Hackley graduate Morgan Lathrop, Yorktown graduate Katrina Dowd and the rest of the Northwestern Wildcats start their quest for a fourth straight NCAA title today against Notre Dame.

Lathrop, a Briarcliff resident, is 17-1 with a 6.61 goals-against average, while Dowd entered the game fourth on the team in goals (33) and points (37).

Notre Dame features starting goalie Erin Goodman, a Lakeland gradaute. Goodman has started all 18 games, going 12-6 with a 10.50 GAA and a 46.8 save percentage. The Fighting Irish also have attacker Julie Foote, a Suffern graduate, who has appeared in nine games this year.

By my count, there are four other locals in the NCAA tournament today, and at least one has a major role. New Hampshire defenseman Kelli LaPerch, a Brewster graduate, has started all 18 games on defense, recording 23 ground balls. The other locals are Suffern gradaute Carolyn Gioia, an attacker at Vanderbilt, Panas graduate Katie Rogers, a defender at Princeton, and White Plains graduate Sarah Kellogg, an attacker at Colgate.

Good luck to everyone today, and throughout the tournament (unless you play Duke, in which case I hope you lose).

It was a very interesting day at John Jay Saturday, where the girls team celebrated “Jay Fest” by hosting Horace Greeley.

The newly-ranked Quakers solidified themselves as the top challenger to Yorktown in Class B, winning the game 16-12. Courtney Miller, who collected the MVP award from the Jay booster club, scored eight times and added two assists, giving her 100 assists for her career. For the Indians, Katherine Pickel (below) and Kirstin Lang (below Katherine) each scored their 100th career goal, while Lang earned the sportsmanship award.

Some other interesting results yesterday. North Rockland held Lakeland/Panas to one goal in the first half and led 3-1 before the Rebels pulled out a 9-7 win. Caitlin Collins had four goals and an assist and Casandra Honovich added two goals and two assists for L/P.

In an always interesting Section 1-private school matchup, Scarsdale pulled out a 12-11 win over Hackley. Nicole Rafajac scored five goals and Jenny Pechman had four goals and an assist for the Raiders.

And I realized I never linked to my girls lacrosse notebook, which was about how close all the games are in League I-B (here’s the link). Well, Rye and Mamaroneck tied 11-11 yesterday. Molly O’Brien scored four goals for the Garnets. Lauren Rush had three goals and one assist for the Tigers.

If anyone has thoughts on these games or anything else, I’d love to hear it.

Amanda Lambert (below), a second-team all-county defender last season who was moved to the midfield last week, entered last night with two varsity goals. She matched that total in the first half against Yorktown, and then added three more in the second half as the Mounties beat the Cornhuskers 19-10.

Behind 6-5 at halftime, Suffern put on quite a show in the second half, opening with a 10-1 run and finishing with 14 goals. This is the fourth time Suffern has scored at least 19 this season.

Lambert fit right in with the rest of Suffern’s explosive offense. Ali (below right) and Jessi Steinberg had a lot to smile about—they celebrated their 18th birthday with Ali getting six goals and two assists, and Jessi having three goals and three assists. Lara Kozin and Ali Mandel also scored twice, while Jaimie Morrison had three goals and two assists for Yorktown.

I’m off to celebrate my own birthday tonight, so I’ll come back tomorrow with some thoughts on the rest of the games. In the meantime, here’s the video highlights of the game courtesy of Peter Carr, and here’s the link to my story.

Casandra Honovich scored with 1:01 left on an 8-meter shot as Lakeland/Panas tied Yorktown 9-9.

Caitlin Collins had two goals and an assist for the Rebels (10-3-1), who scored the last three goals of the game. Jaimie Morrison (above) had four goals and two assists for the Cornhuskers (9-3-1).

Here’s the article with details about Yorktown’s fast start, Lakeland’s pressure and comeback, and the tying shot that deflected off two different people. One thing that got left out for space was the play of Rebels goalie Alex Fitzpatrick, who was fantastic, especially in the second half when the Cornhuskers were held scoreless for the final 11 minutes.

“This is the last time for the seniors to come out and play, and I promised the defense I would come out strong, and I hope I made them happy,” she said after the game.

Also, here’s some video shot by Dave Kennedy.

