Yorktown Patch Weekly Sports Report

After an exhausting four-overtime 7-6 victory in the opening round of the Section 1 Division 1 tournament against No. 7 Clarkstown (10-10-1), the No. 10 Lakeland/Panas Rebels (8-12-2) had to come right back two days later and play against No. 2 White Plains (18-4) in the quarterfinals.

After a slow start, the Rebels were able to play even with the Tigers, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 5-3 White Plains win, which ended Lakeland/Panas’s season on Feb. 22.

“The kids played real hard but we had a couple of breakdowns in the first period and that led to us getting down two goals and to overcome that is tough to do against a good team,” Rebels coach Bart Mucci said. “After that, we basically played them even, we traded goals. We tightened up and played a much better game.”

“We just couldn’t get our offense going the way we normally do,” Mucci continued. “We came up with the three goals instead of the usual four or five.”

After a White Plains goal started the game’s scoring, the Rebels tied the game on a goal by Connor Bubolo, with the assists coming from Christian Gjelaj and Robert Caffrey.

“Connor missed time with a broken foot and has come back now and started to get his feet under him,” Mucci said. “He also had two against Clarkstown. It’s something for us to grow on for next year. Those two guys [Bubolo and Ryan Lynagh] can really contribute something on the scoring end. We have been top heavy on the scoring end with the seniors. We have some fire power coming up behind them.”

White Plains registered the next two goals after Bubolo’s score to take a 3-1 lead.

The Rebels then cut the Tigers lead to one in the second period on a goal by Caffrey, with Frank Celentano assisting.

“It’s just Rob being Rob, a lot of finesse down low, getting the puck on net,” Mucci said. “There was a rebound that Frank threw across the crease and he basically slammed across the pass home.”

White Plains then took a stranglehold on the game with one goal in the second and another in the third to go up 5-2.

Lakeland/Panas kept fighting though, and a goal by Ryan Lynagh, with the assist coming from Pat McKiernan, gave the Rebels their third goal with six minutes left in the third stanza.

“It’s big for him [Lynagh],” Mucci said. “He started on injured reserve, he’s only a sophomore. It’s his third goal of the season. He made a nice play, set something nice up off a faceoff and he finished. In a sectional game as a 10th grader, that’s a good thing.”

What was also good for the Rebels was the play of goalie Nick Chiapparino, who made 35 saves.

“He’s been great all year,” Mucci said. “He makes a lot of big saves. We had a couple of bad reads that put him in tough spots for most of their goals that got them ahead. It might have been a different game otherwise. He’s been an awesome two-year starter. His career may have ended on a loss, but every playoff team except for one team ends on a loss. He’s played well and had a good game on Tuesday.”

Huskers go for state crown

Last year Yorktown’s boys skiing squad placed second at the states, and this year the team is looking to come home with a state championship.

“We really want to win it this year,” Yorktown senior Ben Strober said.

The states are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, March 1 and 2 at Whiteface/Mt. VanHoevenberg in Lake Placid.

The boys Husker skiers that earned a trip upstate to the state championships are Strober, Danny Donatelli, Jeremy Katz and Thomas Menton. Strober led the team in the sectional championships when he placed first in the boys combined with a score of 68.71.

Yorktown also can boast having one of its girls squad skiers competing in the states as well—eighth-grader Emily Concialdi.

Lakeland baseball fundraiser

The Lakeland High School baseball parents are hosting an evening of wine tasting to benefit the Lakeland baseball program, whose seniors and some underclassmen will be playing games in Vero Beach, Fla., and at Terry Park High School in Jacksonville, Fla., in April.

The parents also raise funds for senior scholarships and trophies presented to the players at the annual baseball dinner.

Lakeland is coming off a season where it went to the state final four for the first time in school history.

The wine tasting will be held at Sterling Cellars at Mahopac Village Center, located at 179 Route 6 in Mahopac at the A&P Shopping Center from 6-8:30 p.m. Friday, March 4, with the snow date scheduled for March 11.

A $10 donation would be greatly appreciated and walk-ins are welcome. There will complimentary hors d’oeuvres, a penny social and door prizes.

For more information contact Dorrie de Marte at 914-262-2654.