Matthew Brown was on hand to see Lakeland/Panas, Yorktown and Nyack crowned as Section 1 champions. It was the fourth straight title for Yorktown and the third straight for Lakeland/Panas, and the first for Nyack since the Indians won five in a row from 1997-2001. 

There were five articles in today’s newspaper about the tripleheader at Fox Lane. First, here’s my scene-setter from A1 (Section 1 title games packed with tension) with thoughts from players, siblings and parents on the six hours of excitement, nervousness, intensity and pressure from the three games.

Columnist Rick Carpiniello said of the Suffern-Lakeland/Panas rivalry: “There may be nothing else like it in Section 1 athletics.” (Rebels-Mounties as good as it gets), while Ernie Palladino wrote about the latest chapter, another one-goal win for the Rebels (Fitzpatrick saves it for Lakeland/Panas)

I saw Yorktown continue its undefeated season in an unexpected way. Scarsdale’s defense held Yorktown’s top-ranked offense in check for most of the game, but the Cornhuskers defense was up to the challenge and the team never trailed (Yorktown captures fourth straight title).

But in terms of sheer drama, nothing tops the Nyack-Rye game (Nyack prevails in triple overtime). Caroline Chesterman was a game-time decision after spraining her ankle in Thursday’s semifinal-win celebration, but she won the last two draws in overtime and scored her fifth goal in sudden victory to give fourth-seeded Nyack its first sectional title in eight years. On the other side was Rye, which came back from six goals down in the second half and scored with seven seconds left in the second mandatory overtime session, but has now lost the sectional final in triple overtime twice in the past three years.

Section 1 has a bye in the regional semifinals, so the next step is the regional final Saturday at Lakeland against the winner of the games between Section 2 and Section 9 (which will, barring a major upset, be Section 2). Win that, and it’s off to Cortland for the state semifinals and finals June 12-13.

So what are each team’s chances for getting to Cortland? The Rebels will probably face Guilderland, which is ranked third in the Laxpower and sportswriters rankings. Also Guilderland beat a much stronger L/P team 13-4 last year. On the opposite side of the spectrum is Yorktown, which will probably face Niskayuna. Nisky beat Yorktown by 1 last year but was completely senior-dominated. This year they’re a .500 team, though they did beat John Jay 16-13. In the middle is Nyack, who would probably face Albany Academy. A lot will depend on the status of Chesterman, who will have a week to work on her ankle but I doubt will be 100 percent. But Nanuet didn’t have much trouble the past two years, beating Albany Academy 19-6 and Emma Willard 15-4. 

So without knowing opponents yet, I would say Yorktown is 90-95 percent to win, Nyack is 60-70 percent, and Lakeland/Panas is 5-10 percent. That brings us to the semifinals, where Section 1/2/9 would face the winner of the Section 5/6 (Buffalo/Rochester) region. In Class A, that means avoiding Long Island and Syracuse-area teams West Genesee (two-time defending champ) and Baldwinsville, the top two teams in Laxpower’s national rankings. For Class C, that means avoiding two-time defending champ Shoreham-Wading River.

But Yorktown doesn’t get that lucky, since even though Garden City (L.I.) has won three straight, the Class B favorites are probably in Section 5, Brighton and Canindaigua. Both are in the top 8 in the Laxpower national rankings and the top 2 in the sportswriters poll (Yorktown is 60th and 6th, respectively). You can read more about Canindaigua on my blog post from April 17. If Yorktown got past that, then it would probably face a Long Island team (9-time champ Garden City?) in the finals. 

Here’s the full state tournament schedule for Section 1:

Regional finals vs. Section 2/9 winner at Lakeland High School, June 6
Class C 4 p.m., Class A 6 p.m., Class B 8 p.m.

State semifinals vs. Section 5/6 winner at SUNY Cortland, June 12
Class C 9:30 a.m., Class A noon, Class B 2:30 p.m.

State finals at SUNY Cortland, June 13
Class C 9:30 a.m., Class A noon, Class B 2:30 p.m.

Note: I will be on company-mandated furlough from June 1-7. It’s basically a week of unpaid leave that every employee must take, in the hopes that it avoids layoffs down the road. It also means, by law, I cannot post on the blog or check my work e-mail or phone messages. To reach someone at the office, please contact sports editor Susie Arth (sarth@lohud.com or 914-694-5061) or assistant sports editor Joe Erwin (jerwin@lohud.com or 914-696-8516). I look forward to being back on June 8.

Here are semifinal stories from Yorktown, Lakeland and Rye. Now on to the finals. Since this is such a big day, I’m predicting the entire score. Let’s hear what everyone else thinks.

Remember, the games can be seen live by clicking here.  You will also see the up-to-the-minute score scrolling on the bottom of the video feed.

Class C: No. 4 Nyack (11-5-2) vs. No. 2 Rye (9-6-2), 3 p.m.

Both teams are coming off huge wins — Nyack knocked off two-time defending champion Nanuet, while Rye avenged last year’s semifinal loss to Pearl River. The Garnets won in ‘06 and lost in OT in the ‘07 final, so a few players have championship-game experience. Both teams have plenty of scoring options, though Nyack has a dominant force in Caroline Chesterman. Normally that would make me lean toward Indians, but Rye has so many solid players (including four ESG selections) that I’m going with the Garnets. Rye 13-12. (poll prediction as of midnight Saturday: Nyack 39-13)

Class A: No. 2 Lakeland/Panas (10-5-2) vs. No. 1 Suffern (11-8), 5 p.m.

