Two girls soccer players have recently been involved in charitable efforts involving soccer. Jamie Kimak organized a fundraising effort—Goals for Change—through Tappan Zee soccer. You may remember it from a soccer notebook I did during the season. She had her teammates and the JV players get monetary pledges from friends and family for every goal the teams scored. It ended up raising more than $2900 for People to People, which buys supplies for Rocklanders in need.

The other charity work is by Jessi-Ann Bettcher of Brewster, whose story I detailed in a Sunday feature (and linked to yesterday). She’s created an organization called Jessie’s Goal: Sudden Death, Not in Any Game, which pushes for heart tests for varsity athletes. It argues that a routine test that is not currently administered could save lives of athletes with heart defects. She joined with CARE, another heart health organization, on a free screening initiative at last Saturday’s Maggie Dixon Basketball Classic at Madison Square Garden. I didn’t mention it in my feature because it had already happened and wasn’t specifically relevant to Jessi-Ann’s recovery. But I know this has become a big cause of hers after her transplant and the Dec. 8 event will surely not be the last. Go to careforhearts.org read an interview with her about her ordeal and charity work.

Find it here

Find it here

Just got back from Miami where I was taking a short vacation. I can’t say enough about how warm it was down there. Every day was t-shirt weather. The beaches are soft and hedonism is rampant. But the Dolphins still stink.

While I was away, The Journal News issued its all-star (for Westchester/Putnam) and all-county (for Rockland) sections. In case anyone didn’t see them, you can link to them below. Congratulations to Will Ogden, who received not only all-star player of the year honors but was also named Westchester/Putnam athlete of the season, meaning he made the most impact of anyone in any sport.

Boys soccer all-star

Boys soccer all-county

Girls soccer all-star

Girls soccer all-county

To view the entire all-star and all-county sections, go to the Varsity Central website at lohud.com/vc and click the icons in the upper right corner.

I want to add one more link as well, which is my story on Brewster soccer player Jessi-Ann Bettcher. Bettcher came back from a heart transplant to play varsity this year. It’s an amazing story and was a real pleasure to write. Some of you may not have seen it because it ran on the front page, not the sports section. You can read it here.

Katonah’s favorite daughter scored in the 72nd minute of FSU’s semifinal against Notre Dame to push the Seminoles into their first championship, 3-2. She also assisted on their first goal, which came a record 15 seconds into the game. Read all about the victory here.

You can’t say enough about what Amanda DaCosta has done in her freshman year. And I thought she made a huge leap from junior to senior year of high school. Turns out that was chump change.

If you want to see her progress for yourself, turn on ESPN2 at 2 p.m. Sunday. The championship game against USC is airing live.

The girls all-state teams were announced and plenty of LoHudders made the grade. You can see them here.

A special congrats to Steph Reimer of Suffern, Amy Marron of Westlake, Amy Wagner of Briarcliff, and Cate Crenson of North Salem, who all made first team in their respective classes.

It’s been an insanely busy couple of weeks. You’d think the break between sport seasons would be down time at the paper, but it’s actually our busiest time of year. As soon as the fall season ends we start putting together our winter previews. There’s a massive one for basketball where we get player information from every single boys and girls basketball coach in the LoHud. There’s also smaller ones for hockey, swimming, wrestling, track, bowling, skiing, gymnastics. And, starting this year, cheerleading is a varsity sport. So that needs a preview too.

At the same time we have to pick our all-stars for fall sports. A lot of thought goes into these picks because we know how seriously some kids take them. We produce a massive all-star section for every fall sport that comes out Sunday, Dec. 9.

With the help of some observant coaches I chose the girls soccer all-stars, which are basically the top 11 players on either side of the river. Rockland gets its own top 11, and Westchester/Putnam gets its. There’s also an all-star second team and an honorable mention list. Some of the selections are obvious. Some are agonizing. There’s always one or two kids you wish you had extra spots for. I just hope the ones who make our short list realize how much we respect their game to put them on there.

Josh Thomson, another reporter, made the final decisions for the boys team. Because Rod handled boys soccer for most of the year, Josh was put in a tough spot when he was given this duty. But I know he leaned heavily on the coaches and got a lot of recommendations from Rod. I bet his choices reflect the section’s consensus very closely.

Checked up on Somers product Amanda DaCosta today and found out her Florida State Seminoles are in the NCAA tournament Round of 16. She’s still starting, all 23 games in fact, which is pretty stellar for a freshman. She’s second on the team with eight assists and third with 18 points. How special would it be if she starred on a national champion in her first year of college.