Anyway, I promised yesterday that I saw something that I’d never seen before, so here it is. About midway through the second half, a call goes Yorktown’s way, and the Lakeland/Panas fans start screaming at the ref. Not sure what was said exactly (definitely the words “Shut up”), but the ref stops the clock and has both teams huddle up. She then has Rebels coach Sharon Sarsen to walk across the field to talk to the L/P fans. Unorthodox move, but I think it worked. That is, until after the game, when a different L/P fan told Kennedy to “shut up.”

My conclusion: there were no losers in yesterday’s tie game, except for those L/P fans.

Two players hit milestones yesterday. Emily Biondi scored her 250th goal for Brewster, and Jessi Steinberg notched her 200th for Suffern. Better still, they both won. Also yesterday, North Rockland edged closer to the No. 3 seed with a win over Mahopac, Edgemont had a nice tie against Mamaroneck, and Nanuet nearly had its first league tie, but Courtney McGrath scored the with 58 seconds left to give the Golden Knights a 15-14 win over Nyack.

Speaking of Nanuet, they were the overwhelming choice to win Class C in our latest poll. There will be a new question appearing shortly.

Here’s my latest power rankings. Comments are always welcome.

1. Suffern (12-1): Unbeaten in Section 1.
2. Lakeland/Panas (10-3): Won last three games by a combined score of 50-12.
3. Yorktown (9-3): Goes for sweep of Lakeland/Panas today.
4. Nanuet (11-2): Five girls have at least 29 goals.
5. Horace Greeley (7-6-1): Wins over North Rockland and Mahopac move them into top 5.
6. North Rockland (8-5): Big game against Mahopac today
7. Mahopac (5-8): Outscored 46-18 in last three games.
8. Scarsdale (7-5-1): Adapted well in higher league.
9. Mamaroneck (6-5-1): Convincing win over Nyack Tuesday keeps it in.
10. Hackley (9-4): Has won 5 of 6.

Also, here is the latest New York State Sportswriters Association state poll. Suffern is No. 17 in Class A, Yorktown in No. 10 and Greeley in No. 18 in Class B, Nanuet is No. 14 and Yonkers Sacred Heart (?) is No. 17 in Class C. I wouldn’t put too much stock in it, since there is no way someone can compare a team from Section 1 to a team from Section 5. But it’s interesting that Section 1 plays Section 2 in the first round of the state playoffs, and in all three classes a Section 2 team is ranked higher (Guilderland, Niskayuna and Albany Academy).

The seeding meeting is two weeks from today, so here is a first look at the playoff projections. This is based on games reported to us by 4 p.m. today. If anything doesn’t look right, please let me know.

Teams in Leagues 1-A and 1-B automatically qualify. Teams in Leagues II-A and II-B must have a winning percentage of 40—either in league OR overall games. Teams in Leagues III-A and III-B must have a winning percentage of 50, league OR overall.

Teams in each league are seeded ahead of the league below it. Within each league, teams are seeded by league record, with head-to-head acting as a tiebreaker.

So here we go. League records are in parenthesis. Teams that are currently on the outside I put in italics. Keep in mind that if one of them actually qualifies, then it moves everyone below it down one seed.

Class A
League I-A
1. Suffern (7-0)
2. Lakeland/Panas (4-2)
3. North Rockland (3-4)
4. Mahopac (2-5)
League II-A
5. Clarkstown North (2-4-2)
League II-B
(White Plains 0-5-1, 2-5-1 overall)
(New Rochelle 0-5-2, 1-6-3 overall)
League III-A
6. Arlington (2-1, 6-1 overall)

Thoughts: Mahopac has already beaten North Rockland once head-to-head, so it can easily move to the third seed if it wins the rematch. … Even if L/P beats Suffern in their rematch, the Rebels loss to the Cornhuskers may have cost it the top seed. Still, with no home-field advantage in the final, it really doesn’t matter. … Clarkstown North needs some more wins to qualify, but I left them in for now, since it has games left against the bottom three teams, Albertus, Clarkstown South and Byram Hills.

