They’re two of the top teams not only in New York state, but in the nation.
And one of them will not advance beyond the first round of the state tournament.
That’s because heavyweights Yorktown and Niskayuna will battle it out in a first-round state tournament game on Thursday, May 30 at 3:30 p.m. at the University at Albany.
Both are senior-laden teams, which gives the term “Survive and advance” new meaning.
Who will win the showdown?
You make the call.
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Posted In: You make the call
Course I want Town to win. Not surprised that there are no takers yet to predict a winner because really these teams are both so good and well matched that its really a coin toss. I’ll give the edge to Town with wins against Darien, Chaminade, Ridgefield and an OT loss to St. Anthony’s. Nisky has some quality wins (Darien) including a huge win over perennial power, Jamesville Dewitt.
Two great teams going head to head… should be a battle. Go Warriors
Yorktown gets 6/10 All Americans. That must be a record…
Town is running on all cylinders. Put the AA awards away and keep playing like a team and they should have a nice run through the tournament.
To me both teams very solid, good defense, score points, does anyone have any info on Nisky FO? That could be the difference. Nice to see a Nisky team that can score points! This could have easily been for a state championship. While you can never count out the Island or Sect 3 both of these teams are legit! Only problem is they have to play each other then the Island before JD (which has a much easier run to the finals)
Talk about getting thru Nisky I remember in ’08 Town beat a very tough Nisky team 9-6 in brutally hot weather and then had to come right back and face Syosset who was good–but not as strong as Nisky. Town lost a disputed close one 6-5 and I think I remember people feeling among other things that Town had somewhat run out of gas.
Just heard the games have been moved to tomorrow?? No confirmation yet, but looks like they were pushed back.
Confirmed–same times.
Yes, the game is now postponed until tomorrow and the games will be at the same times. Go Town!
Anyone know why the game was postponed?
Referring to an earlier post about Yorktown and Nisky, the 9-6 win was indeed followed up by a tough one-goal loss to Syosset, a game Town blew a 4-goal lead. The difference this time around is whoever wins today gets a break on Saturday because Section 9 got the bye this year and in all likelihood either team could beat the Section 9 rep if they played 10-15 minutes after completing their opening round game.
The spacing of the state quarters to semifinals (next Wednesday up in Marist) bodes extremely well for the Town-Nisky winner. Garden City, barring an upset loss to Miller Place, will be no pushover, but the combination of days off, the teams’ respective abilities this season and the game being played off the Island should help either Town or Nisky get by GC in what should be a relatively low-scoring matchup regardless of the matchup.
As for upstate, barring a miracle, Jamesville-DeWitt will get to the final. But they’ve already lost to Nisky at home (by 1), so I’d give today’s winner a great shot at taking home the whole thing.
Nisky needs a state title to solidify its place as one of the great programs in the country. Just like John Jay needs one, though Nisky over the last few years has been far superior to most any program short of what comes out of the elite on the Island.
It’s been 10 years for Yorktown. This may be the best team they’ve had since the Colsey years and is clearly the best offensive team they’ve ever had, period. I’ve never seen such individual shooting precision from a Town team.
It’s going to be insane up at SUNY Albany later today. Team that wins the draws, wins the game. Goldstock is an incredible talent for Nisky. If you haven’t seen him yet, wow. You’re in for a treat. Koelsch wlll have his hands full.
I agree about the spacing of the quarters/ semis for Nisky or Town. If Town had to play Nisky/ Saturday, GC/ Wednesday, and JD/ Saturday, it would up the difficulty significantly. I like Town to pull out a squeaker vs. Nisky, get by GC, and then a toss up vs. JD.
Cuse,
It’s hard to imagine this years squad being better than 92 and 93-but I guess with shooting it would have to be. I think 92 and 93 combined for three losses and had ridiculous numbers on O. How would you compare them ? Maher, Kavovit and Carcaterra and then Kavovit, Carcaterra and Nicolosi ? Plus those teams had amazing D too.
This years squad has losses to Shenendowa and St. Anthony, but this is not a crazy St. Anthony’s team just a good one.
Indian J, the difference I think is based on the competition they face. Class B back in 92-93 was nothing like what it is now, so to see such shooting precision and offensive prowess from a Yorktown team historically known more for team offense over the individual is the basis for my thoughts. Putting up 12-13-14 goals against incredible programs. I wonder what Colsey’s teams would do against a Nisky, GC, JD potential as opposed to Columbia, still trying to find itself B class on the Island (when GC is not at its best) and say a Corning East that failed repeatedly in state finals for years. That’s my point. The levels of depth state-wide now is unreal compared to 20 years ago. What was once a guarantee of state semis is now a chore to sometimes get out of the section and now to get out of the region. All this while Yorktown’s teams have by and large maintained the same excellence as a sole entity. Personally, I think from an overall offensive mindset, this was the best offensive team Town ever had, but as we’ve seen there are several others around the state and for the most part there are no gimmes anymore once states rolls around.
you said John Jay has to win a state championship? I dont see them winning a section title for the next 4 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your point being?