It got me thinking about colleges and where this year’s crop of high school seniors is going. If anyone knows a local kid, boy or girl, that’s playing at the next level please let us know. We keep a list of everyone who commits.

How cool would it be if Greeley and Briarcliff scrimmaged each other? I honestly have no idea who would win that. My first instinct is to say the AA team HAS to be better than the B team, but in this case Briarcliff is so good I can’t say.

Greeley was probably the most physically gifted team I saw all year. The Quakers had size all over the field and almost everybody was fast, even the taller girls. The girls up front were superior ball strikers and Courtney Miller used her head like a surgeon on corner kicks. They overwhelmed a lot of opponents with that talent.

Briarcliff was the most disciplined. Everybody knew their roles and executed flawlessly, never overextending themselves or breaking formation. It really was amazing how many opposing coaches praised them after losing to them.

I propose these two teams meet in a park somewhere and go at it for the Best in Westchester title. I’ll ref it for free.

One last note on Greeley’s postgame comments that have stirred so much chatter. I honestly don’t think anyone was spitting on Arcadia by saying Greeley was the better team. The Quakers were obviously very confident in themselves — if you want to say too confident you could make a case — and hadn’t even played badly. They thought they had had a shot to win the title. Fifteen minutes after the loss, which is when I interviewed them, they were still frustrated at not having executed very well around either net. No one said they got ripped off. They knew they lost fair and square. That’s soccer — sometimes you play pretty well and lose. They were mad at themselves for losing to a team they felt they could have beaten.

Greece Arcadia did what it had to do to win. Whether it was better or not is irrelevant. It won. The players and certainly Coach Tracy understand that. Hundreds of losing teams kick themselves every day thinking they should have won. It shouldn’t be any better or worse to say what’s already on your mind.

I don’t want to come off as a Greeley apologist here, because I have no connection to the coach and players other than the fact that they were always helpful to me, but I think their feelings are a result of frustration at themselves, not sour grapes.

Here’s Eric Lebowitz checking in with his take on Byram’s state championship.

“First off, I want to congratulate Byram Hills on a state championship. It’s a tremendous accomplishment.  

     Now, on the game…The combination of precipitation on Friday and Saturday, and the volume of play on the field made for a soccer game that looked a lot like slip n’ slide.

     The field conditions made Will Ogden’s goal even more impressive than it otherwise would have been. He dribbled probably 30 yards all told and beat two defenders in the process, quite a feat considering the field could have doubled as a mud wrestling pit in certain spots.

     I’m usually not one to criticize referees. I understand they have a hard job, especially when the game is as big as a state final. But the officiating in this game was poor, and I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t mention it here. I don’t think either team had an advantage because of the refereeing, but I got the sense that, because the calls were so inconsistent, the players were not sure which fouls would be called and which would be let go. 

     Like I wrote in yesterday’s blog, every player I spoke to on Byram Hills said after losing in the Class A final last year, anything less than the state title would be a disappointment. Neither Byram Hills or its raucous fans left Oneonta disappointed.”  

Ladies and gentlemen…Will Ogden!!

Byram’s superman struck again, scoring in the 18th minute to lead the Bobcats over Section 2’s Burnt Hills 1-0 in the battle of the Hills. Eric Lebowitz tells me it was also coach Matt Allen’s 100th win. State championship—not a bad place to get it.

Eric is driving back from Oneonta now but when he gets back he’ll have much more on this game. In the meantime, congrats to the Bobcats on joining Briarcliff’s girls soccer, Rye’s field hockey, and Hen Hud and Haldane volleyball as state champions.

Earlier in these playoffs—I think it was right after they won the section—I said Briarcliff has state champs written all over them. Well the ink on their faces is dry now and sure enough it says “state champs.”

The Bears, some of whom entered high school two-and-a-half months ago, are on top of the soccer mountain. It took overtime but they beat Marcellus 2-1 yesterday at Tompkins-Cortland Community College to cement their legacy as one of the best groups ever to win a Class B crown. That may sound like overdramatization, especially since I’ve never seen another Class B champion, but how many of those do you think went undefeated, outscored opponents by 93 goals along the way, and beat another undefeated team in the title game. Not many, I’m pretty sure about that. That makes Briarcliff one of the best.

For much of the first half it was Marcellus on the verge of inserting itself into history. The Mustangs, unbeaten and hardly scored upon—four goals allowed all year—took it to the Bears initially. Everyone, not just the defenders but everyone, was desperately trying to protect keeper Chelsea Bodansky. After a few misses it was only a matter of time before Marcellus scored, which it did late in the half.

