mamaroneck winner, 5:30 p.m.
Class B
Sayville/Garden City winner vs. Queensbury/Yorktown winner, 8 p.m.
State championships
Saturday, June 9
at Faller Field, Middletown High School (pictured above)
Class C
11 a.m.
Class A
1:30 p.m.
Class B
4 p.m.
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Posted In: fciac, Section 1, Section 11, Section 2, Section 8, Section 9, SWC lacrosse
Yes, looking at some of Mamo’s losses does make last night’s win all the more special. In fairness to Mamo, not having 2 of their key players for all or a big part of the season did not help themp. Aside from Conley and Danehy, Greenberg and Brill certainly are very skilled players.
Challenges have not stopped. They are coming up against one of the best-coached and toughest teams in NYS in Niskayuma. Let’s go Mamo!
AA’s (as usual prob unintentionally over-looked/forgot certain names)
Locks
Town:Fusco, Gately, Mariano + Cooley or Koelsch
Jay: Lambert, Branca
Bronxville: J.Grass
Lakeland Panas: Monteferante
Somers: K. Cousin
In the running: Carpenter(Somers) Bernardis (Mahopac-may not have played enough games?) Erickson (Brewster) Landis (Pelham) Warble (Bronxville) Conley (Mamo–missed too many games)
what about beck and ferentini from jay. had much better/clutch performance than cousin.
Landis is a lock! Cooley will not be nominated as well as mariano. Both are solid players but not All americans.. Gately, Fusco and Maybe Koelsch will be nominated. Erickson should also make it. Alleyne and larrabee also have a chance to get some votes. Mcnally will also be in the running..
AA’s Locks should be:
Lambert
Fusco
Gately
Landis
Monte
Grass
Erickson
Koelsch-good shot
Larrabee or Branca lock
Conley should be but missed around 10 games, however he had a nasty playoff which could add him to the list.
Beck-Schurr will push hard and may sneak in
Cirillo-weak schedule and lack of exposure to most top program coaches will hurt him.
Hudson Valley boys lax All-Americans: Grass, Lambert, McNally, Alleyne, Gately, Fusco, Monteferante, Schurr, Landis.
Need to consider Cirillo (M-Eastchester) and FOGO from Hen Hud
Thank you Hen Hud Sailors players and coaches, and especially the seniors, for a hard working season with a very tough schedule and a memorable playoff run. We are proud of you all. Also, good luck to the Broncos in the state tourney.
The fact that Conley missed so many games and then leads his team to the title gives him more credibility. 15 goals in the playoffs too. Definitely AA.
Will have to wait until next year. AA talent, but needs to play in majority of games IMO.
Agree
Of note in the Section 3 playoffs, in Class A, Liverpool beat West Genesee 6-5 in overtime to break the Wildcats’ streak of 10 straight sectional titles.
Think traditionally Seniors have had priority for AA. Juniors were more of an exception for AA and had to be kind of no brainer highly talented kids who played well vs tough competition, made special teams, etc.
Good examples are Lambert and Grass who all agree are super talents and have shown this with top performances vs tough competition. A different example may be Landis. Although Pelham plays a weaker schedule, people who have seen him play acknowledge he is very talented. He also got recruited for Notre Dame and Hopkins while he was playing for Hudson Valley in the ’10 Empire State Games.
When will the AA and all sections be announced? Will they be posted here?
Yes, as always and as noted in this story, the HV AA selections will be posted this evening.
Will the Academic All Americans and Scholar Athletes be announced as well?
No, there is a separate selection process for those awards.
Do you know when these will be announced if these is a separate selection process?
Congrats to all those selected!!