Greeley Falls to Somers 14-7 in Boys Lacrosse

Vin DeGregorio still believes the race for the Section 1 Class B boys lacrosse championship is wide open.

He thinks that his Horace Greeley Quakers have the ability to make a playoff run.

But he and the Quakers aren't focused on that right now. Their first concern is just getting there.

After the Quakers fell 14-7 at defending Class B sectional champion Somers on Thursday night, DeGregorio quickly morphed into mathematician mode after the game, which dropped the Quakers' record to 2-7.

"Right now our focus is getting in, then we'll worry about where we're seeded," DeGregorio said. "Our eyes are on the prize. Whatever happens, this is the hand we've been dealt."

With six games remaining, Greeley must win at least two more times in order to clinch a playoff berth.

"I'm doing the math," DeGregorio said. "They all know what they have to do."

In addition to gaining the minimum number of wins necessary to qualify for the sectionals, DeGregorio hopes his team can attain something that has alluded it through its first nine games.

"We want to improve on our consistency across the board," DeGregorio said. "We put up 12 goals against Guilderland (in a 12-11 win on April 26) right after we came out against Byram Hills and only scored twice (in a 5-2 loss on April 22)."

Against Somers (5-5), the Quakers were outscored 6-0 in the third quarter to fall behind 13-3. In the teams' first meeting of the season on April 13, Greeley lost 10-9 after building an 8-4 second-half lead against the Tuskers.

"We were up the whole game and they came back," DeGregorio said.

But in the rematch, the Tuskers jumped out to a 4-2 lead and pulled away from there with junior attackman Kieran Donohue leading the way with four goals and two assists. Sophomore attackman Kevin Cousin had three goals and an assist.

"You know what you're going to get with Somers," DeGregorio said. "They play hard. I thought they shot well. They finished their opportunities. When a good team has the ball and you have some unforced errors, that's what happens."

Senior midfielder Dan Leventhal and sophomore midfielder Brandon Gell each had two goals for Greeley. Alex Cohen had two assists. Junior goaltender Gabe Weissman made 17 saves. Leventhal is one of three Quakers who will be joining college programs next year. He will play at Tufts. Defenseman Hunter Bastian is bound for Wittenberg and attackman Nate Becker is headed to Haverford.

Prior to their most recent loss, Greeley had only lost once more by than three goals – a 10-5 setback to Lakeland/Panas on April 3.

"Sometimes you never really put the finger on it," DeGregorio said. "This particular group of kids, despite our record, every game we played this year prior to this, we were in every game. We're trying to put it together. If we keep working hard, we may be fortunate to surprise some people."