Future is Bright for Sleepy Hollow Boys Lacrosse

When a young team has a successful postseason, it can only mean good things for the future.    

That's the situation the Sleepy Hollow boys lacrosse team is in. The Headless Horsemen (9-9) earned a No. 12 seed in the Section 1 Class C Tournament, where they proceeded to upset No. 5 Nanuet in the opening round 7-5.    

Then in the quarterfinals, they gave eventual Class C champion Putnam Valley all it could handle before losing 11-6.    

"It gives you confidence that you can play with these teams," Sleepy Hollow coach Gary DiVico said. "For example, playing Putnam Valley, which won the title, and knowing you were within five goals of them is pretty good. It gives you confidence that you can take the next step."    

When having a young team, it's good to have a leader like the Headless Horsemen had in senior attackman John Bucci.   

"John was our leader on and off the field," DiVico said. "He was like a coach on the field. We had a very young team, we only had four seniors. John took on a big leadership role."  

Two other key seniors for Sleepy Hollow this year were defensemen Joey Scarpati and Peter DelMonaco. DelMonaco was also a wrestler and football player while Scarpati played soccer and basketball in addition to lacrosse.   

"Those are two guys who were middies last year and we put them on defense this year and they did a fine job," DiVico said. "They are guys that play three sports; they pick up things quickly and understand the dynamics of sports."   

While the experienced seniors are being rotated out, there are plenty more Horsemen waiting in the wings to bolster the team next year. One key player will be junior Jay Ramirez, who was outstanding in goal this year for Sleepy Hollow.

"As the season went on, Jay got better and better," DiVico said. "He progressed and that's what we were looking for. He played very well in both sectional games."   

Playing a big role at attack this year was junior Dennis Maloy, who DiVico expects big things from next year.   

"Dennis will be one of our top guys, he will step in for John," DiVico said. "We have a lot coming back. We have both attackmen, Dennis and Timmy Rachlin."    

With guys like Maloy and Rachlin coming back and the experience his young squad garnered this year, DiVico is confident going into next season.

"Our future is bright," DiVico said. "If everyone does what they are supposed to do and they work hard in the off season, we should be in good shape next year."    

This year was a great milestone for local lacrosse, and DiVico hopes it can carry forward. His hopes are being spurred on by a community that is eager to feed into a competitive high school lacrosse team – the local youth lacrosse program starts in second grade.

"It's so important that these kids have a stick in their hand when they are young," DiVico said. "It means I don't have to teach them basic lacrosse in eighth or ninth grade. When they come up, they are going to be able to pass and catch and know the basics."