Suffern beat Lakeland/Panas 5-4 on April 6, but both young teams have improved so much since then that it’s hardly worth mentioning. Since there was so much turnover from last year, I also don’t know how much the Rebels’ wins in the past two Class A championship games matter — and if it did, would that make Suffern more likely to win because of the revenge factor, or does it show that Lakeland/Panas knows how to win the big game? Neither team has a player in the top 50 in scoring, so the question will be who steps up and scores the big goal today. Lakeland/Panas 8-7. (poll prediction: Lakeland/Panas 27-25)

Class B: No. 2 Scarsdale (10-2-3) vs. No. 1 Yorktown (17-0), 7 p.m.

Scarsdale is the second-hottest team in the section, having dominated its last nine games (all won by at least three goals). Unfortunately for the Raiders, Yorktown has won every game this season by at least three goals. I said at the beginning of the year that Yorktown would go undefeated against Section 1, and nothing has happened in the past month that would change my mind. My only concern is how they would fare if the game was ever tied or within one in the final minutes, since that’s a situation they haven’t had to face. If Scarsdale can keep it close late, it has a chance, but I think Yorktown has the game in hand well before then. Yorktown 17-12. (poll prediction: Yorktown 49-3)

Sectional finals at Fox Lane High School
Class C: No. 4 Nyack vs. No. 2 Rye, 3 p.m.
Class A: No. 2 Lakeland/Panas vs. No. 1 Suffern, 5 p.m.
Class B: No. 2 Scarsdale vs. No. 1 Yorktown, 7 p.m.

All games will be broadcast live on LoHud.com.

Here were the semifinal scores:
Class A
Suffern 10, North Rockland 9
Lakeland/Panas 9, Mahopac 8, OT

Class B
Yorktown 18, John Jay 15
Scarsdale 19, Mamaroneck 11

Class C
Nyack 10, Nanuet 9
Rye 14, Pearl River 13

Both teams lost two All-Americans and a bunch more starters, but Lakeland/Panas and Suffern will meet in the Class a final for the third straight year after both teams won by one goal today.

Lakeland/Panas’ Anna Jeszeck scored off a pass with Melissa Hanson with eight seconds left in the first overtime, and Alex Fitzpatrick (19 saves) and the Rebels held the Indians scoreless after regulation in a 9-8 win. The Rebels led 5-1 and 8-6 but Mahopac scored twice in the final eight minutes to send the game into overtime. Kelsey Rehain had four goals for the Mounties, who beat North Rockland 10-9, while Taylor Moore had four goals for the Red Raiders. 

Over at Yorktown, John Jay actually led 3-0 before the Cornhuskers made a 7-1 run. It was still just 11-9 midway through the second half Yorktown scored three straight to take command. Jaimie Morrison (right), who had six goals and one assist, and hit the 200-goal landmark.

Unlike Suffern and Lakeland/Panas, Yorktown will face its fourth different sectional final opponent (following Lakeland/Panas, John Jay and Greeley). Scarsdale beat Mamaroneck for the sixth time in two years, 19-11. Kimberley Leone scored eight goals and Jennie Pechman added six goals. Amanda Tuck scored four goals for the Tigers.

Katie O’Gorman scored with 1:30 left as No. 4 Nyack defeated two-time defending champion and top seed Nanuet 10-9. Caroline Chesterman completed her hat trick with 4:18 left to tie the game at nine. Courtney McGrath had four goals and as assist) and Amanda Matthew made 15 saves for Nanuet.

Nyack’s opponent in Saturday’s final will be No. 2 Rye. Molly O’Brien (right) scored on an 8-meter shot with 34 seconds left to give the Garnets a 14-13 win over No. 3 Pearl River. Kelly Mulligan had tied the game for the Pirates with 47 seconds left. O’Brien had seven goals for Rye, while senior Julie McBrien had seven goals for Pearl River, including her 100th varsity goal with 6:51 remaining.

Because of an awards banquet at Pearl River, the Class C semifinal game has been moved from 5 p.m. back to 4:30 p.m. So all games are at 4:30 except for John Jay-Yorktown, which is at 5. Speaking of Yorktown, you can watch that game live by clicking here. And more good news — all three sectional finals on Saturday will also be shown live.

I’ll be at Rye, and we’re also sending reporters to Lakeland and Yorktown. I’ll be posting scores on here tonight as soon as I receive them.

Incredibly, five of the six semifinals involve teams from the same league, so there will be plenty of familiarity today. Suffern, Yorktown and Scarsdale look to beat their opponents for a third time, while Mahopac-Lakeland/Panas was a split and Nanuet went 1-0-1 against Nyack. Will those trends hold? Will the favorites continue to win? Here are my picks. Now let’s hear yours.

Class A
No. 4 North Rockland (5-10-2) at No. 1 Suffern (10-8)
Head to head: Suffern 13-8 on May 1, Suffern 10-6 on May 13
Prediction:: North Rockland has come close a few times, but it hasn’t beaten a power-league team all season. I think the trend continues here — Suffern’s defense will prove too tough. Suffern by 4.

