Girls lacrosse Class C title: Rye does what no other Section 1 team could in beating Nyack
SHRUB OAK — Incredible saves.
Acrobatic goals.
Physical play not found in many games.
And just overall high-level skill.
It sounds trite to say it’s too bad one team had to lose.
But sometimes trite is true.
In one of the year’s best games, one of the year’s most entertaining games and in a game that probably featured two of the best teams in the state, second-seed Rye became the second Section 1 girls lacrosse team of the day to pull off an upset Thursday, defeating top-seed Nyack 10-9 at Lakeland High to win the Class C championship.
The loss was the first in Section 1 for Nyack, which finished the season 17-2, its only other setback a two-goal, regular-season loss to Long Island's Eastport-South Manor.
Rye, now 16-3, will play in a state regional semifinal at Lakeland on Tuesday at 6 p.m. vs. the Class C winner from Section 9.
Nyack strong early, then anyone's game
Nyack suffered the same fate as Class A top seed Yorktown, which fell earlier in the day to No. 3 Horace Greeley, a team it had beaten during the regular season.
Like Yorktown, Nyack broke out to an early 2-0 lead.
Those goals both belonged to Casey Cummings, who’d finish with a game-high four goals.
But Rye, which was one of only a few Section 1 teams to give Nyack a challenge during the regular season, falling 10-8 to the RedHawks, never let Nyack expand its lead to beyond two.
By the half, Nyack led 6-5 with two of its goals being highlight reel material.
The first was a circus shot by Kate Gould early in the second quarter. Gould, whose goal gave the RedHawks a 4-2 lead, scored while flying/falling forward, her momentum taking her behind the left side of the net.
But that score was topped by one by her sister, Ella.
About a minute after Rye’s Caroline Doyle scored off a nice, sidearm shot low, Ella Gould netted what no doubt would contend for goal of the year, if such a contest existed.
The goal, coming with 3:41 left in the first half, saw Gould pick up the ball off a rebound and, falling left, somehow manage to shovel the ball back right and into the cage.
The half ended with Nyack on top 6-5.
Nyack didn’t allow Rye attacker Lilly Whaling to be the dominating force she was in many games.
But the Cornell-bound senior certainly played a big role in the win with two goals and an assist.
One of those goals knotted the score 6-6 early in the third quarter. And Whaling's high, seeing-eye assist, which somehow eluded multiple defensive sticks but found a leaping Della Goodman on the left post for a score, tied things at 7.
Rye, as both teams did, took advantage of being a player up after a foul call in that quarter.
White gave the Garnets their first lead at 8-7 on a free 8-meter shot with 41 seconds left in the third quarter and that man-up advantage ongoing.
After Rye won the ensuing draw, Mary Sack threw in a laser of a shot with five seconds left in the quarter to expand the Garnet lead to 9-7.
Both teams enjoyed excellent goalie play and Fairfield-bound Keira Furey, the lone RedHawk senior, had a game to remember.
She was credited with nine saves. Perhaps it seemed like more simply because so many were outstanding.
She opened the fourth quarter with one as multiple bodies fell to the turf right in front of her.
Unfortunately for Nyack, that collision resulted in a free 8-meter call for Rye..
Goodman then buried her shot right to give Rye a 10-7 advantage with 9:40 left to play.
An ensuing foul by Rye at the 9:36 mark put Nyack up a man and Ella Gould scored on a hard shot from the right side off a nice Cummings feed just 35 seconds later.
Nyack seemed poised to do more but two good scoring chances sailed wide of the net and then Rye’s Brooks Cameron teamed with Paige Vanneck to force a Nyack turnover, with Cameron running with the stolen ball.
Rye, as it has throughout the season, employed two goalies.
Karenna Chader had a good first half with four stops and Katherine Ebeling made six second-half saves.
Ebeling was certainly tested in the fourth quarter.
A Rye turnover led to a great chance that Ebeling stopped. About 30 seconds later, she shut down a Kate Gould free 8-meter try.
But Sack was give a yellow card for a foul and forced to take a seat for two minutes.
Ella Gould subsequently scored on an 8-meter free shot with 2:59 to play.
Nyack won the all-important draw that followed.
But, and after a time out, Katherine Ebeling came up with the play of the game, which might well have saved the game for Rye.
Ella Gould drove toward Ebeling’s left post. Ebeling moved out on her and put her stick vertically even with Gould’s, giving Gould little area to shoot. Gould’s shot hit Ebeling’s basket and popped out. A rush ensued to get the rebound with Ebeling not knowing where the ball was. Rye’s White ended up winning the battle, which contributed mightily to Rye winning the war.
Rye went into a long stall with a game of keep-away to kill the rest of the time to secure the win.
The stats
For Rye, in addition to Whaling’s contributions, Goodman had three goals, Sack had two and Mary Ebeling, White and Doyle each had one.
White, Ebeling and Sack also each had an assist.
In addition to Cummings’ four scores and two assists , Ella Gould had three goals, Kate Gould had two. Their sister, Abby Gould, had one assist.
Girls lacrosse ;playoffs: Horace Greeley edges top-seed Yorktown 10-8 for Section 1 Class B title
Quotables
Nyack coach Kathryn Perrella thought her team was guilty of rushing things a little when it had the ball late in the game. She wasn't a fan of all the calls that were made but also didn't blame them for the outcome.
“They played an even game,” she said of her squad and Rye.
She was happy with the job it did covering Whaling, who finished with two goals and an assist, but noted with Whaling’s offense limited, “other people picked it up for them.”
Furey thought the teams were a good match but saw her team coming up short due to a “bunch of unlucky calls and unlucky plays.”
A four-year varsity member, she said it had been an honor to play this year with a “group of girls so dedicated.”
And while she’ll be playing in college, she predicted the future will be bright for Nyack, saying the team is “set up for success.”
Rye coach Michelle Mason, who termed Whaling an “elite-level player,” noted she had found multiple other ways to contribute beyond her three points.
Mason said her team had ttrouble in the first quarter because it was “playing tight” and was “hesitating,” which is stopped doing in the second quarter.
She credited the win in part to Rye’s tough schedule, noting they’d played multiple out-of-section teams, some heavy with “big names” who’d be going to high-level Division I programs.
Her team wants to play good teams, she said, and as a result, “They were ready.”
Of her key, late-game, lead-preserving save on Ella Gould, Katherine Ebeling said, she stopped up to cut off Gould’s angle and she drove her hands toward Gould’s stick.
“It was the best feeling. It was my best save. I’m so happy,” she said, noting her relief when White came up with the loose ball.
Sack, a junior who, like Whaling, will play for a Division I school – Sack going to Penn – said while sitting on the sideline for her two-minute penalty, she had “total faith the defense would step up.”
“The first time we played we were disappointed,” she said of Rye’s regular-season loss to Nyack. “In the week leading up (to this game), we really worked. We knew our offense would produce and our goalies make amazing saves all the time. They’re really the backbone of our defense.”
But, besides skill, Rye had utilized its close bond to excel., Sack said.
“We’re such a close group of girls. That translates on the field and it’s why we’re not done yet,” Sack said.
Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Girls lacrosse: Rye beats top-seed Nyack 10-9 for Sect. 1 Class C title
