Written by S. Quinn DeJoy and J. Murrer

Jun. 11, 2014:  The Bronxville boys' lacrosse team has been thinking about getting back to the state championship game for the past year, and when they found out last Wednesday that they would have a rematch against Cazenovia, they were more determined than ever to win. The Cazenovia Lakers defeated Bronxville 13-11 in the state final in 2013, and now it was the Broncos' chance to even the score.

In Saturday's championship game at Hofstra University, the Broncos and Lakers fought a tough battle, going back and forth in scoring for most of the game, but in the end Bronxville defeated defending champion Cazenovia 13-10.

In the first half of this highly competitive game, every time one team pulled ahead, the other team would respond with a goal of its own. Toward the end of the first half, Cazenovia took a 5-4 lead, but not to be outdone, Bronxville's Will Duncan evened the score with just 19 seconds left in the half.

"Henry [Grass] was working behind the cage trying to get the guy off of him, and he just threw one over to me and I put it in," said Duncan. "It was a confidence booster for me and the team. It was so much better going into halftime tied than down."

The battle continued in the third quarter, and while Bronxville scored first on an Aidan Walsh goal, the Lakers scored two in a row to take a 7-6 lead. The game was tied up once again when Bronxville's Liam Lynch won the face-off, headed straight to the goal, and fired to the back of the net. The Lakers answered back with two more goals, and although Bronxville scored one more time, the Broncos were down 9-8 at the end of the third.

When Cazenovia pulled ahead 10-8 in the fourth quarter, it looked as if it could be a repeat of last year's game when the Lakers won by outscoring the Broncos 4-1 in the fourth quarter.

"I think we just tried to stay calm," said junior Charlie Tarry. "We knew if we played our game, we were a better team than they were. At that point, we needed everyone to relax, calm down, and play a little bit smarter."

Not to be deterred, the Broncos forged ahead. In less than two minutes, the Bronxville team came up with three goals; Matt Behrens and Henry Grass each scored to tie the game, then Behrens scored another, his third of the game, which turned out to be the game-winning goal. Two more goals in the fourth quarter by Michael Crawford and Duncan sealed the win for Bronxville, giving the team its first-ever Class C New York State Championship.

The Broncos were able to capture the win by stepping up their game in the fourth quarter. "We started winning more face-offs, and we weren't turning the ball over," said Grass. "We wanted it and were taking time with our shots, taking the best shot, not the first shot."

In this championship game, the Broncos overpowered the Lakers in ground balls, 51-31, with Owen Jones leading the team with eight, followed by James McDermott with seven and Behrens with five. Overall, Bronxville won the face-off 63% of the time, with Jones winning 14 of 16 attempts.  

Charlie Tarry was named most valuable defensive player in this state championship game, and Grass, who had two goals and five assists, was named most valuable offensive player.

The Broncos (18-6) were well prepared for the playoffs after a very competitive regular season. "We had a tough schedule this year," said Grass, "but it prepared us well. We lost five games, all to teams that are top 25 in the nation."

In recent years, the Bronxville lacrosse team has won league, sectional, and regional championships, and now, this year, the team reached its goal. Congratulations to the New York State Class C Champs.

Senior Captains

Matt Behrens, Will Duncan, Declan Borcich, Henry Lilly

Seniors

Will Hutchinson, Matt James, James McDermott, Tim Donohue, Stephen Walsh, Owen Jones, Aidan Walsh

Juniors

Michael Crawford, Matt McCloskey, Brendan Walsh, Liam Lynch, Brendan Carty, Charlie Tarry, Robbie Westerfield, Henry Grass, Ted Meyers, Preston Klimley, Ted Forst

Sophomores

Tucker Duncan, R.J. Ambrose, Cameron Adamiyatt, Ralph Chrappa, Sam Connors, Jack Gelinas, Andrew Harwood

Freshmen

James Swartz, Brendan Forst, Ara Atayan

Go Broncos.

Pictured here: The Bronxville boys' lacrosse team after winning the New York State Championship.

Photo by Steve Crawford