Class B
League I-A
1. Yorktown (6-2)
2. Horace Greeley (2-5-1)
3. John Jay (0-6-1)
League I-B
4/5. Scarsdale (5-3-1) or Mamaroneck (4-3-1)
6. Tappan Zee (0-9-1)
League II-A
7. Brewster (7-0-1)
8. Fox Lane (6-1-1)
(Clarkstown South 1-6)
League III-A
9. Ossining (5-1)
(Ursuline 0-4, 1-6 overall)

Thoughts: John Jay needs to beat Greeley, and then knock off either Mahopac or North Rockland to have a chance at the No. 2 seed, and home-field in a possible semifinal. … That said, it might be better to just be the No. 3 seed, which means playing Tappan Zee in the quarters instead of Brewster. … Yorktown clinches the No. 1 seed with one more league win. … Scarsdale already beat Mamaroneck 15-14. They meet again next Wednesday in a game that could decide the No. 4 seed, which is big because it determines home-field in the quarterfinals. … Brewster went 1-0-1 against Fox Lane. As long as it loses just one of its last four league games, it retains the No. 7 seed and avoids Yorktown.

Class C
League I-B
1. Nanuet (8-0)
2/3. Pearl River (4-2-2) or Nyack (5-4)
4. Rye (3-4-2)
5. Edgemont (2-6)
League II-A
6. Bronxville (5-2)
(Albertus Magnus 2-5-1)
(Byram Hills 1-6, but 3-7 overall)
League II-B
7. Putnam Valley (6-0-1)
8. North Salem (4-1)
9. Harrison (6-2)
10. Pelham (3-4, 4-4 overall)
(Somers 2-3-2, 3-6-2 overall)
League III-A
11. Pleasantville (4-1)
(Hen Hud 2-3)
(Kennedy 0-3, 3-4 overall)
League III-B
12/13. Sleepy Hollow (3-0-1) or Briarcliff (3-0-2)
14. Hastings (3-1-1)
15. Ardsley (2-2)
(Irvington 1-5, 1-8 overall)
(Keio 0-4, 0-8 overall)

Thoughts: Wins are worth two points and ties are worth one, so Nyack and Pearl River are technically tied right now, though PR has played one less game. They play twice in five days (May 10 and May 14), so that should decide it. … Rye still isn’t out of the No. 2 spot either, assuming it wins its next two against Edgemont and Tappan Zee. … North Salem and Put Valley still have a rematch, and Harrison plays both teams again, so 7-9 is still up for grabs … Pelham should win at least three (WP, NR, Pleasantville and Somers are coming up), which is all it needs. … Despite a tie against PV and a decent record, Somers’ schedule coming up is very difficult (NS twice, PV, Pelham), so I’m leaving it out for now. … Hen Hud must win three of its final five league games, so it must pull an upset against Arlington, Pleasantville or Ossining. Right now I’m leaving it out. … With two games left against Arlington, there isn’t much room for error for Kennedy to get to .500. It’s out for now. … Sleepy Hollow beat Hastings, while Briarcliff tied Hastings and Sleepy Hollow, so that’s the difference so far. Teams all meet again in the next two weeks. … Ardsley needs to beat either Hastings, Sleepy Hollow or Briarcliff at least once to qualify.

Three teams have scored at least 20 goals so far, topped by Ossining’s 25. Emily Kowal had eight goals and Abigail Seelig had seven in a 25-13 win over Ursuline. Putnam Valley put up 20 in a 12-goal win over New Rochelle. Scoring was a little more balanced in that one, with nine players scoring, led by Ashley Morgan’s four.

And in a really remarkable score, Yorktown and Greeley combined for 23 goals — in the first half. The final was 22-18 in favor of the Huskers. Yorktown’s Jaimie Morrison had six goals and six assists and Courtney Miller led the Quakers with 10 goals.

Yorktown has now gone 4-0 against its two main contenders in Class B, John Jay and Greeley. Meanwhile Greeley just ended an exhausting run of eight games in 13 days, and as a loyal reader pointed out to me, the Quakers are the only team to have played every school in my updated power rankings (which had Hackley at 9 and Scarsdale at 10).

I’ll try checking in one more time tonight, and then tomorrow I’ll make my first playoff seedings projections.

Horace Greeley defeated its second Class A power league team in three days, beating North Rockland 16-10. Courtney Miller had six goals and two assists and Caroline O’Brien had five goals and an assist.

