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Yorktown edges JJ-CR in Class B quarters
Isaac Cass
CROSS RIVER, N.Y. – Yorktown and John Jay-Cross River split their meetings during the regular season with the Indians winning the more recent contest.
But the Huskers won the game that mattered the most.
No. 7-seeded Yorktown bested No. 2 John Jay-CR, 12-10, in a Section 1 Class B quarterfinal at John Jay on Saturday.
“The kids played really hard,” Yorktown coach Ellen Mager said. “We’ve had a tough season and played a lot of tough games, so I was really happy for them that they came out on the right side of it today.”
During the regular season, the Huskers beat John Jay 17-16 early in the season, but fell to the Indians 14-11 on April 25.
“It’s two evenly matched teams,” Mager said. “They’re pretty fast and have some really good players. (John Jay) played really hard. It was a really good battle today.”
Yorktown led 6-5 at halftime and extended its lead to 12-8 in the second half before the Indians netted the final two goals of the game.
Senior Bianca Raniolo paced the Huskers (7-9-1) with four goals and two assists. Kara Starkey tallied three goals and two assists, while Gaby Berne netted two goals. Rounding out the production for Yorktown were Emily Concialdi (1G, 1A), Stefanie Ranagan (1G), Emma Kaishian (1G) and Heather Raniolo (1A).
“We competed really well on the draw control,” Mager said. “Our offense moved the ball really well and shared the ball really well. John Jay kind of took some of our players out of the game and the other kids really stepped up and played well.”
Goaltender Katie Frederick stopped 11 shots to lead the Huskers defensively against a John Jay-CR team with a lot of offensive firepower.
“Our goalie had some big saves in the second half,” Mager said.
John Jay (12-5) was led by senior Lauren Murray with four goals. Sarah Lang and Delaney Spencer each scored two goals, while Molly O’Reilly (1G, 2A) and Kyley Gorman (1G) also contributed. Clare Hogan made four saves.
Defending Section 1 champion Yorktown will travel to No. 3 Brewster for a Section 1 Class B semifinal on Monday, May 21. The Huskers and Bears played to a 13-13 tie on May 4.
“They have some really good kids and I think we’re going to have to limit what they can do to hurt us,” Mager said. “We’re going to have to manage our turnovers, that’s an Achilles’ heel for us. There were times it was better today, but there were still times where we shot ourselves in the foot. We’re not going to be able to do that against (Brewster). Brewster is also very athletic and pretty aggressive. We’re going to have to play a very solid game to get by them. The Class B teams are pretty evenly matched. It’s going to be a dogfight for anybody the rest of the way.”
Follow Rob DiAntonio on Twitter @MSGV_RJD
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