No. 3 Mahopac (8-9) at No. 2 Lakeland/Panas (9-5-2)
Head to head: Mahopac 10-9 on April 28, Lakeland/Panas 14-5 on May 11
Prediction: With a host of talented seniors, Mahopac was my preseason pick to win its first sectional title, but it’s been incredibly inconsistent — lost four in a row, won five in a row, lost four in a row, and now won its last two. It’s hard to pick for or against a team like that, but I’ll go with the proven winner. Lakeland/Panas by 1.

Class B
No. 4 John Jay (8-7-2) at No. 1 Yorktown (16-0)
Head to head: Yorktown 18-9 on May 1, Yorktown 17-11 on May 13
Prediction: No team has stopped Yorktown’s offense yet. John Jay has strong defenders, great goaltending and a defensive-minded coach, so if anyone can do it maybe it’s the Indians. But I’m not counting on it. Yorktown by 6.

No. 3 Mamaroneck (8-6-3) at No. 2 Scarsdale (9-2-3)
Head to head: Scarsdale 13-10 on May 4, Scarsdale 16-10 on May 15
Prediction: I’ve heard how hard it is to beat a good team three times. How about six times? Scarsdale has won five straight over the Tigers the past two seasons. Mamaroneck was leading at the half on May 15 before Scarsdale dominated the second-half draws. Can the Tigers keep it together for 50 minutes today? Scarsdale by 3.

Class C
No. 4 Nyack (10-5-2) at No. 1 Nanuet (12-4-1)
Head to head: Tied 12-12 on May 1, Nanuet 12-11 on May 13
Prediction: No Class C school has played the Golden Knights tougher than Nyack — just one goal separated the teams after 100 minutes. Nyack’s balanced offense is rolling, but the Indians are young (one senior) and aren’t used to winning big games like this. Nanuet by 2.

No. 3 Pearl River (10-4-3) at No. 2 Rye (8-6-2)
Head to head: Tied 9-9 on April 16
Prediction: These teams meet in the semifinals for the third straight year (Rye won in ‘07 and Pearl River won in ‘08, though both teams lost to Nanuet in the final). I really think these teams are even, and not just because I saw them tie last month. Based on strength-of-schedule, this should go to Pearl River, since the Rockland league has all five teams in the semifinals, while the Southern league has three. Also, Rye’s only win against a semifinalist was against John Jay. Pearl River by 1.

We will be broadcasting the Yorktown-John Jay semifinal game live from Yorktown tomorrow at 5 p.m. Click here to watch the game.

Also, Courtney McGrath of Nanuet was last week’s GameFace of the Week. Trish Gorman of Hackley is representing girls lacrosse this week. Click here to vote.

After all 12 favorites won, here’s your Thursday schedule.

Class A

No. 4 North Rockland at No. 1 Suffern, 4:30 p.m. at Suffern Middle School
No. 3 Mahopac at No. 2 Lakeland/Panas, 4:30 p.m. at Lakeland

Class B
No. 4 John Jay at No. 1 Yorktown, 5 p.m.
No. 3 Mamaroneck at No. 2 Scarsdale, 4:30 p.m.

Class C
No. 4 Nyack at No. 1 Nanuet, 4:30 p.m.
No. 3 Pearl River at No. 2 Rye, 5 p.m.

The game of the day was at Mamaroneck. Amanda Tuck (five goals) scored the last three goals of the game in the final two minutes as the Tigers beat Brewster 16-15. Tuck scored the winning goal with 1:17 left. Teammate Lauren Rush had four goals and one assist. Emily Biondi had five goals for the Bears. 

The rest of the quarterfinal scores:

Class A

Lakeland/Panas 16, New Rochelle 2: Kelsey Bub had seven goals and an assist and Anna Jeszeck added two goals and an assist. Katy Stillwagon and Misha Green both scored for the Huguenots. 

North Rockland 17, Clarkstown North 6: Taylor Moore had seven goals and an assist and Morgan McGown scored four goals for North Rockland, who began the game on a 9-0 run. Mallori Seliger had two goals and two assists for the Rams. 

Mahopac 20, Wappingers 12: Jillian Maloney led the Indians with eight goals and four assists. Mackenzy Ryan had four goals and two assists.

Suffern 14, White Plains 5: In a Class A quarterfinal at Suffern, Kelsey Rehain had two goals and two assists for the top-seeded Mounties, who will host No. 4 North Rockland tomorrow. Emily Masseo scored two goals for No. 8 White Plains.

Class B

John Jay 15, Horace Greeley 10: Casey Bocklet (six goals and two assists) scored her 100th goal for the Indians. Bocklet now has 104 varsity goals. Teammate Darragh Evarts had four goals and an assist. Sydney Rutman had three goals for the Quakers.  

Scarsdale 19, Fox Lane 12: Nicole Rafajac scored six goals and teammate Margaret Souther had five goals and an assist. Lindsay Toppe scored four goals for Fox Lane. 

Yorktown 22, Clarkstown South 5: Patricia Kaishian led the Huskers with four goals and two assists. Amanda Trendell had two goals and three assists. Erin Riley scored three goals for the Vikings.

Class C

Nyack 20, Bronxville 11: Caroline Chesterman, Katie O’Gorman and Karis Walborn all had four goals for the Indians, who won 24 of 33 draws and scored a season-high 20 goals. Cara Dennan had four goals, all in the second half, for the Broncos.

