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Girls’ Soccer Wins the Class B Sectional Championships; Field Hockey, Boys’ Soccer and Football Lose Tough Playoff Battles

The Bronxville girls’ soccer team celebrates its Class B Sectional Championship. Photo by J. Murrer.

By S.Q DeJoy and J. Murrer

Nov. 3, 2021: The end of October is full of excitement and disappointment. High school sports teams come to the end of their regular season and enter playoffs with hopes of outlasting opponents and making it to the state finals. The teams with great records hope to continue their season’s success, and teams that have been up and down hope to play their season’s best game and make it into the next round by upsetting the higher-ranked team.

This past week had all the excitement and disappointment and more. The girls’ soccer team was overjoyed as they captured the Section 1 Class B Championship on Sunday with a 4-0 win over Briarcliff, but for the football, field hockey and boys’ soccer teams, their playoff hopes ended with every Bronco fighting to the finish.

Girls’ Soccer

The girls’ soccer team entered the Class B Sectional Championship game as the No. 1 seed and faced No. 2 Briarcliff, an undefeated team that had only given up one goal all season.

In the playoff game held at Nyack High School on Halloween, the Broncos took an early 1-0 lead with a goal by Lily Jebejian. In that score, Molly Krestinski collided with the keeper causing the ball to be rebounded, and Jebejian took the rebound and found the back of the goal.  The Broncos scored three more times with two goals by midfielder Alice Vranka, who had been moved from her usual position at center back, and the 4th and final goal by Kiki Tormey who kept relentless pressure on the Bears’ keeper. 

Bronxville in the 4-0 win over Briarcliff on Sunday at Nyack High School. Photo by J. Murrer.

Bronxville midfielders, Vranka, Krestinski and Jebejian, kept control of play creating numerous scoring opportunities and also contained Briarcliff’s midfield from serving the ball forward. Cece Jablonsky, outside left, and Maddy Stupart, outside right, were decisive in serving balls into the box.  

The Bronco defense never let up throughout game.

“Our defensive backs, Charlotte Harwood, Megan Krestinski and Bridget Finley played an almost perfect game,” said Coach Cupertino. “Jillian Byrne had the task of marking Briarcliff’s top player and completely shut her down. Milly Koenig added to her stellar season recording her 15th shutout of the year.”

The Bronco girls will play the winner of Chenango Valley (Section 4)/James I. O’Neill (Section 9) in the Regional Championship at Arlington High School on Friday at noon.  The winner of that game will play in the state tournament on November 13th and 14th in Cortland.

Field Hockey

Bronxville in the sectional final game against Briarcliff. Photo by J. Murrer.

The field hockey team, ranked No. 3 in Class C, moved to the Sectional Championship game with a 6-1 win over Hastings in the quarterfinals and a 3-2 win over Pawling in the semis. In the final game at Lakeland High School on Sunday, the Broncos faced longtime rival and top-seed North Salem losing 1-0 in a very tough battle.

“It was an intense game to say the least,” said Coach Jaquelyn Frawley.  “We knew that North Salem was going to be a very tough competition, having lost to them 1-0 very early in the season. They have a very strong senior team, led by the goal scorer Kiki DeModna.”

 

Bronxville in the loss to Briarcliff at the Sectional Championships. Photo by J. Murrer.

Down by just a goal, the Broncos played their hearts out. The Bronxville offense controlled possession in the last three quarters by connecting passes and using their speed to stay in the offensive zone, but the North Salem defense made it difficult to finish goals as their defensive sticks were always low and ready.

Coach Frawley could not have asked for anything more from the team.

“The entire defensive line, Natalie Gunther, Lucie Curran, and Fiona Denning, deserves a shout out for stopping North Salem every time they drove down the field, except for the one goal when the shot was taken after a corner broke up. Olivia Gunther and her twin sister Natalie play the center of the field and kept us together, and Isabela Fenner, our center forward, worked the ball up the field with speed and skill.”

Boys’ Soccer

Bronxville in the quarterfinal win over Dobbs Ferry. Photo by J. Murrer.

The boys’ soccer team, seeded No. 3 in the playoffs, had wins over Rye Neck (2-1) and Dobbs Ferry (4-0) before meeting up with No. 2 Westlake in the semifinals last Wednesday. Bronxville lost to Westlake 4-2, but the Bronxville boys fought until the very end. Trailing by two with 22 minutes left in the game, the Broncos gave the Wildcats all they could handle but were unable to close the gap. Miles Courtney and Mark Pytosh each scored one goal in the sectional semifinal game.

“Today's game was great to be a part of,” said Coach Donny Lucas.  “All we ask is that the players leave it all on the field.  The ball just did not bounce or roll our way today.  Soccer is that sport that you can have most of the possession and not win the game.”

Led by Captains Aidan Sulimirski, Yega Tenzin and Will Redman, this year’s soccer team had a great season finishing in second place in League 3 with a 14-4-1 record. Sulimirski, along with fellow seniors Alex Kupersmith, Jed Donohue, Brody Pearlman, Finn Ruhanen, and Luke Sheehan were all a part of the teams that won the Sectional Championship in 2019 and the Regional Championship in 2020.

 

Bronxville in the quarterfinal win over Dobbs Ferry. Photo by J. Murrer.

Football

Team photo by Susan Miller McCormick.

After having last week’s game cancelled because of a Putnam Valley COVID pause, the football team returned this week to play in the Class B Sectional Quarterfinals. The Broncos had homefield advantage in the game against Ardsley and took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Quarterback Conor O’Neil scored on a 27-yd run on the opening drive, and Tommy Garofalo ran through a pack of Panthers for the second Bronxville score. Without a kicker, the Broncos depend on the two-point conversion and after Garofalo's touchdown, Aidan McBride completed the two-point conversion to give the Broncos the 14-0 lead.

In the second half of the game, the momentum turned in favor of Ardsley. The Panther’s capitalized on a couple Bronxville turnovers and scored three times in the opening seven minutes of the third to bring the score to 20-14. The Broncos came back to tie the game when O’Neil connected with Chris Kelty in the endzone, but it would not be enough in the end. With just seconds left in the game, Ardsley kicked a field goal to capture the win. Final score: 23-20.

"I think that everyone on the team is obviously upset about the loss as we know we could have gone further," said co-captain Chris Kelty.  "Ardsley played well and we didn't have a good offensive or defensive second half. That being said, we did really leave it all out on the field and I'm proud of the team for the effort that we all put in.  A win would have been amazing and the loss still hurts right now, but the season as a whole was a success and I truly believe that every person on our roster loved being part of the team.  We developed a great bond as a team and really are a family.  I'll really miss playing Bronxville football."

Tommy Garafalo had 33 carries for 125 yards, and Kelty had five catches for 81 yards. The Broncos finished the season with a record of 4-4.

The Bronco football captains after the Ardsley game: (l to r): Tommy Garofalo, Spencer McCormick, Chris Kelty, Preston Maze and Conor O’Neil.

 

Jack Newton (24) hugs Tommy Garofalo after the game as Preston Maze (54) looks on.  Photo by Sue Miller McCormick.

Go Broncos.

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