Boys lacrosse: Scarsdale caps season-long comeback with a Class A win over Mamaroneck
SHRUB OAK – There was no drama this time around.
None.
Scarsdale was three steps ahead of Mamaroneck from the start Friday and ran off with an impressive 12-7 victory in the Section 1 Class A championship game at Lakeland High School.
Compared to last year’s double-overtime upset of the No. 1 seeded Tigers, it was a mild surprise.
“It’s just insane,” Raiders midfielder Colby Baldwin said. “It’s the best thing ever.”
Class D: Briarcliff was ready for the moment and took down Bronxville
Class C: Pelham solves Pearl River, runs away with a Section 1 title
Class B: Rye goes back-to-back against Yorktown, moves the bar higher
Some perspective is in order.
After graduating 13 seniors from last year’s over-achieving team, Scarsdale was forced to learn on the fly. The Raiders were humbled in the season-opener, falling to Briarcliff by a 15-4 margin.
Their record was a humbling 2-6 at one point.
“And the fact that we’re now 12-7 says a lot about their resilience and the grit,” Scarsdale coach James Synowiez said. “These boys all bought in and really understood nothing was going to come easy. It’s over 80 hours of practice and lifting and film and tons of homework. It’s all worth it right now.”
The Raiders came out flying and got timely contributions from every angle.
Nate Seslowe was the catalyst, scoring three times in the first quarter to give Scarsdale a 5-2 edge. Mamaroneck struggled to deal with the passing and cutting.
The faceoff magic of Colby Baldwin was an issue, as well.
He quieted the crowd after the Tigers closed to within 10-6 on a Henry Rayner goal with 1:45 to go in the third quarter, winning the draw and racing in for a slam dunk goal.
“Colby’s the best player in the section,” Seslowe said. “He is everything for us.”
Seslowe was a busy accomplice, netting four goals in the biggest game of the season and putting the pressure on Mamaroneck to keep pace.
“I knew this was the greatest time to shine,” he said. “I didn’t want to let my boys down. We’ve been looking forward to this game all season and I knew this was the time to make plays. It took more than me. We all played a complete 48 minutes and showed the section who we are.”
What it means
With only three seniors on the roster, Scarsdale is the favorite in Class A next season.
"This is awesome," Seslowe added. "We wanted to show the section last season wasn’t a fluke. We’re a legit program and I think we proved that. We’re going to be on top not just last year, not just this year, but for years to come."
Player of the game
Baldwin was outstanding, collecting 18 faceoff wins. And his goal off the faceoff win further demoralized Mamaroneck.
"It was a huge moment," Synowiez said. "We talked at halftime about how their defenders were set up pretty high, so in our fastbreak offense we dropped our attackmen down so they had to slide a little further. I said to Colby , "If they don’t come to you, you know what to do with it.' In big moments big players make big plays and that’s exactly what that kid did."
By the numbers
Scarsdale (12-7): Graydon Diamond started the scoring for the Raiders, finishing with two goals and two assists. ... Baldwin netted two goals and handed out one assist. ... Ryan Ornstein scored twice. ... Wade Massey and Rhett Needleman each had one goal. ... Andrew Lehrman made 14 saves.
Mamaroneck (14-5): Rhett Chambers delivered three goals. ... Rayner finished with two goals. ... Alex Martin had a goal and two assists. ... David Belisle scored once. ... Chris Matthews had four saves.
Quotable
“We did get a lot better throughout the season," Baldwin said. "We definitely knew we had it in us so it’s not a surprise to me, but this is a really good feeling. We did graduate a lot of talented players, but these guys, we’re all dogs, we’re all ballers. We play for each other.”
Up next
Scarsdale will play the Section 9 winner, either Kingston or Monroe Woodbury, in a 6:30 p.m. subregional on 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: Scarsdale upsets Mamaroneck in Section 1 Class A
