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Haldane Falls to Ossining in Season Opener on LAX Green
Put Valley drops two of three, tops Ossining in opener
by Ray Gallagher
 | | Haldane's Adam Rohan throwing a check on an Ossining player in Monday's loss at Ossining. |
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If Stephen Byrnes had his way, Haldane High lacrosse players would be playing lacrosse 365 days a year. The Haldane coach, who starred as an All-American defenseman at Mahopac in 2002, has a contagious passion for the game; one which he hopes rubs off on his players.
"We have some seniors on this team, who if I had another year with, they could be seriously good lacrosse players… guys like Geoff and Adam Rohan," said Byrnes, who saw the Blue Devils go 12-3 last season in Section 1's B League. "Unfortunately, they graduate this year, but I'm hoping they can set an example for guys like Ian Kingsley and some of the other juniors who will have to lead us in the future."
But Byrnes and the rest of the lacrosse coaches know that the future is now, and the 2007 boy's lacrosse season opened up the past two weeks for all, including PCN&R locals, the Haldane Blue Devils and the 2006 Class C runner-up Putnam Valley Tigers (1-2).
The Blue Devils took one on the chin in the season opener against host Ossining, falling 12-2 on a day when senior Brett Miranda would steal the show. The Ossining captain scored six goals and set up two more, as 'The O' (1-1) raced out to a 9-0 halftime lead and increased to 12-0 before Kingsley scored twice for the Blue Devils in the fourth. Adam Rohan added an assist.
 | | Geoff Rohan making a move toward the cage |
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"Miranda was a little too tough, too strong for us today," Byrnes admitted. "He's a very good player. They've had a couple of games under their belts, which was to their benefit. For us, it was our season opener and we need some time to get used to the speed of the game at this level. Ossining's been around for a long time, and they've got some kids who play the game pretty well. We did some things today that impressed me, and I'm just looking for us to get better and better every time out. Ian and Geoff can both run like a deer, and once the rest of us adjust to the speed of the game, we'll be alright. "We have great senior leadership and a team that wants to get better everyday. It's a smart team that likes to work hard, which is all I can ask."
Putnam Valley did much better against Ossining in its season opener, starting off on the right foot with a 14-9 victory courtesy of an eight-point effort from senior attackman Peter Morgan. But the past two games saw the Tigers step up the level of competition with less fruitful results. Coach Brian Kuczma's Tigers were nipped, 10-9, by a vastly improved Class B Hendrick Hudson outfit before falling to Class A Horace Greeley by an 8-5 count last Thursday.
Tiger middie Hugh O'Gorman bagged the first hat trick of his career against the Quakers, who had a three-goal scorer in Cole Cherney, a goal and two assists from Ben Cohen and a pair of tallies from Jordan Fried.
Tigers Ryan Morelock, slick freshman Ryan Fitzgerald and Dillon Chesnut provided solo goals for the Tigers, who trailed 3-2 at the half. The Quakers came out hot in the third quarter, scoring three goals and taking a 6-3 lead into the final quarter.
The Tigers fell behind 8-3 against Hen Hud and its All-American middie Robbie Bosco, who scored just once but gobbled up a game-high seven groundballs. But relative unknowns like Andrew Nieminski (3A) and Colin Parkhurst (1G, 3A) distributed the ball well to the likes of Jake Green (3G) and Nick Sarcone (3G), who paced the Sailor attack with a combined six goals. The Tigers were beaten in the face-off box by senior middie Chase Bernard, who gave Hen Hud possession after possession off the draw. Senior middie Tom Kelly and O'Gorman each scored three goals for the Tigers, who made a fourth-quarter run with three unanswered goals. Peter Morgan added a goal and an assist while Chesnut, a good-looking sophomore, added a goal and an assist.
For more photos of Section 1 sports photos, including galleries from Haldane and Putnam Valley athletic programs, check out www.yourdirectrays.com
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