Rye 20, Putnam Valley 9: Junior Emma Tucci scored her 100th goal with 19:49 left in the second half for the Garnets. Kerry O’Callaghan had seven goals and one assist. Caitlin White had three goals and one assist for the Tigers. 

Nanuet 20, Edgemont 9: Lauren Kahn (five goals, seven assists) broke the school record for total points in a single game with 12. The previous mark of 11 was set in 1999 by Kerry Jones. Teammate K.C. Jentzen scored five goals. Alex Lugovina scored six goals for the Panthers. 

Pearl River 18, Harrison 14: Molly Davin (six goals) scored her 200th varsity goal with her third goal of the game. Julie McBrien had seven goals and four assists. Melissa Shulman had five goals and an assist for the Huskies.

A reader sent in this interesting fact about the Class B playoffs. Check out the head-to-head records among these four teams:

John Jay 4-1
Fox Lane 2-1
Horace Greeley 1-2
Brewster 0-3

Yet Fox Lane is the 7 seed, behind Greeley and Brewster. What that in mind, I think Fox Lane will a really tough opponent for Scarsdale today, and I’m really suprised that the Foxes are the only team with zero votes in the poll. Then again, I agree with the voters, since right now “no upsets” is the leading vote-getter and I’m really hesitant to pick one, too. 

In Class A, I give a lot of credit to Wappingers for an undefeated league record in just its first year on the varsity, White Plains crushed Arlington in the first round, New Rochelle has had a great season after ending last year on an 11-game losing streak, and Clarkstown North only lost to North Rockland 12-9 earlier this season. But I’m having a hard time believing the four power-league teams are losing in this round (though I think the Rams keep it close).

In Class B, two of the games are rematches — John Jay beat Greeley 15-9 and Mamaroneck beat Brewster 19-10. The John Jay-Greeley game was in March and the Quakers had a bunch of new players in major roles, so I’m not putting too much stock in that, but that’s still a big margin to overcome. Likewise with Brewster, who have a lot of talented pieces but have struggled all season. Then there’s two dangerous teams from Division II, Fox Lane and one-loss Clarkstown South. I would like their chances against most teams, but not undefeated Yorktown or an explosive, veteran team like Scarsdale.

In Class C, another dangerous DII team is Putnam Valley, but they haven’t beaten a power-league team yet and it will be hard to start with Rye. Edgemont pulled out a thrilling overtime win and Harrison knocked out a depleted but still-unbeaten Pleasantville in the first round, but I don’t think they get past Nanuet or Pearl River. That leaves Nyack-Bronxville. The Broncos have put up some good results — beating Scarsdale, tying Lakeland/Panas and Mamaroneck. But Caroline Chesterman is capable of dominating a game, and her supporting cast has really developed, so I’m still picking Nyack in a close one.

All games are still at 4:30 except for Putnam Valley-Rye, which starts at 4. Enjoy the day and let us know what happened when you get back. I’ll be posting score updates tonight.

Here are the quarterfinal matchups. All games right now are Tuesday at 4:30. I’m on vacation until Tuesday, but when I get back I’ll post my thoughts and predictions. In the meantime let’s hear what you think.

Class A
No. 8 White Plains at No. 1 Suffern
No. 7 New Rochelle at No. 2 Lakeland/Panas
No. 6 Wappingers at No. 3 Mahopac
No. 5 Clarkstown North at No. 4 North Rockland

Class B
No. 8 Clarkstown South at No. 1 Yorktown
No. 7 Fox Lane at No. 2 Scarsdale
No. 6 Brewster at No. 3 Mamaroneck
No. 5 Horace Greeley at No. 4 John Jay

Class C
No. 9 Edgemont at No. 1 Nanuet
No. 7 Putnam Valley at No. 2 Rye
No. 11 Harrison at No. 3 Pearl River
No. 5 Bronxville at No. 4 Nyack

I’ve been to two playoff games so far, and they both went to overtime. I can only hope this trend continues next week.

Somers, who was hosting a playoff game for the first time, were up 11-8 with nine minutes left. But Haley Dumke and Alex Lugovina scored in the final 22 seconds of regulation to tie the game, and then Dumke and Miranda Soloff scored in overtime as No. 9 Edgemont beat No. 8 Somers 14-13 in a Class C first-rounder.

Dumke has six goals and Lugovina had four goals and an assist for the Panthers, who will face top seed Nanuet Tuesday. Kaitlyn Nealon had four goals for the Tuskers, including a goal with 37 seconds left in the second overtime session that brought Somers within one. 

Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first big upset — Pleasantville is no longer unbeaten. Judging from the box score, only one of the four 40-goal scorers played for the Panthers. (update: coach Steinberg confirmed that two players had mono and two others had symptoms and were held out by their doctors).

Here’s the rundown:

Nyack 15, Briarcliff 5: Caroline Chesterman had five goals and an assist for the No. 4 Indians. Teammate Katie O’Gorman had three goals and an assist. Savina Reid had two goals for the No. 13 Bears. Nyack will next play No. 5 Bronxville.

Harrison 10, Pleasantville 8: Melissa Shulman had five goals and an assist for the No. 11 Huskies. Teammate Elizabeth Gordon had two goals and an assist. Liz King scored three goals for the six-seeded Panthers. Harrison will face No. 3 Pearl River.

