THE JOURNAL NEWS- by Srikanth Reddy (05/31/02)
PUTNAM VALLEY It was anyone's game going into the fourth quarter. But after that, it was still Mahopac's title.
The Indians started and finished strong last night at Putnam Valley High School, beating Lakeland/Panas 7-3 to win the Section 1 Class A title.
Mahopac won the championship for the third year in a row and for the third time it beat the Rebels in the final. This year, however, the second-seeded Indians were underdogs to top-seeded Lakeland/Panas, having lost 10-5 in the regular season.
The Indians advanced to Tuesday's state regional final. They will face Section 2 champion Shenendehowa at 8 p.m. at Dietz Stadium in Kingston.
"We were just pumped up," said Brian Mancini who lead Mahopac with three goals. "We were kind of mad about losing the first game."
Mahopac led 4-3 going into the fourth quarter, then Mancini scored twice for the Indians, the first coming 29 seconds into the period and the second with 6:04 left in the game.
The clincher for Mahopac came 21 seconds later on a transition goal. Defenseman Shawn Tully zipped a pass to Steve Byrnes at midfield. Byrnes made a run into the attack area before finding Greg Pelatti in front, and Pelatti finished.
The first quarter belonged to Mahopac. The Indians got their first goal 1:13 into the game. Lakeland/Panas goalkeeper Larry Petriccione stopped the shot by Jason Dean, but the rebound was loose in front until Pelatti rolled the ball in.
That was indicative of the quarter. The Indians got to groundballs, and the Rebels didn't. Mahopac scored, and Lakeland/Panas didn't.
The Indians added goals by Kevin Rutledge and Mancini to take a 3-0 lead after one.
"We didn't want to be behind the eight ball early in the game," Mahopac coach Joe Corace said. "We wanted to come out strong in the first quarter. That was what really hurt us in the first game."
The Rebels answered in the second quarter. Kieran Carney scored all three of Lakeland/Panas' goals in the period. The last, 16 seconds before halftime, came when Carney circled out from behind the cage and got a shot off while fighting through a double team. The goal cut Mahopac's lead to one at the half 4-3.
But Lakeland/Panas couldn't get any closer. Balls that hit the turf seemed to wind up in Mahopac's sticks. The Rebels, meanwhile, often turned the ball over on offense with errant passes.
"We just didn't do a real good job," Lakeland/Panas coach Tim Weir said. "We didn't take care of the ball the way we were used to taking care of the ball. Without the ball in your sticks, you're not going to score goals."
Tully said: "The Rebels beat the Mahopac defense with speed when the teams met during the regular season."'
The game was delayed about 30 minutes late in the fourth quarter when Lakeland/Panas' Matt Dahl was hurt after being hit by a shot. An ambulance came onto the field to take Dahl away. Weir said it was just precautionary and he expected Dahl to be OK.
