Hey folks -I put together some thoughts as we start the final full week of the regular season and get set for the John Jay-Yorktown showdown on Friday at 7 p.m. at Charlie Murphy Field.

Let me know what you think both here and on our brand-new Previews and picks thread.

Well, well, well.

It’s finally here, gang.

The last full week of regular-season action.

And as teams scramble for positioning for the upcomings sectionals (the seeding meeting is next Tuesday), we have plenty of intriguing matchups.

But before we get to that, in case you missed it, Harold put together a nice story on sports moms that appears today — Mother’s Day, of course — in The Journal News and on LoHud.com. All three of the moms included have at least one son who plays varsity lax in the LoHud. Check it out. Here’s the link.

Now, to the picks.

Horace Greeley graduate Terence Higgins was among the goal scorers for Navy in an 8-7 win against fourth-seeded North Carolina in the opening round of the NCAA men’s lacrosse tournament yesterday.
Higgins, a senior midfielder, scooped up a ground ball before firing a shot home to give Navy a 7-4 lead with 6:41 remaining in the third quarter.

Navy will play the winner of today’s first-round game between Hofstra and No. 5 Johns Hopkins on Saturday in the quarterfinals at Navy.

Brothers Matthias and Tim McCall of Yorktown play for North Carolina.

In other first-round games:

As we count down our way to Friday night’s John Jay-Yorktown showdown, the teams both have big tests today against non-section teams.

The ‘Huskers renew their rivalry with Wilton in the Jim Turnbull Cup game. Wilton is 7-5.

John Jay, meanwhile, host Long Island Class B power Comsewogue, which is coming off a 6-4 loss to Shoreham-Wading River on Thursday — the same day John Jay saw its 47-game win streak against Section 1 teams end with a 9-8 double-overtime loss at Rye. Earlier this season, Comsewogue (10-3) beat Huntington 15-2 and Smithtown East 7-6.

Here’s a rundown of what’s on tap. As always, please be sure to post any info/thoughts.

As the surprising (but maybe not shocking) Rye upset 9-8 overtime win over John Jay sets in, we can begin to consider what this means going forward.

Sam Fulmer, center, had a big day for Rye yesterday. (Photo by Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News)

As blog poster “Syracuse” pointed out, Rye might actually be the biggest favorite to win its respective sectional title. Certainly an interesting question.

Today’s Briarcliff-Bronxville game, scheduled to be played at Briarcliff, has been moved to Bronxville.

Several other games have been postponed.

Here’s a rundown of today’s slate:

Though John Jay has had its struggles in the non-section portion of its season, the perception was still very much there.

The Indians remained at another level when it comes to teams in the Lower Hudson Valley, with the possible exception of Yorktown.

Nice job by staff photographer Frank Becerra capturing Rye’s Sam Fulmer, No. 15, scoring the winning goal in the second overtime in the Garnets’ 9-8 victory yesterday over John Jay, snapping the Indians’ 47-game win streak against Section 1 teams. (Photo by Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News)

And so — over the last two seasons — losing to a Section 1 team didn’t even seem like a possibility.

Instead, it was an event when a Section 1 team wound up engaging in a competitive game against John Jay — as was the case last season when Lakeland/Panas fell to John Jay 9-6.

That marked the last time a Section 1 team lost by five goals or less against John Jay.

Until yesterday.

In case you missed it — and it’s hard to imagine how you could have — it was Rye 9, John Jay 8 on May 8, 2008. In double overtime.

Rye celebrates getting included in the discussion for Section 1’s best team. OK, maybe it was just a celebration for beating John Jay. (Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News).

For several years, Section 1 lacrosse could be roughly described like this: “There’s John Jay, Yorktown, and everyone else.”

Make some room for Rye.

Former Yorktown star Roy Colsey coached Horace Greeley against Yorktown today. It was his first varsity head-coaching appearance against his former school. (Photo by Seth Harrison/The Journal News)

Roy Colsey coached against Yorktown, the school he starred at before becoming an all-American at Syracuse as a midfielder, as Horace Greeley’s head coach for the first time today in the Quakers’ 12-5 loss to the visiting ‘Huskers.

As I’m sure everyone knows through the updates on our today’s games thread, Rye pulled off a thrilling 9-8 double overtime win over John Jay. Sam Fulmer scored unassisted with 3:00 left in the second overtime.

I’ll be back with more thoughts a bit later.

For now, here’s our breaking news update that was posted moments ago on the LoHu.com sports homepage.

We’ll also have photos and video available soon.

Rye’s upset also led off the “Varsity Central Extra” show on RNN tonight. You can check out the show here.

Just click on 6:30 p.m. under the TV screen.

In case you missed it, we posted a link to the latest state rankings yesterday.

Here it is.

You will notice that Briarcliff and Byram Hills are now both ranked in Class C.

Now, let’s move on because we have some good games today to get to.

Ryan McGee had a goal and four assists in White Plains’ 11-6 win over North Salem. (Photo by Mike Roy/The Journal News)

• For photos from the White Plains-North Salem game, click here.

• For a video from the game, click here.

The White Plains-North Salem boys lacrosse game was a good one, won by White Plains 11-6. White Plains is playing really well of late, winning its last six and 10 of its last 11 and North Salem is definitely a program on the rise…and doesn’t appear to be too far away from being a small school contender.

The Rye Garnets are the three-time Class C sectional champions. During this run, the they have not yet been able to come away with a win against the eventual Class A or B champion.

Is this the year? The Garnets, who played Yorktown to a 6-3 game earlier this season, host another team that has won three straight sectional titles John Jay tomorrow at 5 p.m.

With the start of sectionals approaching, I’ve been asked to re-post the class alignments so some of you can go ahead and start planning your brackets.

Here you go.