But Briarcliff’s resilience was what won this game. Off the top of my head I can think of two prior occasions this year had Briarcliff trailed: a 5-4 win over Byram Hills and a 8-4 win over Westlake. Both times they posted gigantic second halves. I wasn’t sure how they’d react being down against a defense like Marcellus. Within minutes of the first goal they’d dusted themselves off and tied it. I think the Mustangs were taken aback by how quickly their impenetrable defense was exploited. After all, they hadn’t seen a goal get past keeper Lauren Fletcher in 12 games—a month and a half. Fletcher, a star volleyball player, was excellent yesterday as well. Just not perfect. As soon as that ball got by her Marcellus was thrown off its game. Briarcliff seized the chance and controlled the action from there on out. Jane Wallis was a big part of that. I thought she played her best game of states.

Liana Cornacchio scored the winner on a header in the first OT period. She was a force of nature all day. People were oohing and ahing in the press box. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had the following conversation recently:

Person: “That No. 31 is goood. She playing in college somewhere?”

Me: “She’s a freshman.”

Person: “Are you serious?”

Me: “Yeah, their whole front line are freshman.”

Person (turning toward someone else): “Hey, did you know those girls are all freshmen? Can you believe that? Boy, they’re going to be good.”

 Well I got news for you, Character I Just Made Up, they’re already damn good. Cornacchio in particular elevated her game in playoffs. She scored in five of seven games, including the winner in the state final and semifinal, and was named Most Outstanding Player. Numerous people really did marvel over her and Danielle Christiano and Savina Reid and even the sophs.

I hate to say it, because it means I’ll be in Siberia…er, Cortland…again, but Briarcliff is probably returning to a final four soon. Of course I said that about North Rockland two years ago when a bunch of sophomores went to the title game. That group graduated without making it out of the section again. So even as everyone else sings their praises, Briarcliff’s underclassmen have to both appreciate what they just accomplished and not take the future for granted.

Captain Amy Wagner heads seven departing seniors. Kira Pancotti, Ali Vitali, Molly Kadish, Chelsea Bodansky, birthday girl Megan Hewett, and Lindsay Stoffer are also leaving. Although I hear AD Chris Drosopolous is cooking their grades so they fail and have to come back next year.

 Eric Lebowitz was at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta for both boys semifinals. He’ll stay over tonight since Byram Hills won and watch their title game tomorrow.  Here’s what he had to say:

“I got up nice and early to go watch Byram Hills play Sayville for the right to play in the Class A final this morning.

Byram Hills fell behind 1-0 early, but they didn’t panic and scored the game-tying goal minutes later. Coach Matt Allen and senior captain Stephen Paresi both pointed to the fact that the Bobcats had trailed in numerous games throughout the playoffs and were therefore able to stay calm in today’s game.

     I was particularly impressed with Paresi’s play. Coming into the game I almost expected to see Section 1 MVP Will Ogden do something big, because, after all, he is the Section MVP.

     Odgen didn’t disappoint, as he scored the game-winner in the second half. But Paresi’s ability to control and distribute the ball, especially in the first hall, was remarkable. I was watching the game with a reporter from Newsday who remarked that Paresi’s first half was the best half he had seen any player have all season.

     Everyone I spoke to from Byram Hills talked about wanting to get back to the state final, and win it, after losing the game last year. Obviously setting the goal of winning a state championship before the season leaves a lot of room to be disappointed in anything less, but now the Bobcats are just one game away from the title.

     I’m still trying to figure out how Blind Brook lost its game. It’s not that the team played badly. In fact, the Trojans dominated most of the game.

     They held a 1-0 lead until midway through the second half, and they certainly could have had more than just that one goal. I don’t think Blind Brook ever expected to give up a goal, and when it happened they seemed a little shell-shocked. I should also mention a fantastic save senior goalie Harris Brett made in the first half, diving to his left to deflect a shot wide. That was probably Marathon’s best chance up until it scored the equalizer.

     When I called a newspaper in Ithaca to do some advance scouting on Marathon before heading up to Oneonta, a reporter told me the Section 4 champs had a midfielder named Eric Gofgosky who wasn’t necessarily a star player, but had a knack for scoring big goals.

     Lo and behold, Gofgosky scores a golden goal just 38 seconds into overtime, ending Blind Brook’s season.”

The Byram Hills boys advanced to the Class A final with a 2-1 win over Sayville. In the Class C semifinals, Blind Brook lost to Marathon 2-1 in overtime.