Pearl River had the best comeback of the night. Kelly Mulligan tied the score with 26 seconds left, and then passed to Julie McBride for the winner as the Pirates beat Mamaroneck 14-13.

Harrison scored 16 second-half goals against Pelham in a 22-14 win. Sara Misisco scored seven goals and Melisa Shulman scored five for the Huskies.

In other games, North Salem went up in league and played Scarsdale really close, losing 8-7. Arielle Green had a hat trick for the Raiders. Tappan Zee senior Kerri Lucena scored two goals, including her 100th varsity goal, in a 17-5 loss to Nanuet. Mahopac senior Caitlyn Corace scored her 100th varsity goal in a 16-7 loss to Suffern. And Briarcliff tied Hastings 11-11. Michelle Neider tied the game for Briarcliff with 2:24 left.

On Thursday I wrote this about the Putnam Valley girls lacrosse team:

Last season the Tigers started a varsity program – skipping the junior varsity level – and went 11-3-1. After graduating 10 seniors from that team, moving up two leagues and losing coach Kristen Bulkley, who gave birth to a daughter, the Tigers are again moving right along, sporting a 5-0-1 record. In fact, the only team that can stop Putnam Valley seems to be North Salem (7-1), which dealt the Tigers all three losses last season.

Anyway, Putnam Valley just got past North Salem 16-12. Tara Gleason and Ashley Morgan each had five goals and one assist in the win. Congrats.

The girls lacrosse notebooks came out today, which means one thing for most people: power rankings. Let me know what you think.

1. Suffern (9-1): Played teams in four different states.
2. Lakeland/Panas (8-3): Three of last four games decided by one goal.
3. North Rockland (7-3): Fifth win in a row came against Yorktown Tuesday.
4. Yorktown (7-3): Still unbeaten in Class B.
5. Nanuet (9-2): Only losses to Yorktown and Guilderland.
6. Horace Greeley (5-5-1): Earned first power-league win over Mahopac.
7. Mahopac (5-6): Beat John Jay 5-4 earlier this week to stay in 7th.
8. John Jay (2-6-1): Hasn’t won since April 5 against Mamaroneck.
9. Mamaroneck (6-3-1): Solid second in League I-B
10. Hackley (6-3): Has Greeley coming up.

Suffern suffered their first lost of the season at the hands of Moorestown (NJ) 15-8. The game was supposed to be at Suffern but the game got switched earlier in the week so Suffern agreed to travel to Moorestown. Moorestown is now 12-1 and after speaking with Suffern Head coach John Callanan he told me they were ranked some where around 30th in the country. With that said there’s definitely no shame in the loss. He also said that the Mounties had a few mental lapses and everytime they tried to make a run Moorestown would extend the lead. He gave a lot of credit to Moorestown and he and the team seemed to be in good spirits.

I’ve always though an early loss for a really talented team is more of a good thing than a bad thing. It wakes them up and lets them know that they can be beat. When you’re rolling it’s easy to not get up for every game or look past opponents. I think Suffern will be respond nicely to the loss and continue their dominance in Section 1.

Your thoughts…

Courtney Miller, pictured above, scored seven of her eight goals in the first half as Greeley topped Mahopac 14-7. Here’s my story and a video of highlights shot by Dave Kennedy.

Greeley now has the upper hand for the No. 2 seed in Class B, since John Jay is still winless in the league. That would mean home field when those teams likely meet in the sectional semifinals.

Also, Mahopac has four girls playing college lacrosse next year. Caitlyn Corace at Keene State, Ashley Carey at Stevens, Emily Rogers at SUNY Geneseo and Emma Boehm at William Smith. I will be updating the previous post.

In the other power league game, Chrissy Gutenberger had seven goals and an assist as North Rockland defeated John Jay 15-8. Kirstin Lang scored five goals for John Jay. And Nanuet continued to roll through League I-B, defeating Scarsdale 16-8. Hannah Frey and Courtney McGrath each had four goals and two assists for the Golden Knights.

The big three (Suffern, Yorktown and Lakeland/Panas) have had some close calls, but one of them finally lost to another team. North Rockland topped Yorktown 11-10 as Chrissy Gutenberger scored with 2:10 left. Gutenberger, Olivia Lynch (NRk) and Jaimie Morrison (Yk) all had four goals and one assist. The rankings come out tomorrow, but in the meantime what do you think should happen?

