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Nyack earns first win over Clarkstown South
NYACK, N.Y. – Battling for ground balls in lacrosse is tough enough. But the rough grass at MacCalman Field in Nyack certainly makes it more challenging.
The hometown Indians knew that heading into their matchup with Clarkstown South and dominated the loose balls en route to a 12-10 victory.
“Our first two games, we came out a bit flat, so being aggressive was definitely one of our main goals,” Coach Kathryn Perrella said. “We went hard after the 50-50 balls on the ground and in the air, and I think we did well with that today.”
Kate Fischer scored three of her four goals in the first 20 minutes giving Nyack a comfortable 7-3 lead. Clarkstown South scored twice in the final 18 seconds of the half to make it respectable, but the Vikings proved it wasn’t luck in the second half. South scored four of the first five goals in the second half to take a 9-8 lead with 15:17 left in the game. Erin Kelly scored two of South’s goals during the big stretch. She finished with two goals and two assists to lead Clarkstown South.
“We don’t have one or two true leaders on the field, so I was a bit nervous at that point,” Perrella said. “We’re relying on them to get each other going, and thankfully that happened today.”
Christina DeVita scored to tie the game, and Taylor O’Sullivan gave the Indians the lead back for good with 10:39 left. It was O’Sullivan’s only goal of the game.
“We work on that play all the time in practice,” O’Sullivan said. “Andie O’Sullivan cut into the eight-yard box and then out which turned her defender around. That gave me the chance to go right in. I made a fake on the goalie and scored.”
Seconds later, Taylor O’Sullivan assisted on the final goal of the game to give Nyack some breathing room. It was her fourth assist of the game. Her first three all went to Fischer.
“I feel confident when I’m passing the ball to Katie because she’s dominant with either hand,” O’Sullivan said. “She can score at anytime.”
While Nyack may have lost composure during South’s big run, they kept it while they were sitting on their lead. South tried to double team the ball to force turnovers in the final two minutes, but couldn’t take possession away from the Indians.
“That was some of our best ball-handling all game long,” Perrella said. “It showed how determined they were to keep the lead, it was definitely good for us.”
Nyack has a break before its next game, but will continue working towards improvement to get back to the level the Indians were at a season ago. Fischer thinks the victory will jump start her team.
“It definitely feels good to get this first win. It should help our confidence considerably,” Fischer said. “I feel like we can do some good work and we will be a good team this year.”
Follow John Malone on Twitter: @MSGV_Malone
Scoring Summary
First Half
N – Christina DeVita, 1-0. 22:50
CS – Siobhan Maguire, 1-1. 22:07
N – DeVita, 2-1. 15:15
N – Kate Fischer from Taylor O’Sullivan, 3-1. 14:08
N – Andie O’Sullivan, 4-1. 13:02
CS – Terese Buechli, 4-2. 10:01
N – Jennifer Farrell from Tara Blinn, 5-2. 9:10
CS – Maguire from Erin Kelly, 5-3. 6:00
N – Julianne Cummings, 6-3. 4:40
N – Fischer from T. O’Sullivan, 7-3. 4:08
CS – Ashley Griggs, 7-4. :18
CS – Buechli from Jaime Morris, 7-5. :01
Second Half
CS – Kelly from Buechli, 7-6. 21:14
N – Fischer, 8-6. 19:41
CS – Kelly, 8-7. 17:46
CS – Morris, 8-8. 16:58
CS – Griggs from Kelly, 9-8. 15:17
N – DeVita, 9-9. 11:25
N – Fischer from T. O’Sullivan, 10-9. 10:39
CS – Buechli from Maguire, 10-10. 6:37
N – T. O’Sullivan, 11-10. 5:08.
N – Taylor Bertolacci from T. O’Sullivan. 12-10, 4:37.
Tri-State lacrosse Top 20: Week 7
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All-Metro boys and girls basketball: 2012-13
All-HV/WE teams: Winter 2012-13
