Previews and picks: Week 6
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- May
- 4
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)
Now, I’m sure you know all about Cinco de Mayo, but did you know its origin?
While the United States was mired in the Civil War, the Mexican army, which seemed vastly undermanned, fought off a large group of French invaders on May 5, 1862 in the Battle of Puebla.
That upset win seems appropriate to bring up right about now.
After all, it’s been a season marked by unexpected results and surprise performances in the lax world.
Which makes what we do here in this space so very important.
After all, amid all the chaos, you know you can always turn here for a pretty accurate gauge of what to expect.
At least most of the time.
So with that in mind, let’s get things started for this week with our “First three” picks.
Remember, that’s just the start. The rest is up to you.
Ask me about any other game and I will come right back with my pick.
Here we go. And oh yeah, Happy Cinco de Mayo!
John Jay at Rye (Thursday, 4:30 p.m.): Three-time Class C sectional champ Rye played Yorktown to a 6-3 game earlier this season and if it does the same — or even better – against John Jay, the Garnets will make a clear statement that there may not be that wide a gap between John Jay and Yorktown and everyone else. John Jay’s depth has been the difference so far in games in which it has been tight for a half, and I’m expect a similar scenario here.
Prediction: John Jay 10, Rye 5
Bronxville at Briarcliff (Friday, 4:30 p.m.): Could Briarcliff emerge as a surprise sectional contender? All the signs are there. The Bears, after all, have just one loss — and that was to Lakeland/Panas — and are riding a nine-game winning streak.
Prediction: Briarcliff 8, Bronxville 4
Clarkstown South at Clarkstown North (Saturday, 1:30 p.m.): Emotions are always high when these rivals meet. It’s been a season of streaks for the Rams, who have lost three straight after a four-game win streak which followed a string of four straight losses to open the season. South (4-7) has lost three of its last four, but those defeats were against Somers, Mahopac and Pleasantville.
Prediction: Clarkstown South 11, Clarkstown North 6
That’s our “First Three.” Let’s hear your thoughts on these and any other games.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, May 4th, 2008 at 2:37 pm by Joe Lombardi.
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Joe what do you think about the PV Vs. Bryam on tuesday
North Salem. vs White Plains?
Joe – White Plains vs. North Salem on Wednesday looks set to be the biggest match up of League I-B and a possible title decider. Whats your prediction? and will there be LoHud coverage/ photography?
Rye vs. John Jay is going to be a sick game. The players on Rye have been waiting for this game, to see how they fair against one of the top teams in the country. Good luck to both teams.
Haggarty is an amazing goalie. I saw a game of his and he single handly kept south in the game. I cant see clarkstown north scoring more than 1 or 2 though until subs go in
Any recent pictures of south/haggerty,Those are last years jerseys
what about somers vs. hen hed since there has always been e rivalry there
laxer – PV-Byram should be a tight game. But the Tigers have won three of their last four and do play a tougher sked.
PV 8, Byram 6
Freedom Writer and Section 1 —
Both White Plains and North Salem are playing well (WP has won five straight, North Salem three straight) — and at the outset of the season I projected they would be playing for the league title. Should be a good one. Tigers' D, led by Savaughn Greene, has allowed just six goals the last three games.
Should be a close one, but I'll take the Tigers.
OK, OK, I'll be more precise. WP Tigers 7, NS Tigers 5
Also – as far as the other questions. I never like to say beforehand what our staffing for games will be because things can and sometimes do change at the last minute. As for Luke H. photo, we haven't gotten any shots of him this year yet.
Joe
how about briarcliff pleasantville huge rivarly can the bears take them down what do you think will happen in this game
lax fan – Last year, when Somers played Fox Lane in the semis and Hen Hud met John Jay, it marked the end of an amazing streak. I mean, prior to that, it was almost as if the sectional playoffs wouldn't be complete without a Somers-Hen Hud meeting. After all, they had met seven consecutive years in either the semifinals or final, and three straight years in the semifinals prior to last year.
Both teams have picked up their play of late. Somers, which has goalie Chris Longo back, has been especially stingy defensively.
