Empire State Games Roundup: Boys Hudson Valley Lacrosse Team Struggles In Buffalo

They were short a couple of stallions, but in the end it didn't seem to matter.  

Hudson Valley's inability to weather their opponents' runs, tendency to wobble under the weight of regional teams' offensive onslaughts, problems sustaining leads ultimately thwarted their chances of taking home some hardware in the 2010 Empire State Games.

Due to a cluster of summer events on the local lacrosse landscape, each of which interfered with the other, many of Section I's high-caliber players did not attend a 90-man Empire State Games tryout under the scintillating sun in June.  

A crop of homegrown talent, Conor Prunty (Lakeland/Panas), Chris Monteferente (Lakeland/Panas), Ty Schuldt (Yorktown), Justin Mabus (Yorktown), and Nick Mariano (Yorktown), to name a few, had made other commitments. Events such as Champ Camp and Jake Reed Nike Blue Chip Camp, coupled with the fact that the first two tryouts were held during Lakeland/Panas' run towards the New York State Final Four eventually opened up roster spots for some of Westchester's more unsung players.

"I think the reason some of those high-level guys didn't come out was just because a lot of them were committed to schools before that," said Robbie Caffrey, a Lakeland/Panas middie who led Hudson Valley in goals.

"I know that the Yorktown and John Jay kids have other teams," he added. "I think the other tournaments, they were in, conflicted with Empires. I know John Jay went to Champ Camp, which was the same week as Empires so that's the reason none of those guys tried out."    

Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua was where Hudson Valley convened to start the season. They also became familiarized with each other's games through the Sound Shore summer league. 

Hudson Valley Empire State Games coach Dave McNally didn't throw his group of young guns to the wolves as much as he did test their resolve and meddle against Sound Shore's top-flight teams.    

Residual effects of that late game resolve Hudson Valley developed was evidenced in their first game at Canisius College in Buffalo.

The Valley stormed back from a deficit, reeling off four consecutive goals (three during a four-minute span) in the fourth quarter against Adirondack.

They suddenly turned a 6-3 game into a 6-6 deadlock. Adirondack, however, answered the run with a clutch goal. Hudson Valley faltered in the game's waning moments, failing to push the game into overtime with a scoring play in those final ticks.    

"We got the ball back and then we just threw it through the crease to see if anyone can catch it but it didn't exactly work out," said Lakeland/Panas middie Robbie Caffrey, who led Hudson Valley in scoring and took a good percentage of shots. "If we could have won that first game that would have been a big help, to get into the medal rounds and what not. That was a battle."  

Against a Central team decked to the gills with All-American talent, Hudson Valley lead by a slim 3-2 margin after the first stanza. Central then went on a 7-0 tear in the second half and the damage had been done.

They ended up stamping a 15-8 victory on Hudson Valley.  

"That (7-0) run really killed us," Caffrey explained. "They did have a star-spangled lineup with a bunch of kids committed to schools like North Carolina and Syracuse. With that kind of firepower, we couldn't really keep up when they went on a scoring run. We played a really strong first quarter, if we could have done that the whole tournament, I think we could have beat any of the teams."    

Caffrey deposited two goals and handed out four assists in Hudson Valley's 13-8 loss to (Duke-commit) Kyle Keenan and Long Island. Long Island obliterated the competition, en route to capturing an unprecedented fifth straight gold medal. Hudson Valley put one in the win column with a 5-2 defeat of New York City.

Hudson Valley dictated the tempo early and bottled their opponent up throughout the fourth frame. They staved off dodgers and shared the rock effectively.

 Caffrey spearheaded the offense with three goals and an assist.    

"We definitely could have used a couple of more goals and scored a lot more in that one," he said. "All the scoring wasn't there I don't think, but a win is a win."    

Despite the lack of wins, Caffrey said he believed he had benefited from the experience.  

"You know, we're going against the best competition in New York," he said. "It was the best time to see how the college competition will be. It was a good prep before you go to college and see how you match up. We just couldn't pull together as much as the other teams could."     

Getting a feel for games of that magnitude against players already committed to top lacrosse schools has extra value to Caffrey. A three-sport athlete at Lakeland, Caffrey will pursue lacrosse at the collegiate level. The rising senior is slated for campus visits at Wesleyan and Division-I Holy Cross before the start of his senior year.    

The most complete season of Caffrey's career ran parallel with the success of Lakeland/Panas in 2010. The Rebels submitted one of their finest seasons in program history, capturing the Section I title and advancing to the New York State Final Four.  

Caffrey's emergence as a scorer comes at the right time, as Lakeland will need his deft touch and medium range rips after losing scoring threats such as Fairfield-bound Shawn Honovich to 2010 graduation.