Boys lacrosse: Briarcliff adds momentum, rolls through Schuylerville in regional final
LATHAM – It was over in a hurry.
Again.
For the second game in a row, Briarcliff came out fast and got into running time, claiming a NYSPHSAA Class D regional title with a 14-2 win over Schuylerville on Saturday at Shaker High School.
None of the bad habits that often develop in lopsided games popped up.
“It’s been a huge part of the message to make sure we stay within our structure,” Bears coach Al Meola said. These guys know the opportunity is there. We need to go out and take it.”
There’s a reason why Briarcliff is playing like it’s been here before.
After taking an overtime loss in the 2019 state final, the Bears figured they had two or three more chances to end the season on the highest note possible.
The pandemic altered those plans, though.
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“It feels like we owe the entire Briarcliff community a state championship,” Briarcliff defenseman Tim Isola said. “There’s no way we’re going to get robbed this time. We’re giving everything we have for this run. We’ve all put in so much work on the field and off the field. This is what the team really wants.”
One more win in Albany on Wednesday against the Long Island champion puts the Bears in the championship game.
“I feel like we’ve been robbed too many times,” Briarcliff attackman Jack Ricciardi said. “We can’t let it happen again. We’re always talking about it, always feeling the burn from it, so we’d like to erase that.”
What it means
Briarcliff has done a good job of maintaining the momentum it worked so hard to build coming into the playoffs and has remained businesslike while getting little pushback from its regional opponents. That will help in the next game.
Beating a Long Island team is never easy this time of year.
"We have to play like we did in the Bronxville game, come out with the same exact structure, same exact game plan, same exact effort and execution and we’ll be fine against anybody," Meola added. "Cold Spring Harbor is a great team. It’s going to be way different than our last two games. We get that. It’s going to be like playing Bronxville or Rye or Mamaroneck. We played some tough games this year to get ready for this."
Player of the game
Isola was a tone setter with the long pole. Briarcliff came up with five takeaways in the opening minutes and got a lethal transition game up to speed in a hurry.
By the numbers
Briarcliff (17-4): Ricciardi poured in four goals and handed out four assists. ... Elliot Jones had three goals and four assists. ... Brandon Rispoli scored three times. ... Lucas Proctor had two goals and one assist. ... Luke McCann and Shane Dean each scored once. ... Evan Van Camp made five saves.
Schuylerville (14-5): Nate King ended the shutout bid with 10 minutes to play. ... Hansen Peck also scored.
Quotable
"We’ve been clicking lately," Isola said. "After the Stepinac game at the end of the regular season we had a couple of days off and then started preparing for the sectional championship. We maybe had too many penalties during the season and talked about playing super disciplined, sitting back and letting them come to us and when they come, we’re prepared."
Up next
Briarcliff plays Long Island champion Cold Spring Harbor in the East Championship on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at SUNY Albany's Fallon Field.
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: Briarcliff boys lacrosse advances to NYSPHSAA Class D final four