Elsewhere, Rye beat Nyack 13-10 in a possible Class C semifinal preview. Erica DiNardo (R ) and Caroline Chesterman (Ny) both scored four times. In a local private school matchup, Liz Garry and Christina McClintock each had four goals and an assist as Rye Country Day beat Masters 15-5. And in a Rockland battle, Mallori Seliger scored her fourth goal with 28 seconds left as Clarkstown North tied Albertus Magnus 10-10. Kerri Higins had five goals for the Falcons.

The rain gave Josh Thomson a chance to see White Plains-Pelham. Here’s his story.

I’ll be back later with a report from Greeley-Mahopac.

Chelsea Robinson scored a milestone goal (her 200th) and then added the winner (with 29 seconds left) as Lakeland/Panas defeated Greeley 14-13 yesterday. Alex Myers was there with the details. Jess Curran scored the first four goals and Caitlin Collins assisted on the final goal.

In the other big game played yesterday, two defensive-minded teams battled, and Mahopac ended up with a 5-4 win over John Jay. It’s great to see so many competitive games in the power league after what happened last year to the bottom teams.

The Lakeland/Panas game bring up another issue. This was sent to me by former Pearl River AD Tom Doherty. You can tell how new he is to blogging because he signed his name at the end (just kidding).

I’ll hold off on offering my own opinion because I want to generate discussion, but here are some facts about the issue. Panas contributes three girls to the Lakeland/Panas girls team (the same number as last year), and Section 1 has never denied a merger. I’m definitely interested to hear your thoughts.

“It puzzles me that Lakeland-Panas is still allowed to be merged in these high profile sports. Can someone please explain to me why this is allowed to be “rubber-stamped”
year after year?

When the New York State Public High School Athletic Association first allowed schools to combine teams in the early 80’s it was really earmarked for “emerging” programs in the smaller schools (Class C & D). The concept was for these schools to get together for a few short years in a new sport like lacrosse to provide an opportunity for these students to participate. Once the foundation was built, each school would then go off to form their own team. It was never the intention for school districts with two large high schools to regularly merge their programs into a district-wide team of all the elite athletes.

According to the NYSPHSAA classification numbers for the 2007-2008 school year, Lakeland has 947 students in grades 10 through 12 and Panas has 669. Of the 79 high schools in Section One, Lakeland is the 27th largest and Panas is 38th. Another factor that must be considered is that they both lie in Upper Westchester County, one of the top “hotbeds” in the entire country for lacrosse. Both the boys and girls teams are almost always ranked in the weekly state “Top 25” poll and perennially in contention for the Section One championships. If the true purpose of scholastic sports is to provide opportunities for youngsters to participate, I can not understand why each school has not developed their own teams?

To me this is not just a lacrosse issue; another example of a current “dynasty” is Clarkstown having one girls’ gymnastics team. Using the same state classification numbers as above, Clarkstown North has 1173 students and Clarkstown South has 1061 students. They are the 14th and 19th largest high schools in Section One.

I would welcome your readers’ thoughts on these merged teams.”

Tom Doherty
Former Athletic Director
Pearl River High School
1982-1992

Cat Friscia, a White Plains resident and Hackley senior, will be playing for Drexel University. Last year, Friscia was All-Ivy League and had 52 goals and 13 assists in 17 games. She played travel lacrosse for the Westchester Elite, and also captained the Hackley soccer and swim teams.

This brings the list of girls playing college lacrosse next year to (update: I’ve stopped counting, it gets larger every day), which I’ve listed below. Please feel free to send in news of any more commitments.

Also, the results of the latest poll are in, and Yorktown is the overwhelming favorite to win Class B, gathering 33 of 46 votes. Next up is Class C.

