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Mamaroneck, Putnam Valley, Lakeland champs

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Mamaroneck, Putnam Valley, Lakeland champs

Remark: This story will be updated throughout Saturday as each of the three Section 1 field hockey championships concludes.

SHRUB OAK — There is no such thing as certainty, at least not in sports.

But Saturday night’s showdown between Mamaroneck and Ketcham for the Section 1 Class A field hockey crown had to be considered close.

After all, at the start of the match, top-seeded Mamaroneck had defeated its opponents 130-5 this season. And 11 of those goals came in a regular-season routine against the No. 2-seeded Storm.

Ketcham coach John Sullivan had told his team before the game to “just believe,” and that all the pressure was on Mamaroneck, the defending Class A champion.

“We wanted to shock Section 1,” he said. But it was clear from the start that that wouldn’t happen.

The Tigers, who took 34 shots to Ketcham’s two, shutout Ketcham 6–0.

Catherine D’Arcy had a goal and two assists, Lexi Suman and Lucy Kaplan each had a goal and one assist, Ali Maresca, Gabby Sosa and Lily Brickman had solo tallies and Sadie Fennell and Ruby Pearson each had an assist.

The score would have been a lot more lopsided except for the play of Storm goalkeeper Gwenyth Browne.

She had a few highlight dive stops, one of which she followed with another save from the ground.

But even though Mamaroneck didn’t score until 6:26 and was left behind in the first quarter after a beautiful Maresca redirection from the left post of a D’Arcy drive, the Tigers were up 4-0 by halftime and any thought of anyone shock was long gone.

Browne, who netted her third goal on a rebound after stopping two straight shots, had 10 saves for Ketcham, which finished the season 13-6.

Penny Norgaard had two saves for the 19-0 Tigers, who will play the Section 9 Class A champion in a regional state final Saturday, Nov. 9, at Arlington High School at 2 p.m.

Maresca indicated that her team takes nothing for granted. “We remain focused on every obstacle that lies ahead,” she said.

Suman, who praised Browne’s play, said that despite building a healthy cushion, Mamaroneck “worked hard throughout the match”. She said that with the players stepping up this season to replace those lost, she thinks this year’s Tiger squad is on par in skill set with last year’s state champions.

“We’re still proud of ourselves because we fought hard,” Browne said of Ketcham.

Sullivan called Mamaroneck a well-coached, well-oiled machine: “They’re the nicest girls. You can’t even get mad at them and use that,” he said of the Tiger players.

Defenseman to shine: Mulqueen scores twice to lead Putnam Valley over Pleasantville for the Class C championship

Ask Kate Mulqueen what position she plays.

Until Saturday, the Putnam Valley sophomore would have said defense.

But Mulqueen, who had perhaps two very brief experiences playing on the offensive side of the field in games, had already made a good decision this fall, was not only recruited to move up for Saturday’s Section 1 Class C field hockey final , but also became the star of the game after you did this.

Filling in for an away teammate, Mulqueen deflected senior Izzy Walther’s shot from a penalty corner into the net late in the first half and then scored again unassisted in the third quarter as the top-seeded Tigers defeated No. 2 Pleasantville by 2 . 0 for the title in a game played at Lakeland High School.

The match featured good defense on both sides.

Putnam Valley, which had defeated Pleasantville 4-0 during the regular season, had a huge 14-4 penalty corner lead, but only cashed in with one goal.

That was partly due to the excellent defensive efforts of Panther junior Maya Fortier.

Panther goalie Maggie Kearney and the rest of the Panther D also brought their A games. Kearney finished with seven saves, including a pair of gems.

Tiger goalkeeper Minisha Singh also came up big for her team several times. She was credited with 10 saves.

Takeaways

The win now puts Putnam Valley at 15-3-1, with the only losses coming to schools from larger classes, including Lakeland, which won the Class B championship earlier in the day.

The Tigers, who reached the sectional final but lost in both 2022 and 2023, will play the Class C champion from Section 9 in a state regional final at Arlington High School on Saturday at noon.

Pleasantville, which just missed a right-to-left pass connection for a likely goal with 7:55 left in the game, finished the season 14-4-1.

