Sleepy Boys Lacrosse Earns Important 8-3 Win over Hastings

Sleepy Hollow (5-6) entered its game against visiting Hastings with plenty of motivation to come away with a victory yesterday.

That motivation came in the form of wanting to qualify for the postseason and earn as high a seed as possible in the Section 1 tournament.

"We knew it was an important game that we needed to step up and win," Sleepy Hollow junior attackman Dennis Maloy said.

Maloy stepped up by scoring the host's first two goals, igniting Sleepy Hollow to an 8-3 triumph against league foe Hastings.

"We were on a losing streak so coach told us we had to get on a winning streak to make the playoffs," Sleepy Hollow junior midfielder Jorge Berenguer said. "We know we had to turn it up to do that."

Sleepy Hollow got in the game after Hastings took an early 1-0 lead. Maloy scored two goals, the second one coming with just 25 seconds left in the first quarter. That put the Headless Horsemen up 2-1. Maloy's goals were assisted by John Bucci and Tim Rachlin.

Unfortunately for Maloy, he wasn't able to play in the second half.

"I just got hit in the head a little bit," Maloy said. "It wasn't bad, I just didn't want to risk anything."

Fortunately for Sleepy Hollow, the Headless Horsemen showed that they could carry on without one of their key players. After Sleepy Hollow and Hastings each scored a goal in the second quarter, Rachlin did the honors for the hosts. The Headless Horsemen took control of the game by dominating the second half.

A goal by Steve Bencosme, with an assist from Rachlin, put Sleepy Hollow up 4-2. After a Hastings goal, Kyle McGovern scored an unassisted goal to give Sleepy Hollow its two-goal lead back.

Berenguer then scored twice, with one of the goals assisted by McGovern, that gave his squad a four-goal lead.

"Those goals were huge," Berenguer said. "We were just up by two so to be able to double our lead was a big boost. We just kept going from there."

Frank Curanj scored an insurance goal, with an assist from Rachlin, in the fourth quarter to finish the scoring.

"We played hard today and the key was getting to groundballs," Sleepy Hollow Head Coach Gary DiVico said. "We possessed the ball. We also had assists on five goals. That's what I like to see, assist on the goals."

Maloy said that he would definitely be playing in Sleepy Hollow's next game 4 p.m. Friday, May 7 against Croton-Harmon in the opening round of the Sleepy Hollow Tournament, sponsored by Crown Trophy, which will be played at Ossining. Hackley will play Ossining in the second game at 6 p.m.

"We just have to play like we've been playing," Maloy said. "It's just like any other game, back-to-back. We're in a tournament with good teams so this will be a good opportunity to see how good we are."

The consolation and championships games will be played at noon and 2 p.m. Saturday, May 8 at Sleepy Hollow.

DiVico said that it will be a tough tournament to win but feels if his squad plays with the intensity that it did against Hastings, it will have a chance to win it.

Berenguer said the preparation leading up to the tournament will also play an important role in how well the Headless Horsemen do this weekend.

"We have to have good practices, work on our defense and defensive schemes to be successful," Berenguer said.