Boys Lacrosse: Panthers Improve to 4-0 in Victory Over Bears

's boys lacrosse escaped with a hard-fought 7-3 victory over crosstown rival on Thursday to improve to 4-0 on the young season.

In what looked like an easy win to start became much more when the Bears (2-2) made a run for the lead before the tone shifted later on.

“It's a traditional rivalry and we got the better of them,” Pleasantville Head Coach Bruce Reitenbach said.

Briarcliff Head Coach Paul Bordonaro said the Bears had difficulty moving the ball offensively, but was optimistic about the senior-ladened team's success the rest of the season.

“It starts tomorrow [Friday] at practice,” he said of the 17 seniors chance to make a statement before graduation.

Skylar Leen initiated the Panther’s three goal run in the first period to assist Kyle O’Laughlin with the host's second goal with 5:41 left.

Ed Reilingh, assisted by Leen, finished the run with than five minutes left and the 3-0 advantage until Mike Spitalieri cut the deficit 3-1 with the help of Chris Varcasio to end the quarter.

“It was frustrating after that,” Reitenbach said about the Bears comeback and aggresive zone defense.

The Panthers wasted little time to extend the deficit out of the break on O’Laughlin’s second score of the evening from Reilingh. Another Leen score from Mike Taurone's assist improved the margin to 5-1 with 3:23 to go in the third.

A Kevin Connell slashing penalty then sparked momentum for James Grasso to cut the Bears deficit 5-2 with less than two minutes left to play.

Eric Akalski’s two fourth quarter goals silenced any opportunity for the Bears rally, despite Alex Dorkin’s score on a Spitalieri assist for the 7-3 final.

The Panthers opened the season with an 8-6 victory over Croton March 29 before trouncing Ossining 16-7 March 31 and Westlake 15-2 Tuesday.

Briarcliff was also riding high heading into Thursday’s matchup, with a 13-1 domination over Blind Brook March 29, before losing 11-8 to a strong Sleepy Hollow squad until capturing an 8-4 victory at Keio, also this past Tuesday.

The Panthers head to Sleepy Hollow Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. while the Bears have a day to re-group before heading to Ossining Saturday at 6:30 p.m.