Girls lacrosse: No. 2 Nyack uses speed, tight defense and big saves to route No. 9 Greeley

CHAPPAQUA — On paper, it was going to be a knock-down, drag-out battle between two top-10 teams.

But Tuesday’s game between host Horace Greeley and Nyack simply affirmed that, despite a recent upset loss, Nyack is one of the area's elite teams.

The RedHawks were everywhere — especially where the ball was.

Consider this sequence: Seventh-grader Abby Gould passes to freshman sister Ella Gould, who shoots behind her back in traffic. Greeley goalie Tatum Walsh somehow makes the save but the rebound comes out in front to the sophomore Gould sister, Kate, and, in one motion, she scoops the ball and fires and shot underhand into the net.

Right place, right time. Luck?

To a degree.

But the goal also resulted from skill, field savvy and speed.

Those are what No. 2-ranked Nyack displayed on that final goal it scored late in the second half but what it also displayed throughout what ended up being a 16-6 romp over No. 9 Greeley.

And, as impressive as the RedHawks’ offense was, its defense stood out even more.

Greeley entered the game averaging 12.5 goals a game.

But, besides a nice 3-0 run, which briefly cut a 7-1 deficit to 7-4 before Ella Gould scored with eight seconds left in the first half off a fast, well-executed breakout, the Quakers rarely found a way to penetrate Nyack’s blanket coverage near its goal.

And when it did, it ran into another big obstacle in goalie Keira Furey.

What it means

With the win, Nyack is 8-1. Its one loss was 8-7 last week to Yorktown.

The win fuels anticipation of a Section 1 Class B final between it and No. 1-ranked John Jay-Cross River.

With the loss, Greeley, whose five-game winning streak ended Tuesday, is 8-3.

Player of the game

Furey, a junior who has played net since fourth grade, had several exceptional stops among her nine saves.

She went to her knees to stop what looked to be a no-doubt chance by Quaker Rowan Edson with Nyack up 4-1.

And she outright robbed Eric Rosendorf on two blistering shots.

By the numbers

Greeley played the last 11:29 down a man after receiving four yellow cards. But by the time that fourth card was issued, Nyack had a 12-5 lead.

The game could have been more lopsided but Nyack lost two goals for being in the crease while shooting.

Walsh also was very good. She stopped 12 shots but that wasn't enough with Nyack outshooting Greeley about 2-to-1.

Kate Gould led all scorers with five goals. She also had two assists.

Kayleigh Cassidy finished with four goals. Her early-second half score came with her flying toward the net and receiving a perfect Casey Cummings feed.

That goal made the score 9-4 Nyack and set the tone for the rest of the game.

Ella Gould scored three times, Eve McGrogan also had a hat trick and an assist and Cummings finished with a goal and five big assists.

Edson scored twice for Greeley, both off nice feeds from Bae Bounds.

Taylor Rice also scored twice, once off an Edson feed and once off a Megan Crowe assist. And Rosendorf scored once off a Bounds feed.

After Nyack netted the game's first two goals, Bounds scored for Greeley off an 8-meter free shot.

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They said it

"I think we went down early and really couldn’t dig ourselves out of the hole. ...Their goalie played great and and they played physical and kept moving,” Greeley coach Maggie Sharp said.

After the loss to Yorktown, “We didn’t have ‘Undefeated’ on our back,” Furey said, adding her team took the field Tuesday with “something to prove.”

She pointed to Nyack’s 11 ball possessions off draws as key, remarking, “I think our draw girls were just amazing.”

“I think we played a really unselfish. It was a lot of fun playing together,” Cassidy said.

“I think it really sets the tone for the rest of the season. I think this was a big step for us. … It shows what we can do when we work together."

Up next

Nyack will play at Albertus Magnus at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Greeley will host Harrison in another 4:30 p.m. start Friday.

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

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Girls lacrosse: No. 2 Nyack, huge on defense, routs No. 9 Greeley 16-6