Husker Girls Fall to Greeley in Lax Title Game

YORKTOWN, N.Y. — Top-seeded Yorktown went against No. 3 Horace Greeley in the Section 1 Class B girls lacrosse championship game at Lakeland on May 23, looking for its 13th sectional title in its illustrious history.

Yorktown, the No. 8 ranked Class B team in the state, overcame a 6-2 deficit to go up 8-7 in the third quarter but Greeley answered back with three goals to win 10-8. For Greeley, it avenged both a 9-5 regular-season loss at Yorktown in its season opener and last year’s 15-12 defeat to the Huskers in the title game at Nyack.

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Yorktown’s Brie Gaccino (1 caused turnover, 1 ground ball) scored, courtesy of an assist from Lily Diaz (1CT, 1GB, 4 draw controls). Diaz then scored herself on a free eight-meter shot, giving the Huskers a 2-0 advantage, two minutes and 25 seconds into the game.

“We won a couple of the first draws, we came down, and we executed,” said Yorktown coach Heather Raniolo.

Greeley scored six consecutive goals to go up 6-2 with 8:11 remaining in the opening half. Yorktown’s Sophia Boucher scored three of the next four goals on 8-meter shots, including one with just five seconds remaining before halftime, to cut Greeley’s lead to 7-5.

“That gave us so much momentum,” said Yorktown senior Reileigh McEnroe, a defender who will play at the University of Maryland, ranked No. 13 nationally, next year. “We really thought with those three goals, we were able to execute more.”

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Yorktown scored the first three goals of the second half, from Ava Ryan (1GB), Ava Cunneen (1CT, 3DC), and Ali Passarella (1CT), the latter giving the Huskers an 8-7 lead with 5:29 remaining in the third quarter.

“These kids play with a lot of resiliency and heart as you saw against Ursuline (an 11-10 win in the semifinals), they wanted another day with the season,” Raniolo said. “We started controlling the ball better, putting it in the back of the net.”

Before Passarella’s goal, spurred on by the Husker faithful loudly chanting “defense, defense,” Yorktown’s Maggie Appelle, University of Scranton-bound, made one of her 5 saves, finishing with 404 for her three-year stint on the varsity.

“The fans made us who we are today,” McEnroe said. “They gave us the energy we needed. We were talking after that save. We just felt better about ourselves with their support.”

After Greeley scored three times to go up 10-8, McEnroe (2CT, 2DC) caused a turnover late in the game to give the Huskers one more chance to get back into it but to no avail.

“Looking at the time, we only had three minutes left, and I knew if I didn’t do the check, they would’ve been running around a few more minutes,” McEnroe said. “I did the check, and I thought if we got the ball back, we would get a shot off, which we did but we were unlucky, it was good save.”

Gacccino’s goal with just 47 seconds remaining gave the Huskers a thrilling 11-10 semifinal victory against visiting No. 5 seed Ursuline, ranked No. 16 in Class B in the state, on May 20.

“It felt amazing to score the game-winner in such an intense game,” Gaccino said. “We knew that this game was going to be tough and to not take Ursuline lightly, and most importantly we knew to play our game. Annie Cunneen helped our team tremendously. She’s a huge part of our team for just being a freshman and cleared the ball from the defensive end all the way to the opposite 30 and assisted my goal. She and the rest of our team played amazing and this was definitely one of the best team wins we have had all year. I’m more than proud of us.”

Tying the game with just 1:56 left in the contest was Annie Cunneen (5G, 1CT, 4DC).

“That game-tying goal was an amazing feeling,” Annie Cunneen said. “The play started with a great pass from my teammate, Ava Cunneen, and I managed to get a shot on goal. It was an incredible feeling knowing that I tied the game.”

Ryan (3G, 1CT, 3GB), Ava Cunneen (2G, 2GB, 1DC), Diaz (1CT, 9DC), Boucher (1A, 1GB), Reese Bruno (1CT), Caitlin Mulvihill (1CT), Siobahn Mulvihill (2CT), McEnroe (1A, 2CT), and Appelle (11 saves) also produced for the Huskers (14-5) versus Ursuline.

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