This should be a low-scoring game for sure. Games against mutual opponents don't provide much of an indicator. (For instance, Somers fell to Pleasantville, Hen Hud beat Pleasantville; but Somers beat Greeley, Hen Hud lost to Greeley.) There is one game that stands out though. Somers lost to Brewster only 8-7 while Hen Hud fell to the Bears 18-8. But, Hen Hud has picked up its play of late. Still, I like Somers. Let's say 8-6.
Lax –
A year ago at this time it would have been unfathomable to think Briarcliff could beat Pville. But here we are a year later, and it's a tossup. Credit the Bears and coach Al Meola for really elevating the level of their program. I just have a feeling Pleasantville, through all its ups and downs, will rise to the occasion in this rivalry game.
Pleasantville 9, Briarcliff 8
Joe what is your take on empires this year. Do you think anyone from rockland will make it
We have some time before we can give a good read on most ESG prospects, but as for the second part of your question, I can almost guarantee there will be a few kids from Rockland.
I cant think of anyone really who would make it from rockland but then again who knows…
Joe, i think you'll find Savaughn's name under the White Plain's roster not North Salem's ;), any ideas about the coverage? as this is likely to be one of North Salem's biggest games
Joe
do you know when murph cup will be on tv?
Pville will have all of their injured defensemen back for the huge Briarcliff game…It should be a fun one considering Pville will finally be at full strength
murphy – Tonite at 7 on Channel 118 if you're in Yorktown.
Pville – That factor went into my prediction as well.
JJ vs. Rye: Rye will bring there "A" game for sure and they will need it. JJ seems to follow up each out of section loss to a nationally ranked team with a big game against a section one opponent. Loss to 'Set followed by a 16-6 win over Brewster. Loss to St A's followed by 15-5 win over Somers. That's a goal differential of +20 if you are counting. Look to JJ to rebound a win by 5.
Joe- whats your take on wappingers v ardsley tomorrow
Any predictions on Mahopac Rye Monday night
sect 1 – Wappingers has won three of its last four and Ardsley has won and Ardsley has won two straight. It's a pretty even matchup. I'll take the Panthers in a tight one 7-5.
xlax – Can't go against Rye in this one, but Hen Hud's triple-OT win against the Garnets shows the 'Pac can certainly pull off an upset here.
Rye 8, Mahopac 5
What you think of the south- foxlane game. Dont know much about south.
South-Fox Lane will feature an interesting game within a game with the goalie matchup of Luke Haggerty (CS) vs. Luke Robinson (FL). Not only are they both named Luke, they're both excellent netminders. I'll go with South 6-5.
robinson is the better luke lol! Im just messing only person I do know on there team is haggarty and he is very good.
What are your thoughts on Irvington @ Sleepy Hollow Tuesday? they are both in the middle of the pack in their league, and Irvington has a lot of momentum coming off the Hasting tournament win, and their offense has finally caught up to their defense.
IrvMan – I agree on all counts, however, Sleepy Hollow opened my eyes a bit by playing Briarcliff tough in the finals of its own tournament yesterday. This would be a big win for the Bulldogs if they can get it, but I'm giving Sleepy an edge. Let's say 6-4.
I have had the pleasure of watching my son playing side by side with Luke haggerty for last few months and its good to see people are finally realizing that he is the outstanding goalie that I knew he has been.
GO SOUTH
Joe-
Any thoughts on Edgemont? After that win against Portledge last Friday how do you think they look for the rest of the year facing opponents such as Ardsley, Croton, and more..
Edgemont is 7-2 and could conceivably win out with five games remaining and I would probably favor the Panthers in all five.
BTW – In the OT win over Portledge, Josh Eidelberg had 6-2.
clarkstown south will beat clarkstown north maybe 15-1. and as for briarcliff and pville. having seen both teams play i must say that ii was semi impressed with pville but not as much by briarcliff. ill take pville 12-4
South has only a couple of solid kids. If the North defense is able to stop Riley and Devine then they have a good shot at upseting the vikings. Luke Haggerty is a really good goalie and there lsm Joe Curran is also very good. If they keep Devine and Riley at bay then look for a tight game but if one of them let loose then it could be a long day for the rams. Joe what are your thoughts on this one?
Being that I have seen both teams play, I dont think North has a chance in there right mind at beating South.