Rye 19, Sleepy Hollow 5: Emma Tucci had eight goals and an assist. Molly O’Brien had three goals and four assists. Annelise Birritella had two goals and an assist for the No. 15 Horsemen. The second-seeded Rye host No. 7 Putnam Valley on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

Putnam Valley 25, Byram Hills 15: Ashley Morgan had seven goals and two assists for the seventh-seeded Tigers. Sharon Cranwell added five goals and two assists. Samantha Beresford had two goals and two assists for No. 10 Byram Hills. 

Bronxville 17, Hastings 6: Megan Murray had five goals and three assists and Lara Florek made 13 saves for the No. 5 Broncos. Kari McWalters scored four times for No. 12 Hastings.

Pearl River 16, Ardsley 4: Molly Davin had four goals and two assists and Lauren Cook had three goals and an assist for No. 3 Pearl River. Emmily VanDorn scored twice for No. 14 Ardsley.

The Section 1 tournament begins today with eight first-round games — one in Class A and seven in Class C. All the games are at 4:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Perhaps the most intriguing matchup takes place at Nyack, where cousins Joanna Chalsen (Briarcliff) and Katie O’Gorman (Nyack) will face against each other for the first time — and both girls are also the cousins of Pearl River coach Laurie Mayernik. But I don’t think it will be the most competitive.

Honestly, I haven’t seen any of these teams, so my predictions will be more in depth next week. But I have a really hard time thinking any Division III team will come close against a Division I team, so right off the bat I’m picking Rye, Pearl River, Nyack and Bronxville. And I don’t see Pleasantville losing its first game today. So that leaves three games: Arlington-White Plains, Byram Hills-Putnam Valley and Edgemont-Somers. 

Arlington won a prior meeting 12-11 at home, but this one’s in White Plains. In fact, four of the TIgers losses have been by a combined six goals, so they could easily have just one or two losses. But Arlington has played a slightly tougher schedule and crushed Ossining, who just beat White Plains. So I’m going with Arlington.

I also like the potent offense of Putnam Valley to take out Byram Hills, which has just one win against a playoff-bound team (Harrison). The toughest game for me is Somers-Edgemont. Is this the Edgemont team that tied Pleasantville, because then I like the Panthers. And it was only last year that Edgemont was in the small-school power league, so they obviously have some big-game experience. So I guess I’m going with the Panthers. What does everyone out there think?

Here’s the schedule:

Class A
No. 9 Arlington (10-5) at No. 8 White Plains (8-2-1), 2 p.m.

Class C
No. 15 Sleepy Hollow (5-10) at No. 2 Rye (6-5-2)
No. 14 Ardsley (7-5) at No. 3 Pearl River (8-4-3)
No. 13 Briarcliff (9-3) at No. 4 Nyack (8-5-2)
No. 12 Hastings (13-1-2) at No. 5 Bronxville (2-9-2), 6 p.m.
No. 11 Harrison (5-7-2) at No. 6 Pleasantville (15-0-1)
No. 10 Byram Hills (7-7-1) at No. 7 Putnam Valley (10-4-1)
No. 9 Edgemont (3-6-2) at No. 8 Somers (8-5)

Be sure to come here for results throughout the night, and please add your own.

Erica Khosrowshahi scored with 20 seconds left in the second overtime as second-seeded Hackley defeated top seed Portledge 10-9 in the NYSAIS championship game at Columbia University.

Khosrowshahi had five goals and an assist and Haley Greenberg had five assists for the Hornets, who won the tournament for the fifth time in its six-year existence.

On defense Kelly Gorman made eight saves, and Zoe Mishkin and junior Allie Piscina — who had never played a full game all season — shadowed Portledge standouts Addie Reilly and Siena Falino. A big play was when Mishkin drew a dangerous propelling penalty on Reilly with 47 seconds left, leading to the winning goal.

Portledge had defeated the second-seeded Hornets 20-9 last month.

“We’ve been waiting for this game since the first time,” Leffler said. “We were hoping and hoping and working to get here, and when we finally did they weren’t willing to take second place.”

I’ll be a guest on our Varsity Central show tonight at 8. If you haven’t seen the show yet, viewers are able to submit questions during the segment. You can ask me anything about the playoffs by clicking here.

No. 2 Hackley will face top seed Portledge in the NYSAIS championship game today at 3:30 p.m. at Columbia University’s Baker Athletics Complex. Here are directions to the field. Portledge defeated Hackley 20-9 on April 18. I’ll call in an update to the blog as soon as its over.

Mahopac broke its four-game losing streak yesterday in thrilling fashion against Greeley. Abigail Armstrong (four goals) scored the winner with 35 seconds left and Gina Molfetta (14 saves) preserved the 13-12 victory with four seconds left. Mackenzy Ryan, who assisted on the winning goal, had five goals and two assists and Kelsey Hill scored four goals for the Quakers.

We had two other results —  K.C. Jentzen scored seven goals and Lauren Kahn had six goals and three assists as Nanuet beat Brewster 17-6, and Maggie Tracy scored five goals, including her 50th of the season, and Kristen Pash had four goals and an assist as Ursuline topped Keio 19-5.

Here is how I broke down the Section 1 tournament in today’s Journal News, plus I added a prediction for each class. Now it’s your turn — who do you think is the favorite in Class A? The top challengers in Classes B and C? A darkhorse that will challenge the top teams? Some players to watch? And of course, what will the sectional final matchups be? I’m interested to hear your thoughts.

