Scarsdale Girls Lacrosse Season Recap

Girls lacrosse programs in Westchester County this season went from leagues based on ability to leagues based solely on geography.

The change was both a positive and a negative for the Scarsdale girls team, which went from playing the best small-school teams in Section 1 to playing neighbors like Hastings and White Plains.

The Raiders tore through the league with an 11-0-1 to claim the title, but the lack of competitive games may have hurt in when it came to the postseason. Coming in with a 15-game unbeaten streak, Scarsdale lost to eventual champion Fox Lane in the Class B sectional semifinals by a score of 16-12.

"It was an interesting year," coach CeCe Berger said. "We wanted to win the league and we made it and we loved that. But we'd be in games where girls could drop the ball and get it right back, so we learned to be a little sloppy it didn't prepare us for postseason."

Scarsdale finished with a record of 14-3-1. Knowing the quality of the league schedule was down, Berger purposely chose to play two of the best teams in the area at the start of the season. So Scarsdale opened with losses to Nanuet (17-15) and Greenwich Academy (10-6).

After that came the league schedule, and Scarsdale went 10 straight games without winning by fewer than three goals until Bronxville tied it 9-9.

The Raiders would get the final word with a 7-6 win at Bronxville in the final week of the season to earn the league title, and also had quality wins over Rye (12-9) and Mamaroneck (20-18).

Scarsdale defeated Ursuline 19-6 in its Class B sectional tournament opener before falling to Fox Lane, who wound up going all the way to the state finals. The Raiders were undone by 22 turnovers.

"We were good and we picked a bad day to have a bad day," Berger said.

Penn-bound senior Jennie Pechman led the way, earning all-Elite, all-section and all-league honors and being named to the Golden Dozen team, which recognizes the top 12 players in the section. Pechman, who scored 44 goals, had 90 ground balls and won 51 draws, was also a U.S. Lacrosse Academic all-American.

Trinity-bound Kimmy Leone led the team with 49 goals and 64 points, and Lisa Abrams (28 goals), who is going to the Savannah College of Arts and Design, was a calming influence on the underclassmen from low attack.

Goalie Kim Grinhaus took her game to a new level and was also named all-section, while defender Kelsey Dodge anchored the defense and held Rye star Molly O'Brien to just two goals when the teams met.

Seniors Rachel Reingold and Danielle Feigin were also instrumental on defense, along with Chelsea Dodge and Cali Kurlan, who could be counted on to force turnovers and get the ball to the attack.

Carly Levine (28 goals) excelled in transition, using her speed to create fast breaks, and Liz Felix (32 goals, 49 ground balls) fit right in at midfield with Pechman and Leone and will be one of the top players in the area next year.