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Edgemont sweeps series against Ardsley
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SCARSDALE, N.Y. — Edgemont coasted to a 9-0 win over Ardsley back on April 4, never feeling too much pressure along the way. In the rematch on Monday afternoon, things were a little tighter.
The host Panthers needed a furious second-half rally to secure a 7-4 win. Edgemont swept the regular season series after losing both matchups to Ardsley last year.
“I was pretty frustrated in the first half in terms of fundamentals, not picking up ground balls cleanly or getting our passes up and around the horn,” Edgemont coach Mark Gryzlo said. “In the second half, we came out pushing transition and really moving the ball.”
Ardsley (1-5) shocked Edgemont (8-2) by racing out to a 3-1 halftime lead as Drew Longo scored two of his team-high three goals. Liam Farell notched all three assists for Ardsley.
Edgemont nearly went into the halftime break with the score tied but had one goal disallowed for having a man in the crease and another wiped away when the sideline called a timeout a split-second before the ball found the back of the net.
As the game entered halftime, Edgemont appeared disoriented and out-of-sync. The coaching staff responded by asking the players a simple question at the break: "Are we playoff ready?"
"A lot of us answered no,” said senior attackman Jared Simon, who had three goals and one assist. “That’s the goal of the season — to get to sectionals and make a run and we looked at ourselves and said we’re not playoff ready at this time and that kind of brought us together.”
The energized Edgemont crew came roaring out of the break. Ethan Gold notched his lone goal of the contest just 15 seconds into the third and Edgemont rattled off three more in succession to take a 5-3 lead.
Longo brought Ardsley back within one late in the third, but Edgemont's defense held its ground and refused to allow another goal the rest of the way. Goalie Trevor Ortega made five of his nine saves in the fourth quarter.
Edgemont has shown flashes of the skills and attitude needed to make a run come playoff time. Still, there's one facet of their game that needs improvement.
“They need to believe in themselves, everyone needs to believe in themselves and their capabilities,” Gryzlo said. “It’s all about execution and if we clean up our execution we’ll be just fine and we’ll be ready for the playoffs.”
Ardsley has a tough matchup looming on Wednesday when it travels to take on undefeated Dobbs Ferry. Edgemont will visit Irvington on Wednesday.
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