Class A
Favorite: Suffern has won six of its last eight games thanks to a defense that has held opponents to single digits each time. It also beat Lakeland/Panas and Mahopac on the road this season.
Contender: Lakeland/Panas may have graduated eight starters from last year’s team, but the Rebels are still two-time defending sectional champions. Both times they beat Suffern in the final.
Dark horses: Though Mahopac has lost four in a row, it does have nine players who will play in college next year. … In its first year on the varsity level, Wappingers went undefeated against Section 1 opponents.
Three players to watch: North Rockland junior Anna Berman has recorded more than 500 saves in three years and could steal a game. … Clarkstown North senior Mallori Seliger had 70 goals, tied for second in Section 1. … Kelsey Rehain had six of Suffern’s 10 goals in wins over Lakeland/Panas and Mahopac.
Prediction: Suffern over Lakeland/Panas

Class B
Favorite: Not only has Yorktown gone undefeated, but nobody has even come within three goals of the three-time defending sectional champions.
Contender: Scarsdale has won seven straight games, all by at least three goals, en route to the Southern power-league title. They have four 30-goal scorers and speed all over the roster.
Dark horse: John Jay combines the lethal scoring of Casey Bocklet (58 goals) with a very solid defense and Colgate-bound goalie Leigh Herzog. The Indians already beat quarterfinal opponent Horace Greeley 15-9.
Three players to watch: Senior center Jaimie Morrison, one of five Division I players on Yorktown, is exceptional at draw control. … Lindsay Toppe of Fox Lane scored an area-best 103 goals and had at least eight goals in eight of her 15 games. … Eighth-grader Lindsay Biondi of Brewster already has 58 varsity goals, including six in a game against Yorktown this year. Her sister Emily Biondi, a senior, had seven goals in the teams’ second meetings.
Prediction: Yorktown over Scarsdale

Class C
Favorite: Nanuet has reached the state semifinals the past two seasons, and is unbeaten against Class C competition this year.
Contenders: Nyack has only been outscored by one in two games against Nanuet this season. Pearl River, which made the final last year, is unbeaten in its last five games.
Dark horse: Division II Pleasantville (15-0-1) was one of two undefeated teams in Section 1 and has a win over Division I Greeley. Kristina Howe has an area-best 55 assists.
Three players to watch: Molly Davin (193 goals) is Pearl River’s all-time leading goal scorer. She has nine this season against Nanuet. … Lauren Kahn has recorded 269 points in the last two seasons and excels at ground balls. … Nyack’s Caroline Chesterman is one of two all-Americans in the tournament (along with Morrison).
Prediction: Nanuet over Pearl River

Here is the official seeds and schedule. Teams were seeded based on their record in league games and mandatory crossovers. Teams in Division I were seeded first, followed by Division II and then Division III, which explains the disparity in records.

All game times are 4:30, unless both schools agree to change it. There was one tie, for the final seed in Class C, but Ardsley went ahead of Sleepy Hollow because of overall record.

(update, 12:30 p.m. Just got a message from the Section 1 coordinator about a change in the seedings — Byram Hills and Harrison have been flipped. I corrected it below)

Class A

First round, Thursday
No. 9 Arlington (10-5) at No. 8 White Plains (8-2-1)

Quarterfinals, May 26
Arlington/White Plains winner at No. 1 Suffern (8-7)
No. 7 New Rochelle (11-3-1) at No. 2 Lakeland/Panas (8-5-2)
No. 6 Wappingers (10-1) at No. 3 Mahopac (7-9)
No. 5 Clarkstown North (6-10) at No. 4 North Rockland (4-10-2)
 
Semifinals, May 28 at higher seed
Suffern/Arlington/White Plains winner vs. North Rockland/Clarkstown North winner
Lakeland/Panas/New Rochelle winner vs. Mahopac/Wappingers winner

Final, May 30 at Fox Lane

Class B

Quarterfinals, May 26
No. 8 Clarkstown South (13-1-2) at No. 1 Yorktown (15-0)
No. 7 Fox Lane (12-2-1) at No. 2 Scarsdale (8-2-3)
No. 6 Brewster (2-10-2) at No. 3 Mamaroneck (7-6-3)
No. 5 Horace Greeley (5-9) at No. 4 John Jay (7-7-2)

Semifinals, May 28 at higher seed
Yorktown/Clarkstown South winner vs. John Jay/Horace Greeley winner
Scarsdale/Fox Lane vs. Mamaroneck/Brewster winner

Final, May 30 at Fox Lane

Class C

First round, Thursday
No. 1 Nanuet (11-4-1) receives a bye
No. 15 Sleepy Hollow (5-10) at No. 2 Rye (6-5-2)
No. 14 Ardsley (7-5) at No. 3 Pearl River (8-4-3)
No. 13 Briarcliff (9-3) at No. 4 Nyack (8-5-2)
No. 12 Hastings (13-1-2) at No. 5 Bronxville (2-9-2)
No. 11 Harrison (5-7-2) at No. 6 Pleasantville (15-0-1)
No. 10 Byram Hills (7-7-1) at No. 7 Putnam Valley (10-4-1)
No. 9 Edgemont (3-6-2) at No. 8 Somers (8-5)

