Practice begins Friday, Aug. 22
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- August
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It just seemed like yesterday that Rye was winning a state championship and then Hudson Valley added its fourth consecutive gold medal. Man, how time flies by.
The 2008 field hockey season will commence Friday, Aug. 22 as the Conference I and Conference II teams begin practice. Conference III will open Monday. Don’t ask me to explain why because I still can’t figure out this crazy system.
Anyway, here a few things, right off the stick:
Lakeland, the 2006 Class A state champ and last year’s state finalist, drops to Class B joining defending state champion Rye and sectional finalist Putnam Valley in what should be an outstanding year, capped by sectionals. Pleasantville, who gave retiring coach Rosemary Sotherden a sectional title, jumps from Class C to Class B. Meanwhile, Hastings drops to Class C.
New faces in new places: Former Brewster coach Emily Fitzgerald is the new Rye head coach, replacing Kevin Kelly who was let go following the 2007 state championship. Kelly is the new Manhattanville coach. … Former Manhattanville player and Pleasantville grad, Kristen Coffey returns to her alma mater, succeeding her former coach, Rosemary Sotherden. … Former Rye assistant and Lakeland alum Niki Berman travels down Route 1 to Rye Neck, replacing Mandy Mahncke. … With Fitzgerald at Rye, Brewster hired former John Jay-East Fishkill player Corin Racicot. Pror to learning of Racicot’s hiring, I asked former Brewster coach and player Genene Morehouse and Brewster softball coach Michelle Gosh if they were considering the job, but they both said ‘No.’ … At Bronxville, coach Courtnie Egan welcomed a son on Aug. 12. Egan is on maternity, but she will be volunteering her time to coach. She will be aided John Jay-East Fishkill grad Jacqueline Deppe, daughter of JJEF coach Barb Deppe, and Bronxville JV coach Andy Liebman known as “Lieby to the players. … Former Somers standout and Pearl River head coach Melissa Heyde is the new Fox Lane varsity coach, replacing Heather Miller.
Based on what I know about the returning players for each team, here is my pre-season top five.
Class A
1. Mamaroneck – In Ellen Williams (back), Cathleen Smith (forward) and Charlotte Gardiner (midfield), the Tigers have three of Section 1’s finest players.
2. John Jay-East Fishkill
3. Arlington
4. Suffern
5. Carmel
Class B
1. Putnam Valley – In center midfielder Ashley Morgan, Putnam Valley possesses Section 1’s finest all-around player and difference-maker.
2. Rye
3. Lakeland
4. Briarcliff
5. Pelham
Class C
1. Bronxville – Speed. Speed and more speed with Jessica Murrer, Caroline Harris, Brooke Gogel and Rachel Kim.
2. Pawling
3. Valhalla
4. Hastings
5. North Salem
Now that I have gone out on a limb, I intend to be incognito at games this year through the use of a wig or hat or dark sunglasses or all of the above.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 3:10 pm by Tony Pinciaro.
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Believe you’ve got to consider the coaching factor as well as returning players. Class B’s a touch off for that reason. 1. Lakeland, 2. Putnam Valley, & 3. Rye. We’ll see what happens!
Checking in from Garden City. Having watched Coach Sarsen’s excellence in coaching the Futures girls, I would agree with IFH. I know that Lakeland lost some top seniors, that Rye will still be excellent and has the same legacy of success and I wish good luck to their new coach, and that PV will also be excellent. But Lakeland has their coaching excellence intact. My daughter would tell you that Meghan Bozek and Nikki Schultz are top players and I am sure that several more will distinguish themselves at Lakeland as the season is played and the team has the benefit of coach Sarsen’s instruction. They also have the luxury of TWO top goaltenders in Amanda DiDomizio and Liz Gonzalez. I expect Lakeland to show steady improvement through the season and be a strong team come playoffs, hard to score on.
Besides seeing Lakeland drop to B, I was also sorry to see that they have reconfigured the State playoff system this year in that The section 1 winners will have to play the Section 8/Section 11 (Long Island Championship)winners in Regional games in order to get to the State semifinals. A tough road to States for both of our Sections in Class B.
IFH and Garden City fan –
I have been wrong before and I could very easily be wrong on this also. I know Sharon Sarsen is Section 1’s best coach. There are no if, ands or buts about it.
If I am wrong and Lakeland wins the Class B title, I will admit it on the blog. I don’t have a problem admitting when I am wrong.
The Poughkeepsie Journal did a nice capsule on all the Field Hockey teams. Any chance we can see that for the Westchester & Rockland schools in the Journal News soon?