Girls LAX Out in First Round of Playoffs

The Sleepy Hollow High School girls lacrosse team lost to the Pleasantville Panthers on Thursday, 23-13, in the first round of the Class C sectional playoffs.

The loss ended a season that had immeasurable bright spots for the Lady Horsemen.

"It was definitely a tough ending, but the girls went out fighting," Sleepy Hollow coach Blair Moynahan said. "I know they walked off frustrated about the score, but they can't be frustrated about the season."

Moynahan noted that this year the girls ended up with a 9-6 record compared to last year's 6-9 record. It was also the first year the girls secured home field advantage in the playoffs. 

"Our team worked really well together," junior Jen Angevine said. "It was a big step up from last year."

The Lady Horsemen were in fine form in the first half even though Pleasantville got out to an early lead. The Panthers struck twice with goals from Kristina Howe and Lindsay Gilfeather before Sleepy could react. 

Sleepy Hollow responded swiftly, answering with two strikes from senior Rachel Swenson. 

The first few minutes of play were symbolic of the first half. Both teams showed inspired play and there were numerous lead changes. Each time Pleasantville seemed poised to pull away, the Lady Horsemen fought back to tie or take the lead. 

Sleepy took their first lead in the game in the 17th minute with an unassisted shot by Gabriella Cellante. However, Cellante would later be called on a penalty that would send her out of the game for three minutes; during that time Pleasantville scored three times to retake the lead. 

Toward the end of the half, Pleasantville's Gilfeather scored the 200th goal of her career to put the Panthers up 7-10.

Angevine would score the next point for the Horsemen, and in the last three seconds of the first half, Angevine assisted Annelise Birrittella to bring the Lady Horsemen within one, 9-10. 

Despite the close game at the break, the Panthers came out strong in the second half, crushing the hopes of a Sleepy Hollow victory. 

"The other girls caught a spark in the second half and obviously went with it," Moynahan said. 

Pleasantville scored first in the second half, then hit again within the first two minutes when Liz King ran the length of the field for a solo goal. 

Sleepy Hollow notched their first goal in the second half when Angevine scored in the 22nd minute. It would be one of only three goals Sleepy scored in the second half. Pleasantville went into stallmode in the 17th minute and scored enough points to keep the clock running with almost eight minutes left to play. 

In the end Birritella had three goals and one assist, Andrea Alvarez had two goals and one assist, Angevine had five goals and one assist, Cellante had two goals and Swenson had two goals.

"Our passes were right on target, but a couple mistakes let them get ahead a bit," Angevine said. "We never got discouraged, we kept fighting." 

Moynahan noted that Pleasantville dominated on the faceoffs, which were quickly converted into points. 

"One of the biggest differences in the game was their faceoff girl," Moynahan said. "She won the faceoffs pretty much every time."

Despite the loss, Sleepy Hollow is looking forward to next year's season when a spirited  junior attack team will be coming back to the field. However, Moynahan said the program would miss the defense and leadership from the team's seniors: Rachel Swenson, Taylor Greenberg and Alexis Bateman.

"There are a lot of juniors coming back and that is a nice thing," Moynahan said. "But we'll miss the leadership. We've never seen leadership from the seniors like this before."