Quarterfinals, May 26 at higher seed
Somers/Edgemont winner at Nanuet
Rye/Sleepy Hollow winner vs. Putnam Valley/Byram Hills winner
Pearl River/Ardsley winner vs. Pleasantville/Harrison winner
Nyack/Briarcliff winner vs. Bronxville/Hastings winner

Semifinals, May 28 at higher seed
Nanuet/Somers/Edgemont winner vs. Nyack/Briarcliff/Bronxville/Hastings winner
Rye/Sleepy Hollow/Putnam Valley/Byram Hills winner vs. Pearl River/Ardsley/Pleasantville/Harrison winner

Final, May 30 at Fox Lane

Shannon Howe of Pearl River managed to end the Yorktown streak of four consecutive wins in last week’s GameFace competition. There’s two girls lacrosse entries this week — Courtney McGrath of Nanuet and Emily Pfaffenbach of Mahopac. Vote by clicking here.

Hackley advanced to the NYSAIS final Wednesday, 3:30 p.m. at Columbia’s Baker Field, while Holy Child’s historic run ended against Portledge; Fox Lane, Pleasantville, Hastings, Wappingers and Clarkstown South finished their league seasons unbeaten; Mamaroneck’s Amanda Tuck and Pelham’s Ali Guba scored their 100th goals; and junior Anna Berman of North Rockland recorded her 500th save. Here’s a recap from a huge Monday:

Mamaroneck 19, Horace Greeley 17: At Horace Greeley, Amanda Tuck scored seven goals for the Tigers, giving her 101 for her career. Charlotte Gardiner added six goals for Mamaroneck. Kelsey Hill scored seven goals for the Quakers.

Clarkstown South 21, Tappan Zee 11: At Clarkstown South, Erin Riley had eight goals and three assists for the Vikings. Molly McGroary scored six. Aileen Lennon had six goals and two assists for the Dutchies.

Albertus Magnus 17, Pelham 13: At Albertus Magnus, Kerrie Cline had four goals and two assists for the Falcons. Teammate Maggie Confrey scored five goals. Ali Guba had three goals and two assists for the Pelicans.

Suffern 13, Nyack 8: At Suffern, Jenny Califano and Maggie Sharp scored four goals each. Katie O’Gorman scored three goals for the Indians.

Scarsdale 15, Rye 12: At Rye, Jennie Pechman led the Raiders with five goals and three assists. Margaret Souther had four goals and one assist. Emma Tucci had five goals for the Garnets.

Putnam Valley 14, Harrison 13: At Harrison, Ashley Morgan had four goals and two assists for the Tigers. Teammate Danielle Orefice had 14 saves. Melissa Shulman had five goals and one assist for the Huskies.

Sleepy Hollow 11, Eastchester 4: At Eastchester, Andrea Alverez scored four goals for the Headless Horseman. Annelise Brittella had a hat trick. Delia Hughes scored two goals for the Eagles.

Hastings 18, Irvington 5: At Irvington, Kari McWalters scored six goals to help Hastings clinch the Division III League 2 title with a 10-0 record. Hastings went to 13-1-2 overall.

Harvey 12, Cheshire Academy 11: At Harvey, Dana Lombardi led the Cavaliers with five goals and two assists. Hannah Parrish had five goals.

Ursuline 23, Our Lady of Victory 1: At Our Lady of Victory, Maggie Tracy scored six goals. Alexa Rodriguez scored for OLV.

New Rochelle 17, Keio 8: At Keio, Katy Stillwagon had five goals and two assists for the Huguenots. Sarah Meisler had three goals and three assists. Mariana Uno scored four goals for the Unicorns.

John Jay 13, Lakeland/Panas 10: At John Jay, Darragh Evarts had a hat trick for the Indians. Cassandra Honovich scored six goals for the Rebels.

Ossining 15, White Plains 13: At White Plains, Caitlin Malone had four goals and one assist for Ossining. Teammate Caitlin Costello had three goals and two assists. Emily Masseo had six goals and one assist for the Tigers.

Byram Hills 11, Edgemont 8: At Byram Hills, Katherine Cola led the Bobcats with four goals and an assist. Haley Dumke had five goals and an assist for the Panthers.

Pearl River 8, North Rockland 7: At Pearl River, Molly Davin scored the decisive goal unassisted with 2:07 left in the game. Kelly Mastrovito had three goals and one assist for the Pirates. Jenna Persico scored three goals for the Red Raiders.

Hen Hud 11, Kennedy 6: At Kennedy, Sharman Kennedy scored four goals for the Sailors. Clare McLaughlin scored twice for the Gaels.

Fox Lane 16, Somers 7: At Somers, Lindsay Toppe and Sammy Jo Tracy each had five goals and an assist for the Foxes. Kaitlyn Nealon, Katie Marasco and Morgan Donohue each scored twice for the Tuskers.

Hackley 10, Poly Prep 7: At Hackley, Kelly Gorman had 11 saves for the Hornets. Erica Khosrowskahi added three goals and four assists.

Pleasantville 14, Briarcliff 12: At Briarcliff, Meghan Reda had five goals and an assist for the Panthers. Kristina Howe had a hat trick and three assists. Olivia Glass had four goals and an assist for the Bears.

