Tappan Zee Lacrosse Takes Down Pearl River

The Pearl River Pirates played host to the Tappan Zee Dutchmen Wednesday in the battle for the Orangetown Bulldogs Lacrosse Cup, awarded to the winner of the annual meeting between the two teams. 

The Dutchmen captured the trophy for the second straight year with in an impressive 11–6 victory.

“Our whole team came in really prepared for this one,” said Tappan Zee’s Manny Cabrera. "The seniors really stepped it up because this is their last game against Pear River. We played a very balanced game out there today, our defense stepped up when they had to and we got the job done.”

Rain fell all day on Wednesday, leaving the teams with a sloppy surface to work on. Both teams came out to a slow start and the first quarter ended with Tappan Zee up 1-0. 

The Dutchmen quickly picked up speed in the second quarter and the Pirates struggled to keep up. Tappan Zee scored four straight goals to take a 5–0 lead.

“The weather has been bad the whole day so we kind of expected the game to be canceled,” said Pearl River Captain Cory Hoffman. “We were sloppy during our workout; it translated to the game and we came out flat. I think our three remaining games are winnable and if we rally we can win them all.”

The Pirates got a pair of goals on the board late in the second quarter to send it to the half, 6-2.

Tappan Zee played a calm a cool game with the lead in their pocket. The Dutchmen used their time outs and did a good job regrouping after each push Pearl River made.

“Tappan Zee is a well-coached team," said Pearl River Coach Al Staker.
"They took advantage of our mistakes today. We had a few breakdowns defensively and they capitalized.”

“Earlier in the season our plays weren’t as fluid as they could have been," said Dutchmen Zak Young. "Today we ran them much more effectively. We executed plays out of time outs very well.”

Neither team played their best. The messy field slowed both teams down and dictated the style of play. Speed, cutting and loose balls were all effected by the weather and the game became a defensive battle.

Pearl River goalie Lowell Hunt, who had 19 saves on the day, did a nice job in goal for the Pirates, but it was the Dutchmen’s defense that won the day.

“(James) Amandola coaches our defense," said Tappan Zee coach Jim Ardizone. "He works so hard and it goes unnoticed. He deserves a lot of the credit for this one.”

“We did a good job out there today," said Amandola. "It seemed like we won the time of possession battle, which goes a long way toward winning a game. Our transition was working today. We got really good goalie play and we capitalized on a few mistakes.”

Pearl River (5-8) still has a shot to even its record with three games left on the schedule.

“Our record is 5-8 and our goal is to get to .500 by the end of the season. It won’t be easy but if we keep fighting out there I’m confident we can get to it,” said Staker.

Tappan Zee 11, Pearl River 6

Pearl River    0   2   1   3   --  6

Tappan Zee   1   5   1   4   --  11

Goals: PR – James Stephen 2, Eric Moreau, Ryan O’Connor, Matt Dodge, Alex Rudloff; TZ – Conor Reeves 4, Manny Cabrera 2, Sean Maguire 2, Devin Clarke, Kevin Dinnegan, Zak Young

Assists: PR -- Kyle Hartigan, Tom Argenti; TZ – Wenke 2, Manny Cabrera 2, Conor Reeves, Brendan Bell, Sean Maguire