Sectional Boys Lacrosse Preview

Pleasantville (15-1) is the No. 1 seed in the Section 1 Class C Tournament and will host the winner of the out-bracket game between No. 17 Edgemont and No. 16 Westlake in the opening round at 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 20.

Briarcliff (9-7) earned the No. 10 seed and will travel to No. 7 Pelham in its opening-round matchup, also at 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 20.

The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played Sunday, May 22 and Tuesday, May 24 at the higher seed. The finals are scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday, May 26 at Suffern Middle School.

Pleasantville comes into the tournament feeling good about itself, after Monday.

“The win means we feel good about how we played today but now that the sectionals are about to start every game, if you lose, you are done,” Pleasantville Coach Bruce Reitenbach said.

Reitenbach said that getting to the final and winning it is the Panthers' goal, but cautions there is plenty of great competition out there, especially No. 2 Bronxville, which is considered the favorite despite having a lower seed than the Panthers.

“Bronxville is considered one of the top teams in the state for any sized school, so they are the odds-on-favorite right now to win Class C,” Reitenbach said. "Byram Hills is also right up there.”

“For anyone to beat Bronxville it will be a huge challenge considering what kind of numbers it has put up,” Reitenbach continued. “They are having a great season led by a lot of seniors. They seem to have some destiny on their side but you know, you never know. You play each game and try to go as far as you can.”

Senior goalie will lead the Panthers into the tournament.

“He’s back there, a great goalie, a great stopper,” Reitenbach said. “He’s also the leader of our team, our captain. Right now, when we need the intensity and the focus, having him there is important because he is highly focused and very intense. Having him in goal is a real plus for our team going into the playoffs.”

Playing in front of Fraylick are defensemen, seniors Kevin Connell, Chris DiFabio, Mike Lynch and junior Zach Myers.

“We lost our first two games in 2009 and then we made an adjustment on defense,” Reitenbach said. “Ever since then, Mike Lynch, Kevin Connell and Chris DiFabio have been our starters on defense and Conor has been our goalie. These kids are all we know as far as coaches at Pleasantville, they have been solid for us over three years.”

Leading the Panthers into the sectionals on attack are senior Eric Akalski, junior Mike Taurone and junior Kyle O’Loughlin.

“They all play real hard, they are all good dodgers and good shooters for us,” Reitenbach said. “They each do a real good job.”

Playing a key role in the sectionals at midfield for Pleasantville will be seniors Skyler Leen, Stetson Bates and Eddie Reilingh.

“They give us real steady play,” Reitenbach said. “They play a ton, we know we are not that deep. They are playing a lot of minutes. They are doing a great job for us.”

Briarcliff enters the tournament winners of three in a row.

Senior attackman/midfielder John Haeling’s goal in double overtime gave Briarcliff a 6-5 triumph at Sleepy Hollow on Saturday in the last game of regular season. The Bears also beat Croton-Harmon at home 7-5 on May 12 while winning at Westlake 5-1 on May 10.

“We have three wins in a row going into the sectionals so the kids are playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Briarcliff Coach Paul Bordonaro said.

The play of Haeling is one reason why the Bears are so confident.

“He’s real versatile,” Bordonaro said. “You can make him dodge, you can put him on the crease. He can dodge to create something.”

Junior attackman Rick Grassey gives the Bears’ offense someone who moves real well off the ball and has good stick skills.

“He is a catch and shoot kid,” Bordonaro said.

On defense, senior Doug Messer will probably play the opponents’ best offensive threat in the sectionals.

“He usually takes the best guy from the other team,” Bordonaro said. “He’s done a real nice job all year shutting people down.”

Senior goalie Brandon Jampol has stepped up over the past week according to his coach.

“He’s been a rock back there,” Bordonaro said. “He takes a lot of shots and makes a lot of saves for us."

If the Bears are to be successful in the postseason, it will need its seniors to come through.

“We mostly play seniors,” Bordonaro said. “Our defensive core has played together since they were sophomores. We have two other seniors on attack, we have three more seniors that contribute in the midfield. We have a lot of people in the midfield that we can throw out.”

Those other seniors on defense are Matt Emmenegger, Luke Beyer, Joe Lividini and Frank Carey; other seniors on attack are Sam Kolbovsky and Alex Dorkin

At midfield, the Bears will rely on seniors James Grasso, Emmett Goodman and Mike Spitalieri.

“Our junior face-off middie, Alec Freidhof, has also been great for us,” Bordonaro said.