Sleepy Hollow Girls Lacrosse Enjoys Historic Season

For the average person who has to get up for work every morning, it's hard enough to get up at 6 a.m. each day.

Now imagine trying to motivate a group of people to get up at that time of day when you aren't paying them.

That was the task Sleepy Hollow girls lacrosse coach Blair Moynahan had to do because he had his squad participate in 6 a.m. preseason practices in order to get it ready for the season. Luckily, he had a trio of senior all-league captains in Alexis Bateman (two goals, 10 assists this season), Rachel Swenson (60 goals, 22 assists) and Taylor Greenberg (two goals) who made his job in that regard that much easier.

Being able to rely on them to get the rest of the team up in the morning paid dividends as Sleepy Hollow went 9-7 this spring and hosted its first home playoff game in the program's history, a 23-13 loss to highly-regarded Pleasantville.

"The girls were ecstatic when they found out that we were hosting a playoff game," Moynahan said. "It's always special, especially for the seniors, to have that one last extra home game."

Having one more home game was extra special for Bateman, Swenson and Greenberg who set the tone for the season before it even began.

"My assistant coach, who was the head coach last year, Greg Scerba, said he never saw leadership skills from seniors like that," Moynahan said. "They really stepped up. Not to take away from the other girls but these girls were dominant on the field and together off the field as well. We never saw any senior slump, which can happen once seniors know where they are going to college. They were focused from the beginning."

Bateman excelled at both center and defense while Greenberg, playing defensive wing, was the most improved player on the team who led Sleepy Hollow in groundballs, just beating out Bateman.

Swenson was a middie who took the majority of the Lady Horsemen's face-offs and finished with 106 career goals, the second Lady Horsemen to score over the 100-goal plateau.

The first Lady Horseman to reach the career 100-goal plateau was junior  teammate Jennifer Angevine (79 goals, 38 assists), who was named all-league, all-elite and all-section this spring. Angevine's career total in goals is now at 152.

"Jennifer is a hard worker and she has a strong sense of team," Moynahan said. "She is really a team player. Her class, it's going to be real exciting to have them as seniors next year. They are a great group, they have all grown up together in Sleepy Hollow."

Included in that junior class are all-league honorable mention players, midfielder Emily Mottola (12 goals, 10 assists), defense/attack Gianna Volpe (four goals, nine assists), attack Andrea Alvarez (39 goals, 24 assist), who has 89 career goals, and middie Gabrielle Cellante (11 goals, 17 assists), who Moynahan says can run forever and was Sleepy Hollow's lone junior captain.

Another all-league honorable mention player who excelled this spring was sophomore middie Annelise Birrettella (49 goals, 24 assists).

"All the girls have amazing work ethic," Moynahan said. "Time and time again, the positivity that these girls carry is unbelievable. They are nice to be around. The season goes so fast because you just have such a great time being around them. Their work ethic and personalities, they made this season fun. They work hard, they play hard. None of them just go through the motions, they give it their all whether it's practice or a game."

Moynahan also felt the key to his squad's success was his rapport with Scerba.

"The chemistry between myself and my assistant coach was very important," Moynahan said. "We clicked from day one. It was to the point that the girls noticed it and looked at us as co-head coaches, that's how good we got along."