Girls lacrosse: Olivia Shinsato, Catherine Berkery star as Bronxville routs No. 2 Suffern

EASTCHESTER — Before the opening draw Friday night between the area's No. 1- and No. 2-ranked girls lacrosse teams, a couple of scenarios seemed likely.

Either top-ranked Bronxville would win, as it did last year against Suffern, or No. 2 Suffern, which entered the game a perfect 5-0, averaging 16.5 goals per game and yielding just 6.2 per game, would remain undefeated.

Either way, the game would be close.

Instead, Bronxville, which won last year's game by two goals jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, led 10-4 at the half, and easily won 16-7.

"I want to say we came out flat, but, with their speed of play and the pressure they created, our heads were spinning," Suffern coach John Callanan said. ... "Every one of those kids is able to create pressure. They don't have any gaps. They're exceptional in that regard ... Their team speed is exceptional. That's not just physical. It's ball movement and they play with confidence. If someone is cutting to the cage, they'll feed (the ball) to them."

What it means

The win raised Bronxville's record to 8-1. Its only loss was by one goal to New Canaan (Connecticut).

If the game's lopsided nature raised questions about how good Suffern is after COVID-19 denied it a chance at two possible state Class A championships, it also raised expectations about Bronxville's chances for a state Class D title this year.

Player of the game

Goalie Olivia Shinsato and her defensive mates did a phenomenal job limiting the damage inflicted by Emma Muchnick, a U.S. women's U18 team member, who'll play next year for Division I Maryland, a national top-10 squad.

While Muchnick, who's, as Shinsato noted, "lightning quick," outraced Bronxville to multiple balls off draws, she had just one goal and one assist.

Shinsato had multiple stops on Muchnick, including on 8-meter tries.

Shinsato, who recorded 10 saves, shared top player honors with fellow junior Catherine Berkery, who had four goals and two assists.

By the numbers

Berkery, a 5-10 attacker and D-I Penn commit, who assisted on Bridget Finley's opening score just 36 seconds into the game, set up multiple offensive plays from behind Suffern's net.

She scored three times in the first half, two off great individual efforts in which she fought her way through and around Suffern defenders.

Her other assist was a beauty. She passed over the net to a cutting Molly Krestinski, who essentially one-timed the ball.

Krestinski had a hat trick and an assist, her second goal coming after she beat Suffern to a loose ball and sprinted in from midfield.

Caroline Ircha also scored three times, her first goal coming after she got the ball in her defensive zone and ran the length of the field.

Kiki Tormey, Megan Krestinski and Finley all scored twice.

Megan Krestinski had two assists and Anna Becker and Tormey both had one assist.

Becker also had a fine defensive play, knocking the ball from a Suffern player just feet from the Bronco goal, before recovering it.

Callie Drab had a hat trick for Suffern.

Kate Burns, who scored the Mounties' first goal just under 10 minutes into the game off a feed from Caitlin Ruggiero, had two goals, and Jenna Myhal had Suffern's other goal, that one coming off a long pass from Muchnick.

Jillian Terlizzi, who at one point stopped two straight 8-meter free shots, had six saves for Suffern and Aerin O'Brien had one save.

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Quotable

Shinsato noted Bronxville spent hours reviewing Suffern game video.

She credited Bronxville's ability to control Muchnick (whom she called "one of the best players we'll see this season") and others to its use of a six-point zone defense with a seventh backer.

"We spent hours and hours trying to perfect that," she said.

Berkery also pointed to Bronxville's defensive strategy, as well as Shinsato's play, as key.

But she also said, "I think one of the big things was we were really excited going into the game and our goal was to have fun. .., We were clicking. We came out fired up and stepped on the gas."

Up next

Both teams will play on Long Island this weekend.

Suffern will play Garden City Saturday and Bronxville will play East Port South Manor Sunday.

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

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Girls lacrosse: Berkery, Shinsato star as Bronxville routs Suffern