The big news in Rockland was that Nyack’s Caroline Chesterman not only won girls lacrosse player of the year, she was also selected as the county’s athlete of the season. Anyone who saw her limping through a five-goal performance against Rye in the sectional final, including the winner in triple-overtime, will never forget it. Also congratulations to Jaimie Morrison of Yorktown, who was the unanimous pick for player of the year in Westchester/Putnam.

Division I League I
Nanuet: Lauren Kahn, Courtney McGrath, Becky Torres, K.C. Jentzen
Nyack: Caroline Chesterman, Karis Walborn, Chloe Soukas, Katie O’Gorman, Hanna Brotherhood, Erin McCabe
Pearl River: Molly Davin, Kelly Mastrovito, Julie McBrien, Shannon Howe, Kelly Mulligan
Suffern: Micaela Desimone, Kelsey Rehain, Maggie Sharp, Meg McNally, Lely Desimone, Karla Mendoza   
North Rockland: Taylor Moore, Morgan McGowan, Anna Berman, Karly O’Brien

Division I League II
Yorktown: Jaimie Morrison, Amanda Trendell, Brittany Mabus, Brianna Concialdi, Lindsay Scott, Sarah Scott, Lauren Hayes, Patricia Kaishian, Bridget Sickles, Gabrielle Veteri
Lakeland/Panas: Alex Fitzpatrick, Casandra Honovich, Anna Jeszeck, Kelsey Bub, Bridget McGovern 
John Jay: Emma Sheeran, Casey Bocklet, Hannah Lang, Lauren Murray, Courtney McCarthy
Mahopac: Emily Pfaffenbach, Mackenzy Ryan, Caitlin Karner, Gina Molfetta, Jillian Maloney, Megan Doyle
Brewster: Emily Biondi, Sarah Hogan, Lindsay Biondi

Division I League III
Scarsdale: Margaret Souther, Jennie Pechman, Kim Leone, Nicole Rafajac, Kathleen O’Hara 
Rye: Emma Tucci, Molly O’Brien, Juliana Kennedy, Kerry O’Callaghan, Lauren McRedmond, Madeleine Kinker
Mamaroneck: Amanda Tuck, Charlotte Gardiner, Abby Baigelman, Lauren Rush, Erika Romagnoli
Greeley: Kelsey Hill, Elizabeth O’Brien, Ariel Birnberg
Bronxville: Christie Bonfiglio

Division II League I
Clarkstown South: Molly McGroary
Clarkstown North: Mallori Seliger
Albertus Magnus: Casey Silvestri
Tappan Zee: Aileen Lennon

Division II League II
Fox Lane: Lindsay Toppe, Sammy Jo Tracy
Putnam Valley: Ashley Morgan, Hannah Tavella
Somers: Katie Marasco
Ossining: Caitlin Malone
North Salem: Marissa Dale

Division II League III
Pleasantville: Kathleen Bathon, Lindsay Gilfeather
Harrison: Sara Misisco, Melissa Shulman
Byram Hills: Sam Beresdof
Edgemont: Alex Lugovina

Division III
Arlington: Kelsey Horton
Briarcliff: Carly Dumas
Wappingers: Melissa Mahoney, Keara Hunt, Caroline Kaplan
Hastings: Kari McWalters, Dana Borelli, Kelsey deCourcey
Sleepy Hollow: Leah Morales
White Plains: Emily Masseo

There has been some confusion about the difference between all-section and all-Elite. Lakeland/Panas coach Sharon Sarsen provides this explanation:

All Elite is the award that is given by the Coaches Association to honor our players. These players plus the alternates were invited (to the banquet) and recognized by the Coaches Association. Our Coaches Association decides how many players they want to recognize. This has always been the award given to our most talented players (with the exception of All American). I believe this year we recognized 66 All Elites along with 35 Honorable Mention All Elites.

All Section is a NEW award given by Section I.  This is the first spring that they have sponsored this award. They gave us 50 picks. We decided to keep our award going with the All Elites. We also supported Section I and selected the top 50 players as well.

College coaching staffs have also been invited, and Moonlight will be videotaping the games and mailing DVD’s to colleges that have requested them. Unlike other sports, there’s no exceptional senior game in girls lacrosse, so this sounds the next best thing. The boys had a successful showcase last weekend at John Jay.

