Boys lacrosse: Scarsdale, Rye and Pleasantville fall in NYSPHSAA semifinals

Class A

Scarsdale comeback sputters in the fourth quarter

ALBANY – There was no fairytale ending.

Scarsdale again regrouped following a bumpy start and was beginning to script another comeback story, but this rally fizzled after the Raiders closed to within a goal of the Long Island champion. Farmingdale responded with four goals Friday to pull away.

The Dalers moved on with a 9-5 win in a NYSPHSAA Class A East semifinal at UAlbany.

“We started slow,” Scarsdale midfielder Ryan Ornstein said. “We’re a team that often gets caught playing from behind, but we always seem to play our way back in. At the beginning, we were turning the ball over and were kind of all over the place and the defense wasn’t playing well. Then we started putting in more effort and got more comfortable. We worked hard to get back there.”

Regionals: Scarsdale recovers in the nick of time, advances to NYSPHSAA final four

The Raiders were in a 5-1 hole when Ornstein shoveled in a ground ball on the crease and then beat the buzzer, converting a laser pass from Colby Baldwin.

Halftime did not slow the momentum.

Baldwin worked his way through traffic for his second goal of the game, and Scarsdale (14-7) was suddenly within 5-4 heading into the fourth quarter. That’s were the run ended. Farmingdale (18-3) put the Raiders back in chase mode with a four-goal outburst.

Ornstein ended the run in the final minute with his third of the game.

The emotions kicked into high gear as soon as the postgame huddle broke and the three-time Section 1 champions loaded up the gear bags for the final time.

“I don’t much care about the lacrosse right now, to be honest,” Baldwin said. “It’s about friends, teammates and coaches. I love these guys. The only thing I’m upset about right now is leaving them all behind. It was a winnable game, but we just didn’t do the things we needed to do.”

After being pushed back two days due to poor air quality, the game started three hours late due to lightning.

“We were eager to play,” Ornstein said. “We kept getting to this game and never got it done, but winning three sectional titles means a lot to this program, it means a lot to these kids. We didn’t get everything we wanted, but we accomplished a lot as a team with a really special group of kids.”

Class C

Manhasset holds off a spirited Rye comeback

ALBANY - Yes, there was bitter disappointment. Rye came up one win short of a state championship game appearance for the second year in a row. There was also real optimism. After recovering from a worst-case-scenario opening, the Garnets made heavily-favored Manhasset sweat.

The Indians moved on with a 13-6 win in a NYSPHSAA Class C East semifinal at UAlbany and will look to extend their reign on Sunday.

"It’s only a matter of time before a future team that sees how far we come every season wants it even more," Rye midfielder Andrew Keller said. "One of these years, we’re going to get this so we keep on fighting."

Regionals: Rye stays ahead of schedule, advances to NYSPHSAA final four

Manhasset was up 5-0 after Liam Connor scored with 5:08 to play in the opening quarter. The Garnets had one possession during that stretch.

"This whole season we emphasized riding the waves," added Keller, who netted a pair of goals in the closing minutes of the first quarter and gave his young teammates hope. "We knew they were a good team. We knew this could happen, but all year we’ve faced adversity and this comeback was a testament to our team, punching a few goals in and getting the momentum."

The run continued into the second quarter.

Wilson Redd, an eighth-grader, came up with a couple of wins against Indians faceoff whiz Cal Girard, who is heading to Duke and Tyler McDermott had the lead down to 5-3 before the first quarter was over.

Manhasset (20-1) ended the run, but Rye made enough plays to hang around.

"It was really nice to have hope," McDermott said. "We knew we’d get it going our way because we’re a gritty team and we’re going to battle no matter the score is."

Tanner Howson made it an 8-6 deficit when he found a corner with 4:32 to go in the third quarter.

Five unanswered goals by the Indians sent Rye (13-8) home for the summer.

"We’ve seen it a few times now," Garnets coach Steve Lennon said. "They are disappointed. We wanted to get to the next stage, but now it’s a new season and they have to work even harder and keep doing what we do and try to get here every single year. Eventually it will fall. We saw there were moments we could play with them, but you can’t mistakes against a team like that."

Graduation will leave some holes in the lineup, but there are impact sophomores who are only going to improve in the next year.

"It’s obviously super painful, but I’m super grateful for all the seniors have done for us to get to the next level and make us a better team," McDermott said.

Class D

Untimely cold snap ends Pleasantville's season

ALBANY – For the first time all season, Pleasantville was able to count all its goals on just one hand.

The Panthers simply failed to finish, so a memorable season ended Friday with a disappointing 7-3 loss to Cold Spring Harbor in a NYSPHSAA Class D East semifinal at UAlbany.

“Our defense played unbelievably well, holding a team in the semifinals to seven goals,” Pleasantville midfielder Emmet McDermott said. “At the other end, we got shots, but we failed to capitalize. You’re not going to win this game scoring just three goals.”

Regionals: Pleasantville storms back to claim NYSPHSAA Class D regional championship

The Seahawks (14-6) locked off All-American midfielder Daniel Picart and slowed the game down.

“We figured they were going to sit on the ball if they got even a slight lead and they did,” said Panthers coach Chris Kear, whose team came in averaging 13 goals a game. "It’s a risky proposition to go out and pressure too much because they have athletes all over the field so we had to wait for our moments.”

And there were enough opportunities to steal momentum, but Pleasantville (19-2) was either shooting high or wide or into the keeper’s stick.

The Panthers did have to wait out a three-hour weather delay, but came out and took an early lead.

“Our kids seemed really loose,” Kear added. “They were ready to play. We were hanging. We were getting our opportunities. We just didn’t stick our shots.”

Nick Reich had Pleasantville up 1-0 with 7:27 to go in the first period, but Cold Spring Harbor answered with three goals. McDermott set up Aidan Cotter to stop the run three minutes into the second quarter, but the Panthers gave up two more before the intermission.

That allowed the Seahawks to run the clock, making each miss at the other end costly.

“I don’t blame the kids for maybe getting a little anxious to shoot because we’re used to scoring a lot of goals,” Kear said.

With only two seniors on the roster, this was a learning experience for Pleasantville.

“This whole year I tried my hardest not to think about next season,” McDermott said. “I put everything I had into this season and so did everyone on this team. It hopefully makes us better for next year, but we have a lot of work to put in so we’re not in this position again next year.”

Mike Dougherty covers lacrosse for The Journal News and lohud.com. He can be reached at mdougher@lohud.com. Follow along on Twitter @lohudlacrosse.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Scarsdale, Rye, Pleasantville fall to Long Island teams in semis