Joe-
what kind of seed do you see for the panthers in sectionals? Maybe a 5 or 6?
rye 9- jj 8
lacrose, they will prob be a 9
Laxer11 – there are two Panthers… Ardsley and Pleasantville, id say Pleasantville are looking at 4 maybe and Ardsley around the 9 mark.
what about edgemont, they are much better than ardsley
rye over mahopac by a lot!
scarsdale mamaroneck rivalry come up big game always a fun one to watch
lacrose, based on what? edgemont have a muchhhh easier schedule than ardsley… difficult to make that kind of statement without them playing each other
Mam'k playing much better these days and need to keep building on it. Should win by 3 or 4 v. Scarsdale.
Did I see that Darien lost to Greenwich???
Greenwich won 8-7 was leading 8-5 w 8 min to go
greenwich 8-darien 7..grenwich was leading 8-5 w 8 min to go….
joe. the CHSAA playoffs start this week. any thoughts on those?
And Ridgefield beat Greenwich (believe score 13-10)
Joe – I was wondering if there was any website you could direct me to that has the sectional schedule for Class C. If there's any place where I can find the dates of the games, I'd greatly appreciate it
Joe
Same request please as laxer47689 (class C playoff sched)
Thanks
Slacrosse –
did some digging in the archives…heres what I found…
First round (Classes A, B and C) Thursday, May 22 (at higher seeds)
Quarterfinals (Classes A, B and C) Wednesday, May 28 (at higher seeds)
Semifinals (Classes A, B and C) Friday, May 30 (at higher seeds)
Finals (Classes A, B and C) Thursday, June 5 (at John Jay or Yorktown):
Class A, 3 p.m.
Class B, 5:30 p.m.
Class C, 8 p.m.
Rain date: Friday, June 6
sectional playoffs
5/22 outbracket @ higher seed
5/28
qtr finals @ higher seed 430
5/30semi final @ higher seed 430
6/5 finals @ jj or yorktown 8pm
laxer47689 and hud lax,
THANKS for info.
I only give a slight edge to John Jay at this point in its matchup with Rye. It's hard not to. Is Jay the better offensive team? Without question. Are they fairly even defensively? I think some would say Rye might even be a bit better.
To me, this game boils down to possession. If Rye tries to run and gun with Jay they will lose by several goals. If they slow it down and keep this game in the single digits, who knows?
Jay has to be wondering what exactly they are at this point. Yorktown probably is doing the same. In either case, as I've stated repeatedly, neither team is "down" or "disappointing." It's just the level of play of all their opponents is basically exponentially better than it was even last year.
I would look at this game as Jay trying to run and gun, while Rye will try to do what it does best—slow things down and show unreal patience.
I think whomever wins the intangible column—as in ground balls and faceoffs will win this game. That doesn't necessarily mean time of possession. Jay needs the ball in the middle of the field to get its break going. Jay can also beat you quickly off draws.
Heart will determine this winner.
Again, I think Joe's prediction of 10-5 Jay could be spot on, but I also see this game being much, much closer because Class C sectional champ no longer means "It's Class C. They aren't the big boys."
Never has the makeup of the power league meant so much or been so accurate as this season.
I think Pac keeps it close against Rye
Rye-9
Pac-8
Pac 8 Rye 6 Big game by Perrelle
I had actually re-posted the sectional/state calendar yesterday.
Check the comments section of this link.
Syracuse,
Echoes part of what I said a few days ago about Rye and how they're playing the "basics" of the game (particularly passing, transition). To this point although rye has been beating its opponents fairly easily I feel they've been up and down in these critical areas. If They dont play very strong in the basics and JJ does, JJ will dominate.
Rye's face-off guy (McCormack) has been dominating face-offs except I think vs Brewster and I guess Town (didn't see either game and didn't hear how he did vs Town). Obviously Drew and Granelli will join his other toughest challenges so far on face-offs.
Expect a W today vs Mahopac at the least but a WELL-PLAYED W would even be better in terms of prep and confidence for JJ.
Thanks Joe!
Just a couple of thoughts, Rye doesn't run and gun with anybody, winning or losing. If their D plays well and McCormack wins 40-50%(and I definitely think he can) its a 2 goal game with JJ. And the Mahopac game will be close because because Rye plays them all close unless they are head and shoulders better, but Rye wins 8-6.