Jessi Steinberg (Suffern) — Cornell
Ali Steinberg (Suffern) — Rutgers
Joanna Johnson (Suffern) — Drexel
Amanda Lambert (Suffern) — Tufts
Lara Kozin (Suffern) — Tufts
Hannah Frey (Nanuet) — Boston
Brianna Straut (Nanuet) — Cortland
Caroline Chesterman (Nyack) — Florida
Chrissy Gutenberger (North Rockland) — Manhattan
Chelsea Robinson (Lakeland) — Virginia
Jess Curran (Lakeland) — East Stroudsburg
Courtney Miller (Greeley) — Colgate
Vail Horn (Bronxville) — Cal
Hillary Smith (Hackley/Bronxville) — Dartmouth
Kelsey Sickles (Yorktown) — Iona
Brittany Passarelli (Yorktown) — SUNY Oneonta
Kirstin Lang (John Jay) — New Hampshire
Racquel Lividini (Mamaroneck) — Ithaca
Liz Garry (Rye Country Day) — Middlebury
Cat Friscia (Hackley/White Plains) — Drexel
Caitlyn Corace (Mahopac) — Keene State
Ashley Carey (Mahopac) — Stevens
Emily Rogers (Mahopac) — SUNY Geneseo
Emma Boehm (Mahopac) — William Smith
Caroline O’Brien (Greeley) — Stonehill
Angela Napoletano (Edgemont) — Muhlenberg

I received this e-mail from a parent yesterday, and I wanted to post it here to see if anyone had similar concerns. Have crowds gotten worse recently? Has sportsmanship? Or is the writer out of touch? Are some areas worse than others?

She signed the original e-mail but agreed to let me post it on the blog if she could remain anonymous so as not to embarrass her daughter. Also, I xxx’d out the offending school. Partly because I don’t want this to be an attack on one program, but rather a look at the general scene, and because I’ve actually covered a game at that school this year (which narrows it down if you’ve been paying attention) and I really thought the atmosphere there was better than in at least two other places. If you really think that was the wrong decision I can be convinced. Anyway, here it is:

“My daughter has been playing travel lacrosse since 4th grade. She is now a senior in high school. As such, I am a long time spectator of travel and varsity lacrosse games. In comparison to other varsity sports, I was always impressed with the level of sportsmanship and behavior exhibited by both the players and spectators. That is, until last week in XXXXX. I have to say, I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and am by no means unfamiliar with rowdy crowds. But the boorishness of both the XXXXX students, spectators and parents was really surprising. My daughter also commented on the rudeness of the players on the field and I have to say the personal attacks about the visiting team and comments coming from parents sitting around me was bordering on harrassment. I was waiting for a hockey game to break out.”

And later: “I think it’s a shame, especially when teams play away and don’t have much support from the sidelines. It got really painful listening to, “hit the goalie.” It’s one thing to have team loyalty, but as I mentioned, the insults were made to specific players.”

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Well, I’ve now witnessed all three rematches of last year’s sectional finals, and remarkably they’ve all been roughly the same pattern. The presumed frontrunner (Yorktown, Nanuet, Suffern) takes a good-sized halftime lead, the challenger (John Jay, Rye, Lakeland/Panas) comes all the way back in the second half, and then the frontrunner scores the winner in the final minutes.

Last night it was Suffern’s turn, and you can read my article here, and here’s some video courtesy of Vincent DiSalvo.

It was really a fascinating game to watch. The Mounties built a four-goal lead late in the first half, but Lakeland/Panas took a 6-1 run to start the second half by maintaining possession of the ball. All the big scorers came out firing (Chelsea Robinson 5-3, Caitlin Collins 4-0, Jessi Steinberg 4-0, Ali Steinberg 1-4), but it was Suffern’s Lara Kozin (4-3) and Jenny Califano, who scored the winner in her first game back from injury, that made the difference in the end.

Still, I love Robinson’s quote at the end, that it’s okay to lose the battle as long as you win the war. The teams will meet again on the final day of the regular season, and then again in the playoffs barring a major upset. A battle was also a pretty apt analogy based on the final play (and the picture I posted above). Jessi Steinberg was running out the clock when Tiara Johnson attempted a diving check, and as time expired Steinberg dropped the ball near Johnson’s face. Actually, if you watch the end of the video you might see what probably started it—Steinberg was practically tackled after attempted a shot, and then threw Johnson off of her.

In any case, I’m already looking forward to the rematch. In all three classes, actually, since all the opponents are in the same league and will play again this season.

Two other big games yesterday. Courtney Miller had six goals and an assist, including the winner with 23 seconds remaining, as Greeley topped Pearl River 13-12. And Carrie Poorman scored six goals as Bronxville dealt Pleasantville its first loss of the season, 15-8. At least there was some consolation for the Panthers: they can enjoy Disney World.