Portledge 17, Holy Child 15: Charlotte Tierney had seven goals and an assist and Maggie Ryan added three goals and three assists for the Gryphons.

The seeding meeting for the Section 1 tournament will be this morning at 9 a.m. at BOCES. Short story — I will post the seeds here as soon as they become “official.” Hopefully by the early afternoon.

Long story — I attended the meeting last year when the Horace Greeley AD was in charge, but the Fox Lane AD is now the coordinator, and she told me that the media will not be allowed in. I asked why, and she said that last year the committee made a mistake (if I remember correctly, they left a team out) and as a result the newspaper had incorrect information (although I was able to correct it before we went to print). So this year, she wants to call all the ADs to verify that the seeds are correct before she releases them to the press, and there’s no way of knowing how long that will take.

Obviously I don’t agree with the new policy. I’m sure there are plenty of meetings that state employees would prefer to keep private, and I’m not sure that the risk of embarrassment is a good reason to do so. You, the readers, are the one who are really affected by the new policy, since now you won’t have the seeds the instant they’re determined. In any case, here’s my best and final guess for how it plays out. 

Class A
1. Suffern (6-4): Jumps ahead of L/P on final day.
2. Lakeland/Panas (5-4-1)
3. Mahopac (4-6)
4. North Rockland (0-9-1)
5. Clarkstown North (4-4): Only Division II team.
6. Wappingers (9-0 plus Arlington result): Did they lose on Monday against Arlington? If not they’re the 6 seed. If so they fall to 7.
7. New Rochelle (9-0-1)
8. White Plains (7-3): Assuming they swept Keio and Blind Brook
9. Arlington (6-3 plus Wappingers result): Has tiebreaker over White Plains, so if they beat Wappingers they would be the 8 seed instead.

Class B
1. Yorktown (10-0)
2. Scarsdale (7-2-1)
3. Mamaroneck (4-4-2)
4. John Jay (4-5-1): Beat L/P to jump into top 4.
5. Greeley (3-7)
6. Brewster (2-7-1)
7. Fox Lane (9-0-1)
8. Clarkstown South (7-1)
9. Ossining (3-6)
10. Ursuline: If they qualified, the Koalas would be here.

Class C
1. Nanuet (8-1-1)
2. Rye (5-3-2)
3. Pearl River (4-3-3)
4. Nyack (4-4-2)
5. Bronxville (1-8-1)
6. Pleasantville (8-0)
Of the 19 remaining teams, I’m pretty sure Putnam Valley and Somers would be next in line.

I was scheduled to be off Monday, but I’ll be here Tuesday morning with a recap from the big day, and I’ll be back hopefully not much later with the Section 1 playoff schedule.

There’s an incredible 20 games taking place today. For most teams, this is a last chance to qualify for the playoffs, improve on seeding or work out the kinks before the postseason. Here are the biggest storylines of the day:

Holy Child: Can Holy Child follow up its first-ever playoff win by upsetting top seed Portledge in today’s NYSAIS semifinals? The Gryphons have an incredible offense, but defense has been a question mark. So it was a good sign that Holy Child held Riverdale scoreless in the final five minutes yesterday.

Hackley: While Holy Child is the newcomer, Hackley is the traditional power. But after two close wins in the regular season, the Hornets needs to beat Poly Prep for a third time in its semifinal to have a chance to defend its title.

Pleasantville: Someone commented before that Yorktown was the first team in six years to go through the regular season unbeaten. Well, Pleasantville can become the second team in a week if it wins at Briarcliff today.

Lakeland/Panas and Suffern: If Lakeland/Panas (5-3-1) beats John Jay, it’s guaranteed the No. 1 seed in Class A and gets to play North Rockland in the semifinals. A loss or tie opens the door for Suffern (5-4), who plays Nyack and has the tiebreaker over the Rebels, to claim the top seed.

Rye and Nyack: The Garnets or Indians could host a semifinal as the 2 seed in Class C, or they could have to travel to Nanuet as the 4 seed. It all depends on today’s results. Currently Rye and Nyack are 4-3-2 and Pearl RIver is 4-3-3. Obviously if Rye (vs. Scarsdale) or Nyack (at Suffern) loses, they fall behind Pearl River. If they both win, and my calculations are correct, it would take a coin flip to settle the tie for the No. 2 seed. Hopefully we can get that to be broadcast live on LoHud (update: see below for Rye correction)

Mamaroneck and Greeley: The Tigers (3-4-2) currently hold the No. 3 seed in Class B, but the Quakers (3-6) would take it with a win today, since both teams would end up with 12 points and Greeley would have the head-to-head tiebreaker. The 3 seed is huge because it means avoiding Yorktown until the final.

John Jay: But the Indians (3-5-1) can also earn the No. 3 seed — if Greeley beats the Tigers and John Jay beats or ties Lakeland/Panas. Again, that means no Yorktown until the final.

Fox Lane: Continuing a theme, the Foxes need to beat Somers to clinch the No. 7 seed — which means avoiding Yorktown in the quarterfinals.

Wappingers: We don’t have full records for Wappingers because they’re not in our coverage area, so someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe Wappingers is undefeated in Section 1 — its only loss I know about is to O’Neil (Section 9). Its last game is today against rival Arlington.

So what am I missing? What are you looking forward to today? How do you think everything will play out? This is the last big day of the regular season so lets hear your thoughts.