All eight semifinals are set after Briarcliff knocked off North Salem 2-0 in the last quarterfinal. The Bears earned a rematch with Albertus Magnus, who they defeated a mere two games ago in the regular season finale. The winner moves on to the Class B final against either Nanuet or Rye Neck. Eric Lebowitz, who just started working at The Journal News a few weeks ago, will get his first taste of playoff soccer at Briarcliff. I’ll be at North Rockland, where two fantastic teams square off in North Rockland and Greeley. It’ll be the biggest collection of talent I’ve seen on one field since the Empire State Games. And that includes the Jets game I covered earlier this season.

It’s exciting to finally be covering multiple games after I flew solo for the first two rounds. We’re pretty short-staffed at the paper. There are two new guys, Eric and Dan Marra, who are still learning the ropes. A few more departures are on the way, including Chris Hunt, who you may know from track, and Dan Kiernan, who handles hockey and volleyball. Not to mention Mike Rose, the local sports editor who left a couple months ago and whose job was just filled last week. The nature of this business and the size of our staff lends itself toward a fair amount of turnover, but it all seems to be happening at once. Hence the small amount of coverage.

On to the semifinal predictions.

Class AA

John Jay-East Fishkill 2, Mamaroneck 1: As much as I hate picking against a local, first-ranked JJEF (16-1-1) deserves credit for its amazing season. If Hopewell Junction (where JJEF is located) was a town in Putnam County instead of southern Dutchess I’d have been singing the Patriots’ praises for months. Incidentally, there were only three Dutchess teams in the AA playoffs and No. 5 Mamaroneck (14-3-2) has drawn them all. At least it hosted the first round. This is the type of opponent where Stephanie Velez needs to become a superstar like she did against Greeley.

Class A

Hen Hud 0, Our Lady of Lourdes 0: I can’t think of a more appropriate foe for fourth-seeded Hen Hud (12-5-1) than No. 1 Lourdes (14-2-2). They spent the year dueling for the league, splitting their season series in the process. Hen Hud’s 1-0 win over Lourdes exploded it into the Class A spotlight. The Sailors will accomplish more than just publicity with a victory here. Both teams needed penalty kicks to advance to this point. I hope they remembered what they learned, because it could be necessary again.

Byram Hills 2, Pelham 1: I really liked how No. 2 Byram (15-2-2) looked in the win over Tappan Zee. Kirsten Scavone had a revamped defense looking superb, while the midfielders continue to push up at every opportunity. Even though they’ve had some scoring difficulties recently the No. 3 Pelicans (12-3-2) have yet to be shut out by anyone, so figure Christina Palmieri makes sure they get at least one goal. Question is, can they scare up a second? For what it’s worth, Byram beat Pelham 3-1 waaaaay back on opening day.

Class B

Nanuet 4, Rye Neck 1: Major props to banged-up Rye Neck (15-2-1) for edging out a hot Edgemont squad. It’s a familiar script. Rye Neck shocked Albertus Magnus in a quarterfinal last year, only to get smushed in the second half of a semifinal by Nanuet. The fifth-seeded Panthers can always be counted on to fight like hell, but ultimately their lack of depth catches up to them. No. 1 Nanuet (17-1), with all its pieces, is at the opposite end of the spectrum. Eventually the Golden Knights will wear you down.

Briarcliff 1, Albertus Magnus 0: Like I said at the beginning, this is a rematch of the season finale. Nanuet coach Mike Henderson, who I saw after that game, recalled a collision between Albertus goalie Caitlin Hoffer and Briarcliff forward Savina Reid. Hoffer knocked over the smaller Reid, which he suggested set the tone for Briarcliff’s lowest scoring output of the year. Without being outright violent, the Falcons must repeat such physicality if they want to contain the flashy Bear forwards.

Class C

Solomon Schechter 5, Tuckahoe 0: You don’t often see a team lose by four goals in the regular season then beat that opponent in the playoffs. Somehow No. 4 Tuckahoe did that to Blind Brook. But the new and improved Schechter is no Blind Brook. The top-seeded Lions (10-3-1) won two regular-season meetings easily and will use the second half of this one as a warm-up for sectional finals.

Haldane 1, Valhalla 0: These two should be familiar to one another—they were the last opponent either has seen. At the time I termed it a likely playoff preview. The schedule wasted no time in making that precient. On the field they’re not far apart, but third seed Valhalla (6-9) is in a major funk right now and that could be the difference. No. 2 Haldane (10-4-3) turned Valhalla’s Kate Giberson, a top-notch dribbler, into a distributor. Giberson can make life harder for the Blue Devils by aggressively attacking the net.