They said it

“We really wanted it today. I think that’s what’s driven us so far,” Fortier said, comparing the teams’ first meeting and the championship game.

Walther, who has verbally committed to play for Division II Mercy University next year, attributed the victory in part to the Tiger coaches and the contributions of players who have graduated from the team in recent years.

She said the program had a “great environment to learn and grow,” and said this year’s victory was due to the maturing of last year’s returning players.

Mulqueen was not on that team last year. She was on the junior varsity.

Regarding her strike and the resulting goals, she smiled and said simply, “It just worked out.”

Putnam Valley head coach Tracy Parchen was more effusive.

“She did a great job,” she said of Mulqueen. “It’s really great.”

Class B: Lakeland defeats Greeley in shootout after neither team scores in regulation or two overtime periods

After the four scoreless quarters, the two scoreless 10-minute overtimes and a shootout, it was decided by the last shooter, that shooter (Lakeland freshman Aditi Parambath), said she was at a loss for words.

But even if she had 1,000, she might not have been able to adequately describe how her team claimed its 16th consecutive Section 1 field hockey championship, allowing two shots in the shootout to one for Horace Greeley, a team that at times dominated and came: as coach Sukhi Sandhu said to his sad team afterwards: “so, so close, so many times” to win.

Both goalkeepers played excellent games.

Great games actually.

Lakeland junior Jenna Yazzetti saved Lakeland’s season by diving through the air from left to right to stop a high shot in the final seconds of regulation.

It could be the save of the year in Section 1.

“She’s a phenomenal goalie,” said Sharon Sarsen, who has led Lakeland to each of its sectional championships. “She’s a gamer. She loves the big moment.”

Yazzetti had 11 saves, including four in the shootout.

Her counterpart, Quaker freshman Darby Robertson, wasn’t tested as often but passed each time. She had five saves in regulation and three in the shootout.

In the shootout, players went 1-on-0 against the goalkeeper and had 10 seconds to score unless the ball went out of bounds.

Lakeland’s speedy, talented senior Gabby Santini, who was limited to one shot on net before the shootout, got her rebound and went high on Robertson to put Lakeland up 1-0.

But Lilah Tainsky made the tie, sending Yazzetti down and then going around her to score.

Ultimately, it was Parambath who got her rebound and was able to beat Darby, giving Lakeland the Class B crown.

Hockey how they got here: Section 1 and the private school playoff scoreboard will keep you informed

Takeaways

Lakeland, which had defeated Greeley 2-0 during the regular season, is now 18-2.

The winner of Section 9 will be played in a Class B regional final on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 10 a.m. at Arlington High School.

Greeley, whose defense, led by Eve Rutman, was stellar all game, finished the season 16-4.

They said it

“Greeley played tough defense and took away our strengths,” Sarsen said.

Greeley beat Lakeland on multiple loose balls, especially during a first half in which Sarsen said her team was “flat.” That a freshman won the game for Lakeland wasn’t a complete surprise to Sarsen, who had several youngsters on the field.

“At this level you have to win as a team. We were struggling. We had a ‘next man up’ mentality,” she said.

Of Greeley, Santini said, “They came really prepared and confident.” She described Robertson’s play as “amazing.”

Yazzetti, who had 99 career varsity saves entering the game, noted that she had spoken to Parambath prior to the shootout and told her to play like she always does and, “Go, bring it.”

She noted that Parambath had beaten her with shootout shots in training, just like the one she scored on Saturday.

“I’m so grateful that she scored. I’m so proud of her,” said Yazzetti, who described the win as No. 1 of her three sectional championships with Lakeland.

Parambath gathered some words and noted that as she trickled toward the goal, she was reminded of her father’s instructions to “calm down.”

Rutman, who was all over the field, correctly anticipating several Lakeland passes, picking them off and then creating an attack by going the other way, said the game was the best her team had ever played against Lakeland, which defeated 1-0 last year. final.

“This was the best thing we ever did. We had the best mentality,” she said.

And she indicated that that mentality will continue into next year.

Noting, “Third time’s the charm,” she predicted Greeley would win the 2025 sectional title.

Nancy Haggerty covers cross country, track and field, hockey, skiing, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy.

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