Hey joe
i see you have south ahead of fox lane care to futher comment on that one
Fox – As I said, both goalies are strong, so that will be an interesting game within a game. South does not have a lot of depth but has some experienced short sticks in James Devine and Tom Riley. Definitely a toss-up, I went with South though. We'll see.
nr vs lakeland???
The Rebels looked pretty solid against Yorktown and the Red Raiders have been slumping of late as their schedule has become more challenging.
L/P 9, NR 4
Hey Joe,
Do you think that Greeley has a chance against Brewster tomorrow?
laxman34 – I am going to defer that question to Goldie, because he will be at the game.
Take it away, Jeff.
A chance? Sure. Would it be an upset? Yes. A big upset? Yes.
Just got home from the south vs fox lane game. It was a very sloppy game and Luke Robinson played extremely well. As for South, midfielder James Devine did not play. The other short stick Tom Riley played execptionally well and had i think 3 goals with one unbelieveable diving goal which was overturned. The goalie of South Luke Haggerty played lights out and should not only be considered for the empire team but he should be on it.
Joe- You said earlier on May 4th at 6:51 that Hen Hud won in triple OT vs Rye, but Rye won that game.
Rye – I did? Sorry about that typo but thanks for catching it.
These 100-event days in the spring must be catching up with me.
Actually, today we had a total of 126 varsity events reported to us — pretty amazing.
Rye played well. Pac goalie just started playing lacrosse this year . Starter suspended for breaking team rules. Pac came out flat.Would have been much closer.
Pac goalie suspended. Would have been much closer.Team was flat with second string goalie. Defense played great but finally broke.
lax 13,
Please no more "FLAT" excuses. Thought we left that behind after flurry of "flat" after the Town WM game. Just stick with the actual commnents on good or bad play on the field.
Pn the field Rye played well on O, D and face-offs but was clearly having issues in "transition" play making lots of poor passes. Credit Pac with pressuring Rye and putting them in position to make these "transition" mistakes. Also Perelle was really tough and rye had its work cut out for themselves with him (he still scored 3-4 goals).
But since you've stated what you think Pac "woulda" done I'll say that IF Rye was playing their usual good transition game, the way their offense was pumping, I think the score would have been higher even if with your starting goalie.
SLA
Not taking anything from Rye. Perrelle had two goals .Take Rix out and put a sophmore goalie in who has not played and see how well you do.Give credit to both teams. Psycologically demoralizing to lose your starting goalie.
lax 13,
how long has your #1 been out?
just say NO to "FLAT"
Sla
You seem to know everything .If you read the blogs he was suspended for the Rye game
He was suspended for the Rye game.
You play with who ya brought. rye should not apologize for anything. Gearing up for showdown with JJ.
lax 13,
So your # 1 goalie was playing in all games before the rye game! OK so when I look at Pac's mixed results before the rye game (with your #1 goalie) I feel the result would not have been different. And IF rye's transition game "woulda" been better, I think the margin would have been higher.
I like Pac, their new coaches, shot in the arm for a great program with storied history. Aside from Perelle (great athlete who plays hockey AND football) they have other strong players who played well in the game. Wish the team the best of luck.
Just responding to your specific "woulda been different comment".
What you guys think of the South vs hen hud game yesterday? South came out flat but they turned it on in the 2nd half and tied the score 10-10 in the 4th. I think that if Palmquist didnt get injured south would have stole that game.
To be honest south looked very sloppy. I will give them credit that they started to come back but only stud I saw myself was the south goalie who stuffed every kid on our team at least once. He made 27 saves according to maxpreps and looking at the rest of his stats he has had an amazing season. Never seen a goalie with so many saves 20 or higher.
Good luck to south and parents, its a shame that that boy was injured it looked bad.
During the hen hud vs south game Palmquest broke his collar bone and is fine now with a plate over the bone. Youll see him again next South. South is very low on numbers espically during the Hen Hud game Playing with out 3 starters Devine, Fishkin, and John Buchellie. Then mid way through the game losing a fourth starter. Allthough South might have started out Sloppy they got there act together but could not pull it through in the end. However South putting up 10 goals on a team like hen hud without 4 starters…South has heart, there in it to win it.
Joe…
It looks like you got the score correct, but it was the BEARS that took the game 9-8 !
Congrats Bears