Ex-Teams, Ossining, Yorktown, Peekskill, Byram, P’Ville Fall in Semis
The Section 1 boys’ soccer semifinals took a toll on a slew of Examiner-area clubs, as only Fox Lane survived and advanced its match to Saturday’s Class AA finals on the campus of Lakeland High where the upstart, sixth–seeded Foxes left it all on the field in a 1-0 championship setback, leaving the Ex-region fully skunked in terms of sectional champions but filled with pride after their efforts as Class AAA Ossining, Class AA Yorktown and Peekskill, Class A Byram Hills and Pleasantville were all ousted in Thursday’s semifinals.
“Unbelievable year for the Foxes,” Coach Mike Tomassi said. “When I got this job four years ago, I knew we had the potential to be a great program. At the time, I was the only person to apply for the job, but I believed in us from day one! We’ve made great strides and will continue to do so. We now have the program set up with the right staff and mentality to achieve greatness. We’ll be here for a while and will only use this postseason run and season as motivation to improve”.
Top-seeded Class AAA, Scarsdale, ranked No.8 in NYS, survived a 3-2 scare from third-seeded Arlington (No.11 in NYS) to three-peat as champs; while top-seeded and state-ranked (No.6) Class AA Tappan Zee moved on; as did 2023 Class A runner-up Rye (unranked in NYS); and Rye Neck staged an epic 3-2 title win over sixth-ranked, then-defending Class B champ Keio; and repeat champ Class C North Salem (No.12 in NYS) were all crowned during a highly eventful day.
Tip of the cap to Lakeland High for yet another day of gracious hosting.
CLASS AA
It was sixth-seeded FOX LANE (12-4-3), unranked in NYS, that essentially came out of nowhere to get on the kind of run that creates foundations for years to come. Fox Lane ended the season for No.3 host HORACE GREELEY (10-3-5) in a 2-1 game that lived up to the advanced preamble as the neighboring rivals got after one another pretty good. At 23:48 of the first half, Fox Lane struck first, streaming down the near sideline before Kenneth Mejia Lopez banged one home…