Yorktown Patch Weekly Sports Report

Bozek leads Rebels

No. 2 Suffern scored three straight goals in the Section 1 Class A girls lacrosse championship game against No. 1 Lakeland/Panas to cut the Rebels’ lead to 12-11, but Emma Bozek’s game-high fifth goal put the Rebels back up by two, with five minutes left in the contest.

Bozek’s goal helped the Rebels earn their fifth straight sectional crown with a 14-12 victory against their Rockland rivals.

“I knew that late in the second half we were losing momentum,” Bozek said. “In order to win the game, we needed to get that momentum back on our side, that is what I was thinking when we took those shots toward the end of the game.”

Bozek talked about how thrilling it is to be a part of the Rebels' squad that won a fifth straight sectional crown.

“It’s hard to even put into words,” Bozek said. “It just feels absolutely amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls to play side by side with me. There is no better feeling than winning the section plaque.”

Rebel coach Sharon Sarsen said its Bozek’s competitiveness that makes her stand out.

“She is so competitive,” Sarsen said.”She just loves the spotlight. She loves to play in those situations.”

Huskers back on top

After losing a classic 8-7 overtime tilt against Lakeland/Panas in last year’s Section 1 Class A boys lacrosse championship game, Yorktown moved to Class B and it was determined to return to its customary place as sectional champions.

“We had a lot of motivation to win this game,” Yorktown senior Ty Schuldt said. “We remember the loss last year [to Lakeland/Panas] and we didn’t want that to happen our senior year.”

It didn’t, as the No. 2 Huskers beat No. 4 John Jay 14-5 in this year’s Class B title game. The win gave Yorktown its 29th sectional title in the last 32 years and a Section 1 record 34th in its illustrious history.

Schuldt scored four goals while Justin Mabus totaled seven points, six of them coming on assists.

“Justin is a huge playmaker for us,” Schuldt said. “I mean six assists, that’s ridiculous. He knows how to move the ball around.  He helps out everyone. We are glad to have him on the team.”

Conor Gately also came up big for the Huskers with two goals and three assists.

“He’s quick around the cage, he’s always looking to feed someone,” Schuldt said of Gately.

L/P falls to Mahopac

No. 5 Lakeland/Panas played a highly competitive game in its Class A boys lacrosse championship contest against No.2 Mahopac but fell to the Indians 7-5.

Leading the Rebels was junior Chris Monteferante with two goals.

“The first time we played them we didn’t have a great game (a 16-7 Mahopac win),” Monteferante said. “We were really motivated to play better this time around. Our defense was clicking. We kept Mahopac to a low score in the first half (2-2 tie). It was a better game than when we played them the first time.”

The difference in the game came in the fourth quarter, where Mahopac outscored the Rebels 4-1.

“They got two goals pretty quickly and it was just hard to come back from that,”  Monteferante said. “We were trying to rush near the end. We had some turnovers. We just couldn’t get what we wanted.”

Doing everything he could to keep the Rebels in the game was goalie Mike Zingaro, who made 11 saves.

“Even though he’s a freshman, he plays like someone with a lot more years of experience,” Monteferante said. “He wasn’t scared, he wasn’t nervous. He just had that x-factor, he played well.”

Hornets upset

Host Lakeland entered the Section 1 Class A baseball tournament as the No. 1 seed but its season was abruptly ended by No. 16 Somers 5-4 in the opening round.

“We didn’t hit the ball at all,” Lakeland co-coach Dennis Robinson said. “It was the worst baseball game we played since we lost against Hen Hud (a 7-6 loss April 14). We committed four errors in the beginning of the game. We didn’t pitch well. We didn’t have timely hitting. It wasn’t a good baseball game by us.”

Somers took advantage of the Hornet miscues to go up 3-0 in the first inning before adding another run in the third to go up 4-0. Lakeland did cut Somers lead to one with three runs in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Zach Lenane and a two-run double by Brian Wallace, who later added a sacrifice fly, but the team was never able to get over the hump.

Standing out in relief for Lakeland was pitcher Nick Caruso, who allowed just one run in 4.1 innings pitched.

“Nick has done it all year,” Robinson said. “Any situation, John Jay he came in had six strikeouts in two innings. Yorktown, Mahopac, he came in for (Jon) de Marte and (Joey) Arena at the beginning of the year. We knew what we had with him.”

YHS’ Wilson shines

Yorktown pitcher Nicole Wilson was able to hold the highly powered Ketcham offense to just three runs but the No. 1 Indians were able to hold on to a 3-2 triumph in the opening round of the Section 1 Class AA softball tournament.

“The bottom line is Nicole has always been a good pitcher in her high school career,” Yorktown coach John McKenna said. “She came up big. She is a big-game pitcher. She is the reason why this season turned around for us.”

Wilson also came up clutch at the plate, with a two-run double in the seventh, pulling the Huskers to within one.

No. 17 Yorktown won its out-bracket contest with a 8-4 triumph at No. 16 Mamaroneck. Leading the way was Miwa Wenzel with three hits, including an two-run single in the seventh.

“Miwa is a speed threat and when she is slapping or bunting, it’s next to impossible to get her unless you are on top of home plate,” McKenna said. “Then she will beat you by putting the ball over the infielders’ heads. She is a smart ballplayer. She is a great asset to any team.”

Also driving in runs for the Huskers were Kayla Michelson (two-run RBI double), Leanne Farmer (RBI double), Marly Becker (RBI double), and Wilson (two-run double).

Wilson went the distance on the mound, with six strikeouts.

Champagne stands out

Lakeland senior Katie Champagne pitched a complete game, striking out six, but No. 7 Tappan Zee was able to squeak out a 1-0 triumph in the opening round of the Section 1 Class A softball tournament.

“My placement on my pitches were good,” Champagne said. “I had the opportunity to throw all my pitches, my coach (Joe Chiara) called a good game so it worked really well.”

Lindsay Dring and Felicia Costanzo had two hits apiece for the No. 10 Hornets.

“It’s important that we have a lot of people on this team that we can count on to hit and do well and they are two of them,” Champagne said. “Players like that give you a chance to come back in the game, especially as close as it was.”