After all the delays, we finally got to see the sectional finals and regional semis over the weekend. I was fortunate enough to be a spectator at five of the games; hopefully you caught some of the action, too.
We had six section champions for Section 1: Somers, Pearl River, Haldane, North Rockland, Bronxville and Arlington. I’d imagine we haven’t seen six champs in a while, but in this wild year with a bunch of great teams, it’s an apt conclusion to the season.
Somers-Pearl River was Section 1 soccer at its finest. Pearl River showed a lot of courage going up to Somers as the No.2 seed and having to essentially play an away game in front of an inspired Somers crowd. To be fair, the Pirates had a great showing from their faithful fans as well.
Marissa Scognamiglio to Casey Walsh — the dominant 1-2 punch for Pearl River all season — opened the scoring up, and Walsh provided insurance with her second goal early in the second half. But the Tuskers had the comeback of the year following the ejection of Carolyn Casey and coach Keenan Deegan with 26 minutes to go. They scored two goals in about five minutes and pushed it to OT, where they secured their place as co-champions with Pearl River.
North Rockland had a similar game against rival Arlington. The teams played even for 110 minutes and finished as co-champions. The Red Raiders put in a lot of work to get where they did.
Haldane’s technique-oriented game worked well in their victory over a strong Tuckahoe team. All year, the Blue Devils faced Class AA, A, and B teams to prepare them for the playoff atmosphere in November, and it paid off in sectionals.
Very sound team with much of their core coming back next year. They lost to S.S. Seward 3-0, but it was closer than the score indicated. Haldane will remember that game and continue building next year.
A young Bronxville team continued their run with a victory over Albertus Magnus in the Class B finals and a win over Spackenkill in the regional semis. They are the only team (at least in our coverage area) left playing, the only team with a chance to get to Cortlandt now. Unfortunately, I won’t be there to cover the game up at Greene High School near Vestal tomorrow, but the Broncos will no doubt represent the section well.