Girls Lacrosse: High-Powered Pleasantville Trounces Sleepy Hollow, 16-9

Pleasantville came into a matchup that was projected to be a Wild Wild West shootout with nothing short of a rifle. The Panthers came out firing, found seams and decimated the defense en route to a 16-9 victory over Sleepy Hollow.

For the first time in this young 2011 campaign, the Horsemen were forced into playing defense for extended periods while Pleasantville whipped crisp passes and chewed up clock time.

It was a change of pace for the Horsemen, which had put up shots before most fans found parking spots in previous games. Instead of controlling possession, they were situated in trail mode as potent Pleasantville made the defense look stagnant.

The Panthers' Liz King turned in a hat trick and dished out two assists. Caroline Fraylick engineered the offense, kicking in a team-best four assists. She also deposited two goals to supplement King, who has established herself as the go-to option for the upstart Panthers.

Ultimately, it was Pleasantville's cohesion and ability to find each other in transition that overwhelmed the Horsemen (2-1).

"Everyone on that team was very dynamic with how they moved," said Sleepy Hollow shootist Jennifer Angevine. "They were able to connect easily up the field."

This was evident in the first half, when Pleasantville popped shots from every angle. The team that trounced Blind Brook in a 15-0 washout last week was at it again. The Panthers poured in 12 first-half goals to exasperate Sleepy's defense.

The Horsemen made a concentrated effort to bottle them up in the second half, yielding just four goals. Still, the damage had been done.

"They were composed and was never nervous when pressure was applied," explained Angevine. "They were able to find the open player."

It was ultimately too much King, a rangy blonde-haired assassin who could vault into the Section's upper-echelon, for the Horsemen.

Gabby Cellante fired home four goals and handed out an assist to pace the Horsemen.

Sleepy Hollow resumes action on Friday when they host Blind Brook at 4:30 pm.