The girls lacrosse notebooks run today, which means another edition of the power rankings. The first four were easy for me, because no one had lost to a team ranked below it. After that I wasn’t sure, but I felt the power league teams should get their due. Mahopac beat North Rockland, North Rockland beat Greeley and Greeley tied John Jay, so there you go.

1. Suffern (8-0): Goalie platoon working well.
2. Yorktown (5-2): Only losses to Suffern and Melville (Long Island).
3. Lakeland/Panas (6-3): Has really improved in the last two weeks.
4. Nanuet (7-1): League I-A Horace Greeley tomorrow will be an interesting test.
5. Mahopac (3-5): Brutal schedule so far.
6. North Rockland (3-3): One of only four teams with a power-league win.
7t. Horace Greeley (2-3-1) and John Jay (2-4-1): Both teams looking for first win in the power league.
9. Mamaroneck (4-2-1): Tied for second in League I-B with Scarsdale, who it plays on Monday.
10. Hackley (5-3): Just avenged previous loss to Riverdale Country Day.

I’ll have an update on yesterday’s games shortly, including the big one between Suffern and Lakeland/Panas.

Kelly Fanshawe (above), Section’s 1 leader in assists, scored her sixth goal with 1:52 left as Nanuet beat Rye 15-14 in another great game between the two teams. Rye has turned over almost its entire lineup from last year, but the Garnets still came up with the same outcome as last year’s Class C final, coming back against Nanuet only to fall one goal short.

Here’s the article, along with video shot by colleague Peter Carr, which includes the winning goal.

While Nanuet certainly is more experienced, both teams are really young. The 24 starters included nine sophomores, eight juniors and seven seniors. So the teams that have combined to win five straight Class C titles (Nanuet ‘03-’04, ‘07 and Rye ‘05-’06) are certainly built to continue that streak.

I will be interested to see who plays goalie for Nanuet in the next game. Standout Brianna Straut turned her right knee in the second half and did not return, forcing a field player to go between the pipes. I hope Straut is okay—she tore her ACL last year—but if she’s not, Nanuet just got a lot more vulnerable.

There were two other games called in today. Brewster beat another League I-B team, defeating Edgemont 15-12 behind five goals from Emily Biondi and Sarah Hogan. The Bears defeated Scarsdale 12-9 earlier this season, and have won seven in a row. They are all but locked into the No. 7 seed in Class B, so whoever finishes in the 2 spot (likely Greeley or John Jay) should definitely watch out.

Also, North Salem won its sixth in a row, beating Clarkstown South 17-11. Maria DeRobertis scored eight goals for the Tigers, who broke open a 6-6 halftime tie.

Finally, even though this is coming a day late I would be remiss if I didn’t point out one of the best individual performances of the season so far. Chrissy Gutenberger had a hand in 12 of North Rockland’s 13 goals (seven goals, five assists) as the Red Raiders defeated Pearl River 13-11. And congratulations to Tappan Zee, who picked up its first win. It looks like the Dutchies were placed in the wrong league for the second straight season, but their fighting through it.

A lot of students have the week off, but there’s no vacation in girls lacrosse. Already today, Lakeland/Panas defeated Connecticut power Darien 8-7, as Chelsea Robinson scored the winner with nine seconds left off of a give-and-go from Caitlin Collins. Robinson (two goals, one assist) is on the left and Collins (two goals, four assists) is on the right.

Hopefully this is the start of what should be a great week. The headliners are Tuesday, when Rye meets Nanuet in a rematch of last year’s classic Class C final, and Wednesday, when Lakeland/Panas visits Suffern in a rematch of last year’s Class A final.

Rockland has some intriguing matchups as well, like North Rockland-Pearl River today and Pearl River-Tappan Zee Saturday. Greeley-Nanuet Friday will be a good test as the Golden Knights move up to face a power league team, and Yorktown has some interesting out-of-area games coming up. Anyone want to make some predictions?

Also, thanks for the response in the first girls lacrosse poll: Who will win Class A? For the record, Suffern had 21 votes, Lakeland/Panas had 7, Mahopac 3 and North Rockland 1. On the right is this week’s question.

