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Boys lacrosse: Briarcliff was ready for the moment and took down Bronxville to win Class D

mike dougherty, rockland/westchester journal news
·3 min read

SHRUB OAK – Briarcliff had one hand on the hardware when the storm rolled in.

The unsettled weather was really the only issue the well-rehearsed Bears faced on Friday during a 14-5 win over Bronxville in the Section 1 Class D championship game at Lakeland High School.

The contest was suspended for nearly 90 minutes with 8:23 to play in the fourth quarter.

It only postponed the celebration.

“The feeling never gets old,” Briarcliff attackman Elliot Jones said. “I love this. We’ve been playing so long together and it feels good to get another one. … We’ve been playing together since first grade and have been dreaming about senior year. Now we’re going to states and we just want to keep on playing together.”

Briarcliff players storm onto the field after defeating Bronxville 14-5 in the Section 1 Class D championship game at Lakeland High School in Shrub Oak May 27, 2022.
Briarcliff players storm onto the field after defeating Bronxville 14-5 in the Section 1 Class D championship game at Lakeland High School in Shrub Oak May 27, 2022.

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Only the next game is guaranteed.

“We put in so much work since we were kids and we just knew this team was capable of making a big run,” Bears attackman Brandon Rispoli said. “We keep working toward that every day.”

Briarcliff has won three consecutive sectional titles and will get an opportunity to return to states for the first time since an overtime loss in the NYSPHSAA championship game in 2019.

This showdown was highly anticipated.

Bronxville posted a 10-9 overtime win to close out the regular season, ending the Bears’ 21 game winning streak against Section 1 opponents.

And there was some early drama.

Goals were traded until Lucas Proctor hung a hard right turn and gave Briarcliff a 3-2 edge at the end of the first quarter. It was the start of a run. Brandon Rispoli delivered a perfect setup to Nico Santucci on the crease before Elliot Jones and Jack Ricciardi made it s 6-2 cushion after two.

Chris Patterson interrupted the outburst two minutes after the intermission, but the Bears answered with three more goals. Conor O’Neil ended that run, but the response was again three goals.

“We felt really prepared for this game,” Rispoli said. “Last time we played them it was on a six-day stretch. We couldn’t practice on Sunday and we played them on Monday. We had a few guys hurt. And this time we were well prepared for the moment and we seized it.”

Briarcliff was up 13-4 when play was suspended.

Briarcliff's Timothy Isola (21) fires a shot for a first half goal in front of Bronxville's Preston Maze (26) during the Section 1 Class D championship game at Lakeland High School in Shrub Oak May 27, 2022. Briarcliff won the game 14-4.
Briarcliff's Timothy Isola (21) fires a shot for a first half goal in front of Bronxville's Preston Maze (26) during the Section 1 Class D championship game at Lakeland High School in Shrub Oak May 27, 2022. Briarcliff won the game 14-4.

What it means

The Bears are finally back in play for a state title.

An overtime loss to Lafayette/Onondaga in 2019 stung, but with so much young talent in the pipeline, Briarcliff expected a quick return trip. And that's when the pandemic ruined those plans.

Briarcliff's Brandon Rispoli (2) fires a shot for a first half goal against Bronxville during the Section 1 Class D championship game at Lakeland High School in Shrub Oak May 27, 2022. Briarcliff won the game 14-4.
Briarcliff's Brandon Rispoli (2) fires a shot for a first half goal against Bronxville during the Section 1 Class D championship game at Lakeland High School in Shrub Oak May 27, 2022. Briarcliff won the game 14-4.

Player of the game

Rispoli was full speed ahead each time he got a touch, finishing with six goals and two assists.

By the numbers

Bronxville (12-6): Chris Patterson had three goals , Conor O'Neil and Preston Maze each scored once. ... Tommy Garofalo had one assists. ... Luke Arrighi made 16 saves.

Briarcliff (15-4): Jones finished with three goals and two assists. ... Jack Ricciardi delivered two goals and three assists. ... Lucas Proctor and Nico Santucci each had a goal and an assist. ... Tim Isola netted a pole goal. ... Evan Van Camp made eight saves. ... Santucci also won 14 faceoffs.

Quotable

"We played a lot harder this time," Bears long-stick midfielder Luca Meola said. "It was good to get humbled a little bit in the first game against Bronxville. The storm delay was rough because it slowed momentum down, but we stayed locked in the whole time. We made sure to maintain focus. There was no fooling around. We came back out with intensity and finished it off."

"This one was a lot different," Bronxville coach Rob Ambrose said. "It’s a big game. It’s a lot of pressure. You have to perform under pressure and they did a better job of that. We made a lot of mistakes early and didn’t recover from that."

Up next

Briarcliff plays O'Neill of Section 9 in a 4:30 p.m. subregional Wednesday at Mamaroneck High School.

Mike Dougherty covers boys soccer, boys lacrosse, girls basketball and golf for The Journal News/lohud.com. He can be reached at mdougher@lohud.com, or on Twitter @hoopsmbd, @lohudlacrosse, @lohudhoopsmbd and @lohudgolf.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: lohud boys lacrosse: Briarcliff tops Bronxville in Class D 14-5