Now, to today’s slate.

but then we got our ducks in a row.’ – Brewster’s Zach Badalucco

Horace Greeley’s Nathan Becker falls to the turf while being pursued by Brewster defenders. (Photo by Seth Harrison/The Journal News)

• For photos from the Brewster-Greeley game, click here.

• For a video from the game, click here.

Can Brewster continue its hot play of late? The Bears are visiting Horace Greeley with its first-year coach Roy Colsey today.

How will Lakeland/Panas follow up its strong showing in the Murphy Cup? The Rebels host North Rockland, which is looking to get back on track.

Somers and Hen Hud, who met in either the sectional semifianls or finals seven straight year prior to last season, renew their rivalry.

Those are just some of the story lines for today’s games.

As always, please post any info/thoughts.

Jeff and Harold joined me this afternoon in the operations center of The Journal News and LoHud.com for a lively discussion about some of the events of the last few days, including the Murphy Cup and Briarcliff’s nine-game win streak.

We also looked ahead to some big games coming up, including John Jay at Rye, and even touched on the NCAA Division I tournament that starts Saturday. In fact, I went ahead and revealed who this year’s national champion will be!

Just click the Mp3 button below and let us know what you think.

Download:

Mahopac’s Ben Sufrin, a senior midfielder and third-leading scorer at Gettysburg, hopes to help the Bullets make the NCAA Division III final four for the third time in his four years with the school.

We caught up with Ben today in The Journal News and on LoHud.com. Here’s the link.

They say the calm comes before the storm.

But in terms of unpredictability, last week was about as stormy as it gets.

Now, comes the calm after the storm.

Also known as “The Fab Five.”

Amid a roller-coaster ride of a season filled by highs and lows and plenty of things that make you go “Hmmm,” we hope we have provided some semblance of normalcy by clearly and concisely outlining who the top five teams in the LoHud are each week.

Where will Nick Alfonzetti and the Brewster Bears find themselves in the latest Fab Five? Read on. (Photo by Dave Kennedy/The Journal News)

 in the CHSAA. (Relax everyone else).

The CHSAA playoffs begin Wednesday, with home games at the higher seeds at 4:30 p.m.

The seeds are as follows: No. 1 Iona Prep; No. 2 Fordham Prep; No. 3 Monsignor Farrell; No. 4 St. Francis Prep; No. 5 Stepinac; No. 6 Mount St. Michael; No. 7 St. Joseph’s by the Sea; No. 8. Xaverian/

So is this just a coronation for Iona Prep? The Gaels are looking for their second straight league championship are are the solid favorite to do so. They haven’t lost a league game and beat No. 2 seed Fordham Prep 16-3 in the teams’ last matchup. But that came after an 8-7 triple overtime win in the first meeting.

With Nick Trizano, Myles Gillespie, Gus Guido, Iona Prep has two of the top scorers in the area.

Could Fordham Prep—or anyone else—give Iona Prep any trouble?

Briarcliff hadn’t been tested much this season, but it got a big one from Nyack today. Down 7-3 with 10 minutes left, the Indians scored three straight goals to make it 7-6 with 6:45 remaining.

Then Eric Brandel scored his fourth goal (he also had two assists) while being slashed in the helmet, and Brian Levine won the ensuing faceoff and scored 11 seconds later. All of a sudden it was 9-6, and goalie Evan Thaler-Null made it stand.

It was a great win for Briarcliff, who needed to see how it could do under adversity. The Bears won its first playoff game last year, and it’s definitely looking for more this season.

Nyack (7-7) also showed some heart with the three-goal outburst after being held scoreless for almost 20 minutes, including the entire third quarter. The defense also played a lot better after giving up five goals in the first 13 minutes.

Here’s the link to my article, and a video shot by Seth Harrison.

Are you ready for what could be — and at this point, it’s probably fair to say should be — another unpredictable week of games?

Let’s take a look at what’s on the slate for today.

Hofstra pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the men’s lacrosse season when it defeated defending Division I national champion Johns Hopkins 8-7 in overtime on March 8.

Can the Pride, whose roster includes three former Yorktown players, do it again?

After suffering an upset loss to Hofstra early in the season, Matt Bocklet and Johns Hopkins will get a chance for some revenge in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Johns Hopkins University athletics)

I don’t know about you, folks, but as far as I’m concerned, there’s one sure sign every year that the start of sectionals is approaching real fast.

Cinco de Mayo.

What else?

Clarkstown South has one of the premier goalies in the LoHud in Luke Haggerty. He and the Vikings will be visiting rival Clarkstown North on Saturday. (File photo by Angela Gaul/The Journal News)

Yorktown scored twice in the final 1:16 to pull of a memorable 10-9 Murphy Cup win. (Photo by Dave Kennedy/The Journal News).

For photos from the Murphy Cup game, click here.

For a video, click here.

We saw some wild and wacky things go down today, folks.

I took a few moments to put together some thoughts:

Download:

Tomorrow is Selection Sunday for the NCAA Division I tournament.
Seedings and pairings will be announced tonight between 9-10 p.m. on ESPNU.

There were some huge games today — including a couple of major upsets. Here’s a recap. (Please post info/thoughts on these and another other games played today at the collegiate level.)

Yorktown’s Tommy Dooley scored the winning goal 11 seconds into overtime to give Hofstra a 10-9 victory over host Drexel and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in the Colonial Athletic Association championship game.

Wait, that was the same score as today’s Murphy Cup game, gang. How about that?

We’re set for a busy day, folks.

In addition to the Murphy Cup, there are a couple of tournament championship games among today’s offerings.

John Jay, ranked 17th by Inside Lacrosse, visits No. 25 Niskayuna at Union College in Schenectady at 7:30 p.m.

As always, please post any info/thoughts.