Boys lacrosse: Pelham solves Pearl River, runs away with the Section 1 Class C title
SHRUB OAK - It was bound to happen sooner or later.
Pelham has been stringing goals together with relative ease in the playoffs so the level of concern was minimal when Pearl River got off to a running start and scored the first two goals of the game.
The Pelicans responded with a demoralizing run to claim 14-6 victory along with another Section 1 Class C title at Lakeland High School.
"We have a track record of coming out slow, but we’ve built up some confidence and trust in each other that helps us rally back," Pelham attackman Dan Johnston said. "We don’t get down. We don’t point fingers. We fight back together."
The Pelicans scored 13 times before giving up another goal.
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"This whole playoff run we’ve gotten off to some slow starts by settling for things we shouldn’t be settling for early in games," Pelham coach James Rogers said. "In the second half against Sleepy Hollow we had an 8-0 run. It was tied at halftime against Hen Hud and we started the second half with a 5-0 run."
It started with aggressive defense and ended with the second title in program history.
"This is a very big deal," Johnston added. "We all started playing together young. We all watched the 2018 championship and wanted to be here ourselves, so this is really special."
Pearl River had more energy at the start and was up 2-0 when Nick Paletta turned and scored, then found Jack Dwyer for a goal with 8:42 to go in the opening frame.
"We got on the bus and everyone was excited, but then when the game started, I think everyone was a little nervous," Pelicans goalie Will White said. "We let in two goals right away, but then we got on a run. It’s hard to describe how we do that. I’m just so happy we won."
The run started with a Johnston goal and Teddy Johnson made it 2-2 before the quarter ended.
Johnston gave Pelham a 3-2 lead with 4:01 to play in the second quarter. It was a 5-2 lead at the half. The Pelicans dialed it up after the break with goals coming from players up and down the scorebook. It was an 11-2 cushion after three quarters.
What it means
Should the Pelicans start in stride, look out. This offense works hard off the ball and plays without pretense. The defense is persistent. Pelham is also battle-tested after taking on so many traditional powers.
"It’s something I do on purpose to make sure we play the top talent in the section and experience adversity," Rogers said. "It gets us ready for moments like this. When it’s a tight game, we’re not rattled. We just get to work and do our thing because we’ve been doing it all year against the best teams Section 1 has to offer."
The Pirates now have a first-taste of sectionals and will be wanted more when next season opens.
Player of the game
Chris Franchini helped fuel the decisive run, finishing with four goals and two assists.
By the numbers
Pelham (13-7): Callum Reen added two goals and three assists. ... Johnston finished with two goals and one assist. ... Teddy Johnson also netted a pair of goals. ... Reid Finster, Alex Caltenco, Matteo Johnson and Henry Smith each scored once. ... White made eight saves. ... Jack Mallinson won 15 of 20 faceoffs.
Pearl River (11-6): Paletta, Dwyer, Brendan Donohue, Aidan McGrath, Michael Foti and Nicholas Carbone had the goals for the Pirates. ... James O'Connell made seven saves.
Quotable
"Everything was working at the start, but then I don’t think we played up to our capability," Paletta said. "We played our hearts out and got farther than any other team in program history, so I’m proud of everyone on this team. We’re on the rise. Watch out for Pearl River next year. Pelham is good with good players and they’ll go pretty far."
"The part that I like is we don’t have a horse to get the ball to and know we’re going to get a goal," Rogers said. "We’re the sum of our parts. Everybody realizes the offense is going to succeed when everyone is doing the little things. You look at our scoring results, we always have five or six every single game. We’ve never had this kind of offensive depth. "
Up next
Pelham will play the Section 9 champion, either Wallkill or Rondout Valley, in a 6:30 p.m. subregional, Wednesday at Hen Hud.
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: Pelham goes on run, beats Pearl River.