In the girls Class B final, Liana Cornacchio has scored her second goal of the game, with 3:42 left in ther first overtime, to give Briarcliff a 2-1 victory over Marcellus. Briarcliff trailed 1-0 at halftime, but Cornacchio scored early in the second half to tie it.

If you haven’t heard already, Greeley lost 3-1 and Briarcliff won 1-0, meaning the Bears stick around for tomorrow’s 12:15 p.m. Class B championship. Needless to say for a team that’s only played in the fall a couple of years, this is the farthest Briarcliff girls soccer has ever gone. Last year they lost in the opening round of states.

For those planning to make the trip to Cortland tonight or tomorrow, note that Saturday’s game will NOT be at SUNY Cortland as originally scheduled. It’s now at Tompkins-Cortland CC, or TC3 as everybody around here calls it. SUNY is hosting a football game, even though Richie Leaf, the head of Section 1 officials who was here to watch the game, told me SUNY Cortland football lost something like 40-0 last week. I just pray the CC has a press box like SUNY. I went to field level for 15 minutes today for post-game interviews and felt like I was climbing Everest. Minus the glory. As my old friend Jamaican Joe said every 30 seconds, “It is sooo cold.” Except he used to say it at 45 degrees. Today was legitimately below freezing, with awful winds blowing snow in everyone’s faces. What a great day to play soccer!

Both games were closely contested. Greeley couldn’t take advantage of a few chances while its opponent did. I was surprised how universally the Quakers felt like they were the better team, and how Greece Arcadia was not the best team they’ve seen. I agree they were better, though not by a lot. Coach Erin Tracy said they were too relaxed. A couple others thought they might have been overconfident. One of the Arcadia players who had seen Greeley at a Thursday banquet said they looked too sure of themselves. Hard to blame them. Greeley was a great team. I’ll have a retrospective on them in a day or two once things settle.

As for Briarcliff, the Bears finally played a close game. Livonia, the defending Class B state champ, had opportunities to take a first-half lead. The Bears started amping up the pressure after halftime. Even though the only goal of the game was an own-goal, it happened because they kept the ball near Livonia’s net for a long sequence until a Bulldog defender made a mistake. As I emphasize in my story, it was much more the kind of win I saw from the 2006 Bears, not the 2007 Bears. Good for them adapting to the opponent and the horrendous weather. At this stage, mental toughness is a big part of the game.

As they were winning the other B semifinal was going into OT. It came down to penalty kicks, where Marcellus of Section 3 prevailed 3-0. Marcellus won state titles in 2004 and 2005. From the little I saw of them, Briarcliff should be considered the favorite.

Greece Arcadia leads Horace Greeley 1-0 at halftime. A girl bent a corner kick into the net, which I don’t think I’ve seen this year.

Be back later.

These were updated after last weekend’s semifinals, so the four teams left in each class are the top four in every ranking. Both boys teams are ranked second, as you can see here.

Both girls teams are ranked third, as you can see here.

Every boys game is at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta. It’s a giant complex with four fields so there’s no overlap, meaning everything should start on time. Eric Lebowitz, who handled some of the earlier state games, will cover every boys game from here on out. There’s no press box, so he’ll call me with updates and I’ll post them to the blog.

All games at National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta
Saturday, Nov. 17

Class A
Byram Hills vs. Sayville (Section 11), 9 a.m.

Class C
Blind Brook vs. Marathon (Section 4), 11:15 a.m

Sunday, Nov. 18

Class A championship, 11 a.m.
Class C championship, 12:20 a.m.

This is the complete schedule for the weekend up at Cortland. As you can see, both Section 1 semifinalists play at SUNY Cortland on Friday. If they win, Greeley will return to SUNY the following morning. Briarcliff, however, would play at Tompkins-Cortland CC because SUNY is hosting a football game.

The weather is supposed to be crummy, with rain and snow. Briarcliff’s athletic secretary told me there are no contingency plans as of now if the conditions are too bad to play in.

I should have internet access at SUNY Cortland, so I’ll be updating scores periodically on the blog.

Friday, Nov. 16

Class AA

Class A

Class B

Class C

Class D

Saturday, Nov. 17

Class AA

Class A

Class B

Class C

Class D

Malcolm Brown asked me to remind everyone about Monday’s girls senior showcase. Any seniors who haven’t made a college decision yet and want to play soccer at the next level are encouraged to sign up. There will be a bunch of college coaches in the stands watching this game. You can sign up at ehysl.com or email Brown at malcolm@klassicsoccer.com. The game is at Yortown High starting at 5 p.m.