The Panthers won their league, finished 17-2 and made it to the Section 1 Class C championship game at Yorktown High School, , 15-10.
“In previous years, we only made it to the quarterfinals and lost,” Pleasantville third-year coach and Pearl River graduate Allison Steinberg said. “Our main goal was to just get back to the quarterfinals. We definitely did that and then some.”
The team was able to do that thanks to four senior co-captains who will be sorely missed after graduation from Pleasantville High School.
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One of them was midfielder Meghan Reda, who was anxious to play this spring in the playoffs after tearing her ACL right before the postseason a year ago. Reda didn’t play soccer or basketball this year so she could concentrate solely on the lacrosse season.
“That meant so much to the team,” Steinberg said. “She is always so positive. She is a selfless player. She wants everyone around her to be successful.”
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Senior Liz King was successful shooting the ball, something she did frequently at her attack position and it paid off according to her coach.
“She protected her shot and was really powerful for us on offense,” Steinberg said.
Tori Borges also excelled at attack for Pleasantville and is another Panther who was a positive influence on her teammates.
“It’s hard to put into words what she does because she does create so many opportunities on offense and she gets a lot of shots really close on goal that a lot of other girls have really struggled with,” Steinberg said.
Steinberg said that the Panthers other senior co-captain, Kristina Howe, gave them just what they needed at the center position. Steinberg said Howe was able to control the pace of the game by winning draws that set up the Panthers’ scoring opportunities.
“They are some of the first girls who played for Pleasantville,” Steinberg said of her co-captains. “Their enthusiasm and the love of the game drew other people in and built up the program to where it is today. There is no way we would have been here without them and their leadership.”
While the Panthers quartet of co-captains will surely be missed, the future is bright with players like junior goalie Jamie Figler.
“She has improved leaps and bounds over the past few seasons,” Steinberg said. “She definitely is going to be one of the top goalies in the section next year.”