Nanuet just became the frontrunner in League I-B, disposing of Mamaroneck 13-6 to go up by 1.5 games over the Tigers and Scarsdale. Kelly Fanshawe had four goals and three assists, Hannah Frey scored four goals and Lauren Kahn had three goals and two assists for the Golden Knights. Margaret Souther scored four second-half goals for the Raiders in a 12-9 win over Edgemont. Also in the league, Erin Cummings had three goals and three assists as Nyack beat Tappan Zee 17-6. TZ has really struggled this year, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier.

Maybe the Dutchies should take a page from the North Rockland playbook. In the oddest matchup I’ve seen so far this season (not close geographically, not close in school size), League I-A North Rockland played League III-B Irvington. Can someone explain that to me? Needless to say, it was 11-0 at the half.

As for the other I-A teams, the top three all won. Suffern beat Greeley 17-9 and Lakeland/Panas beat John Jay 16-7. Mahopac hung with Yorktown, but the Cornhuskers won 12-9 (Jaimie Morrison did play).

Rounding up the rest of Thursday: Sarah Hogan had five goals and three assists as Brewster beat Clarkstown North 13-10. … Lindsay Toppe had four goals and one assist as Fox Lane beat Clarkstown South 15-8. … Jenna Libson had three goals and three assists as Ardsley topped Hen Hud 11-8. … Maggie Ryan had four goals and five assists as Holy Child defeated Greens Farms 19-9. … And Liz Garry scored three goals but Rye Country Day fell to Convent of the Sacred Heart 15-6.

Rye and Pearl River played to an exciting and intense 14-14 tie. Pearl River’s junior attacker Molly Davin scored her 100th career goal at the 14:44 mark in the first half and finished the game with five goals and an assist including the tying goal which capped off an amazing final turn of events.

Rye took the lead after Katie Murtagh scored the go ahead goal with two minutes left off of a Pearl River Pirates. Rye then got possession after the final draw and tried to spread the field to kill the clock but Pearl River stepped up the pressure and forced the turnover that allowed them to go up the field in under 20 seconds and have Davin shoot in the game tying goal just as time expired.

I heard a lot of chatter in the crowd whether the goal should of counted or not. Girls lacrosse is unlike basketball where you have to release the ball by the time the buzzer expires. In girls lacrosse it has to break the plane before time expires and I believe she put it in the net just before the buzzer expired. I was standing right at midfield by the scorers table and I had a clear view.

The Garnets did come back from an early 5-0 deficit and went into halftime up 8-7. They were also missing two key players in Liz Chabot (injury) and Mimi McCormick (sick).

The game was the most exciting game I’ve covered this season so far so lookout of the second meeting on 5/12 swhen Pearl River visits Rye. Also check out for my story in tomorrow’s paper.

If you were there feel free to post any comments especially about the final goal.

Here’s the first try on the power rankings. Before I start, let me just say that I have absolutely no idea where to rank Hackley and Rye Country Day. I have not seen them play, and they have no opponents in common with anyone on the list, so I have no point of reference. Can someone here help me out?

The first four I thought were easy. The next six could go anywhere from 5-10, and even though North Rockland is 1-3 they’ve faced as tough a schedule as anyone so they could easily be in the mix too.

1. Suffern (6-0): No brainer. Just handed Darien and Yorktown their first losses.
2. Yorktown (4-1): All five games have been close. Shockingly, the most lopsided win was against Lakeland/Panas.
3. Lakeland/Panas (4-2): Can’t wait for Suffern game. In the meantime, vote in the poll on the right to see which team you think will win Class A this year.
4. Nanuet (5-1): Sure they’re in League I-B, but they already beat John Jay 13-6.
5. Mahopac (3-3): This is where it gets tough for me. Intriguing game against Yorktown today.
t6. Horace Greeley (2-2-1) and John Jay (2-3-1): They just played to a tie, so it’s fitting that they share the sixth spot here.
t8. Hackley (4-1) and Rye Country Day (3-1): Can anyone tell me who’s better? They play on May 13, but I don’t want to wait until then.
10. Mamaroneck (4-1-1): Already had four games decided by one goal or less.

OK, so now’s it your turn. Who deserves to be higher? Lower? In or out completely? Let me know what you think.