Jaimie Morrison and Amanda Trendell of Yorktown, Lauren Kahn of Nanuet, Caroline Chesterman of Nyack, Alex Fitzpatrick of Lakeland/Panas and Anna Berman of North Rockland are the all-America selections from Hudson Valley this year.

The honorable mention selections were Molly O’Brien and Emma Tucci of Rye, Molly Davin of Pearl RIver, Margaret Souther of Scarsdale, Lauren Hayes of Yorktown and Courtney McGrath of Nanuet.

As you can see, the Hudson Valley got two more selections this year. Chairperson Laurie Mayernik said it’s based on a formula from U.S. Lacrosse and takes into account how many coaches from the area are members. The selection process is detailed here. Mayernik said she wasn’t allowed to tell me which coaches were on the Hudson Valley chapter’s selection committee.

Next we have the Lower Hudson Girls Lacrosse Coaches Association Golden Dozen-Scholar Athlete Award winners. These are seniors who combine ability and teamwork on the lacrosse field with success in the classroom and outstanding contribution to the community. Some of these contributions include: President of the Mid-Night Run Club, Volunteer with Alzheimer’s patients, Girl Scout Gold Medal Award, Youth Sports Volunteer, Peer Leadership and Civic Education Advisor, senior class Valedictorian.

Scarsdale coach CeCe Berger is the chairperson for this one. Here are the winners (and no, I didn’t leave out two. There were only 10):

Julie McBrien, Pearl River
Kelly Mastrovito, Pearl River
Liz Gordon, Harrison
Sara Misisco, Harrison
Margaret Souther, Scarsdale
Julianna Kennedy, Rye
Charlotte Gardiner, Mamaroneck
Katie Bathon, Pleasantville
Meaghan Butler, Pleasantville
Janelle Santiago, North Rockland

Yorktown’s undefeated season and state-title hopes were dashed on the final day of the season as the ‘Huskers fell to Garden City 12-7 at SUNY Cortland. Lauren Hayes (right) made 16 saves, but Yorktown’s offense went scoreless for 23 minutes and was held to seven goals (four less than its previous season low) by a tenacious zone defense that featured constant double-teams.

Hayes, Amanda Trendell and sophomore Lindsay Scott were named to the all-tournament team. 

Tomorrow I should be posting the remaining all-everything honors (all-league, all-America, all-section honorable mention), though The Journal News Westchester/Putnam all-star and Rockland all-county teams won’t be published for a few weeks.

In the meantime, click on the teams to read about Yorktown and Nyack’s experiences in the semifinals. Here’s five things to watch for today:

1. Who will step up for Yorktown? In yesterday’s semifinals, it was sophomore Lindsay Scott who had a career-high five goals and seven points. Which Yorktown player will break out on the biggest stage today?

2. Two powers collide. Yorktown could win its fifth state title, which would match West Genesee for second on the all-time list in girls lacrosse. The leader? Garden City, which has won nine since the tournament began in 1995. The Cornhuskers titles came in 1996 (Division II), 1997 and ‘98 (Division I) and 2006 (Class A).
 
3. Is Garden City vulnerable? The Tronjans have lost four games this season – matching their loss total from the last four seasons combined. But none of Garden City’s losses were against Class B teams, and the Trojans won their two state playoff games by a combined score of 32-7.

4. There’s lots of Division I talent. Yorktown has five players headed to Division I programs next season. Garden City also is loaded, led by midfielder Caroline McTiernan (Virginia) and attacker Lauren Terracciano (Massachusetts).

5. Don’t forget the depth factor. This is the first time Yorktown will have to play two tough opponents back-to-back. The Cornhuskers are well-conditioned, and the timeframe is the same for both teams, though Garden City had a 10-goal lead at halftime yesterday and could rest its starters in the second half.

Yorktown will face Garden City (Section eight tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. at SUNY Cortland. Garden City has won nine state titles, including three straight in Class B. Yorktown has four state titles.

Yorktown led 2-0 and 4-2, Canandaigua scored three straight to take the lead, Morrison tied it with 4:50 left and Bridget Sickles gave Yorktown the lead with 2:57 left.

Check the comments below for second-half updates. Three-time defending champion Garden City (Section 8 ) leads Watertown (Section 3) 9-1 in the other semifinal. The final will be tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.

Right now everything is on schedule so I expect the game to start at 2:30 p.m.

Here’s the Class C scoreboard:
Honeoye Falls-Lima 18, Nyack 6
Shoreham-Wading River 21, Carthage 11