Rebels Win In Regionals, Continue Overtime Magic

Another overtime game, another win for the Lakeland/Panas Rebels boys lacrosse squad.

Section 1 Class A champion Lakeland/Panas (17-3) squared off against Section 2 winner Shenendehowa in the regional semifinals at Charlie Murphy Field Saturday night. The Rebels came away victorious when sophomore midfielder Chris Monteferante scored his third goal of the game, an unassisted tally, one minute into overtime in a 10-9 Rebel victory.

It was the Rebels' first win in the regionals since 1997, when Lakeland/Panas coach Jim Lindsay played for the Rebels.

"That was in overtime too," Lindsay said. "It's like deja-vu for me."

The irony that the win came on the homefield of the Rebels' longtime rivals wasn't lost on Lindsay.

"It's a little awkward being on this field in home white, but who knows, maybe Charlie was pulling for Section 1 today," Lindsay said.

Lindsay was able to enjoy a win on a field that has provided numerous bad memories in the past for the Rebels thanks to Monteferante, who won the critical faceoff in overtime that led to his winning goal.

"I was trying to hear my coach, the crowd was loud, it was hard to hear," Monteferante said. "I think he was telling me to do a play with Shawn Honovich. I got a pass, my defender over rotated, stepped around, shot it and went in."

The win was the second straight overtime victory for the Rebels. Two nights earlier they defeated Yorktown 8-7 in the Section 1 Class A championship game in overtime in White Plains.

"It was two great teams, getting up and down the field," Lindsay said. "We're comfortable in overtime. You have to give them a lot of credit, Shenendehowa played their butts off too. It was just a matter of who was going to make the last play. Chris made a great dodge, made a great shot on an unbelievable goalkeeper. It just fell our way this time."

One reason why it fell their way is because of the great play of Rebels goalie Robert Belger. Belger made 15 saves, including a couple of big ones toward the end of regulation that enabled Lakeland/Panas to take the game into overtime.

"You don't want to lose when you are in that situation, that's all it is," Belger said. "You want to keep going."

 The Rebels are able to keep going because of the fact that they know how to take care of themselves.

"We are a very conditioned team," Belger said. "We may not be deep but we got a lot of heart and that's very important when you play sports."

 Another reason Lakeland/Panas came out on top was because it received a great effort from everyone on its roster.

 "We won because of the little things," Monteferante said. "We got great goaltending from Rob Belger and the entire defense back there held them down. The rest of the offense did a great job throwing the ball and getting good looks."

The Rebels also executed well after calling a timeout. Monteferante's game-winning goal; Conor Prunty's tally with 1:05 left in the second quarter that gave the Rebels a 5-4 halftime lead; and Robert Caffrey's score that put Lakeland/Panas up 9-8 with 10:04 remaining in the fourth quarter -- all came after a time out.

"It was divine intervention, don't ask me what it was during the timeouts," Lindsay said. "The time out is more just to settle the players down, let them get some water and get their breath. We just put them in a specific formation and told them this is where the ball should go."

The Rebels will now go to the regional finals 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 8 at Middletown High School, where they will take on Section 9 champ Warwick.

"I have to take a look at the film but at this point, state tournament, you just have to go out and play," Lindsay said. "It's more about you being about yourself and doing what you want to do rather than going out and worrying about the other team. We are going to focus on what we do and if we do it, I like our chances."