Girls lacrosse: Bronxville beats Albertus Magnus to capture another Section 1 Class D title

SHRUB OAK — Before the Section 1 Class D girls lacrosse playoffs began, it didn’t seem likely three of the top four No. 1-seeded teams would fall.

After all, one, Class C Nyack, had run the table against Section 1 opponents, even if No. 2 Rye had played it close.

But one “upset” that seemed more like only an upset on paper was No. 3 Bronxville winning the Class D title.

This was nothing against No. 1 Albertus Magnus nor No. 2 Pleasantville. This was simply a matter of what each record reflected. Bronxville did claim a section crown Friday night, beating top-seeded Albertus Magnus, 14-5, at Lakeland High School.

Bronxville was battle tested

Bronxville’s 9-6 regular-season mark, although on the surface just a half-notch-above pedestrian, spoke of a team ready and capable of playing anyone.

After all, the Broncos had gone to Connecticut and Long Island to face tough teams and, closer to home, had taken on what ended up being the top-seeded teams in Section 1 in Class A, B and C.

It also took on the No. 3 seed in Class B.

That’s noteworthy since, like that team, Greeley, did a day earlier, Bronxville claimed a championship, no doubt made much stronger by playing top competition.

Junior Maddy Williams, a Bronxville cross-country and running star, who returned to lacrosse this season after doing outdoor track last spring, called her team’s 1-3 start this year, which included losses to Nyack and Greenwich, Connecticut, “rocky.”

Now, Bronxville, which was state Class D runner-up in 2023 but was supposedly rebuilding this season, is “getting on a roll,” Williams said.

Friday’s game

That was bad news for an Albertus Magnus squad, whose final 16-3 mark, included a win over Class A runner-up Wappingers.

Bronxville jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one quarter on two goals by Amy Villanueva and solo scores by Williams and Linnea Hentschel.

That was a start from which Magnus couldn’t recover.

Despite the scoreboard, Kate O’Leary, a non-travel player, who only started playing goalie last year, did a good job.

Her eight saves included a few great stops on hard, high-percentage chances.

But there was no stopping shots like Williams’ absolute laser with 4:34 left in the second quarter, which put Bronxville up 6-2, nor Ellie Garofalo’s score in the final minute of that half, which saw her drive horizontally just outside the crease and bury a shot, while being jostled by defenders.

Magnus, which trailed 8-2 at the half, made a brief run in the third quarter, cutting a 9-2 Bronxville lead to 9-5 on a beautiful, falling-to-the-turf goal by Magnus senior Cassidy Deirelein, a Division I-Radford University commit, and two goals off 8-meter free chances.

But the two 8-meter goals came with Bronxville down a man due to a foul and once the game was back to even strength, Bronxville's Rose Woolery and Charlotte Murray scored (Murray off a terrific feed from Linnea Hentschel) . Those goals essentially put the game out of reach for Magnus at 11-5 heading into the final quarter.

The stats

Murray netted a hat trick for the Broncos.

Williams, Hentschel, Villanueva and Garofalo each scored twice and Kendall Valente, Woolery and Mabel Arrighi, who had a monster game on the draw, each had one goal.

Williams, Arrighi, Hentschel and Woolery also had one assist each.

Bronco keeper Gabbi Bici had only two saves but one was an excellent stop in close on Deirelein.

For Magnus, Deirelein and Kristen Travaglini both had a pair of goals and Julia Pope scored once and had an assist.

Quotables

“We gave it a good run. We put up a pretty good fight,” said Deirelein. … “We made some mistakes (tonight) but we didn’t get too frustrated.”

Deirelein pointed to her team’s win over Wappingers and over Somers as being big and credited the season’s success in part to the team’s “family atmosphere” and players sharing the same goals.

“The best part (of being on the team for four years) are the friendships I’ve made a long the way,” she said.

Falcons coach Alyssa Sanchez cited nerves as being one factor in her team making costly mistakes early.

She called Bronxville a “great program,” but said her team needed to “shake the fear” of playing the team, which, in part because of its strong, youth feeder system, has long been a force in Section 1.

Sanchez also praised O’Leary, noting she’d been a big reason the Falcons had even reached the final, since she had kept them in their semifinal game against Irvington, which Magnus won 11-9.

“The kid gives everything she has,” Sanchez said.

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While Bronxville, which will play in a state regional semifinal Wednesday back at Lakeland, lost a lot of talent to graduation from last year's championship squad, Villanueva said returning players weren’t worried, knowing good, young players were coming up to varsity.

“I don’t think we were fearful. If anything, I think we were super excited to start the season,” she said, explaining an influx of sophomore talent blended right into an already-tight team.

Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Girls lacrosse: Bronxville strikes early, beats Mangus for Class D title