Tade, Jay will be going through a down period for that time yes, but Cuse was just pointing out that Jay is in need of one, not that they were going to get it in the immediate future. Every program dip, cant dip because there’s no where to go but up, or will eventually dip. There was no usual West Islip this year. Wilton was certainly down. Town has had years where they dropped a couple (more than a couple) to section 1 teams. Mahopac and L/P really have not been what they were, so it happens. Jay will return though as I’m sure the down period will set off alarms and people will react. It’s the seventh grade from what I hear. If you hate Jay, enjoy it. For many opposing teams, it will be their first or second win over the purple in a decade or more.
John Jay 7th grade is good and deep – but not better than the 2011 version of john jay (that dealt with some injuries) and didn’t win the section. This isn’t fantasy football….john jay has enough good players to compete. No, they won’t be as good as Bocklet/Stockel/Bohlander, etc. but with the right coaching and the right level of commitment they can compete for a sectional title every year. Haven’t they been to the Sectional Finals for the last 10 years (winning five – last one in 2010). How many programs besides YTown can claim that?
And if you believe youth can help you predict the future – I see no powerhouse Yorktown teams from the freshman and younger. But that is the trap…Find the 5 or 6 kids that can play from each grade and have them commit and develop them.
2011 had an unusual amount of injuries to what seemed like the most important players,-that was tough. Not sure on where our agreement stops and our disagreement ends, clearly a lot can happen from 7th grade to senior year of high school. I agree it’s all about cultivating the best athletic talent in your town in to lacrosse talent, not about identifying blue chip players when they’re 13 years old. That being said, those above great teams that you mentioned were a combination of talent, coaching, recruiting the best from other sports before it was too late, and what noise they were bringing from the youth league. You need all of it. It’s a huge challenge for a community and I think it makes all of this so interesting to watch over the span of many seasons.
You can bank on a lot of changes from 7th grade on depending upon when a boy matures, where the 10 year old superstar stops developing and boys who grow bigger and stronger later replace them. It’s much more important to build the skill set and then let the physical development take them as far as they can go. Nobody cares who won CONNY titles, they care how many good players can make contributions to the HS program, and the guys who did that in 6th grade are not always the ones who do so in 10th grade.
Everyone has their challenges. Rye frustratingly continues to remain behind Jay in winning its way to the finals. Don’t think our JV has ever beaten J although I heard we only lost by 1 goal this season.
The future is bright. Heard a rumor we may have a very good offensive transfer coming in (no details), a number of strong returning O players, pretty much our whole strong D back, another good goalie, and like J, some very strong talent moving out of the 7-9 grades populating the varsity in yrs to come.
Good luck to both teams in the future.
Identifying talent in 7th grade usually means excluding the late bloomers and late starters. Coach Schurr has been good at looking beyond the depth charts that JJYL hands him and reaching his own conclusions, but many promising kids lose interest by that point.
Agree Indian J. Jay simply needs one. Whether it came 6-7 years ago or in the future it would put a stamp on what really is an elite program not just in NYS, but also nationally. I know Timmy Schurr personally. He’s an exceptional man on top of being a hell of a lacrosse coach and molder of men. He will get his eventually. Jay is going to go through a lull as all good programs do, but they’ll get to the point where they are reloaded sooner rather than later. There’s no two ways about it.
With 6 AA’s you’d think they wouldnwalk over everyone’ very goodnteam but a bit overrated
You can’t say overrated based on the number of AAs, when you are only choosing AA from one pool. As far as the Hudson Valley goes, Yorktown got exactly the number of AAs they deserved. Put them on Long Island, obviously, they don’t get that many. Plus you are not overrated when you beat Chaminade, Ridgefield, Darien, lose to St. Anthony’s in overtime, play the No. 2 ranked team in the country to a 2-goal loss you led for basically three-fourths of the game. Niskayuna was better. They handled the elements better. But this in no way means Yorktown wasn’t deserving of every last bit of praise they got this season.
Glad someone finally correctly addressed the totally faulty comment about Town being over rated because they lost with 6 AA’s
Nisky LIKE TOWN is a great team. As you said yesterday Nisky handled the element better near the end–in another game Town may have done the same. No matter how good these kids are they’re not robots and can perform differently on particular days.
Syracuse, thank you so much for your statements about Town and the team this year. People here respect your opinion and I have certainly appreciated your honesty over the years. There is always pressure for any Town team and this year with the “this could be the year” was no differnt. This Town team had a incredible season and they lost a a very good Nisky team. No shame. What a great bunch of young men. Thanks again for your wise words and we will see you here again soon.
Excellent post Cuse Totally agree!