Warwick rally dumps VC in lacrosse final

By Mike Zummo
Posted 5/31/23

The Valley Central boys’ lacrosse team came into Saturday’s Section 9 Class B final with all the energy, and it even translated into a three-goal halftime lead.

However, the …

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Warwick rally dumps VC in lacrosse final

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The Valley Central boys’ lacrosse team came into Saturday’s Section 9 Class B final with all the energy, and it even translated into a three-goal halftime lead.

However, the top-seeded Warwick Wildcats stole that energy back in the second half and outscored the Vikings by seven goals, handing them an 11-7 at Faller Field in Middletown.

“They’ve got some kids that can run,” Valley Central coach Tom Stoddard said. “That’s why we knew we had to play zone, and we kind of stifled them a little bit, which is what we were expecting. Landon (Santangelo) made some great saves in net and Our [defense] picked off some passes. There were just some things that happened during the game that we have no control over.”

The Vikings led 6-3 at halftime, but by the time the Wildcats had tied the game at 7-7 in the third quarter, the energy the Vikings brought to Faller Field at the start had all but disappeared.

“We’ve only got a handful of middies that can run up and down the field with them,” Stoddard said. “So, we wanted to make sure we were going into the fourth quarter refreshed. I thought we did a good job of slowing down, but it was a couple of big possessions.”

Ryan Sullivan led the charge for Warwick in the second half with three goals and one assist. Joey Finn and Conor Rian each had two goals and one assist. Dylan Sullivan had a goal and an assist.

Connor Stafford led the Vikings with three goals, and Danny Latimer had two. Dylan Butcher had a goal and two assists, while Brody Jurman added a goal.

May had been a tumultuous month for the Vikings that started with the untimely death of Tyler Adkins, the lowest point of their season.

They followed that with wins over Pine Bush and Cornwall to roll into the Section 9 Class B tournament.

They opened the tournament with an 11-10 overtime win over second-seeded Minisink Valley. Stafford scored four goals, with Kai Hew and Dylan Butcher adding two each.

“We have great senior leaders,” Stoddard said. “We have nine seniors on this team, and they led the way ever since that whole situation happened. They’ve been the ones making decisions. I’ve been letting them lead the way and they’ve shown they’ve grown up a ton.”

Those nine seniors have seen the program grow into a sectional contender. They last played for the championship two years ago during the 2021 COVID season, against the Wildcats. This year’s team was made up primarily of freshmen and sophomores that are ready to take the next step.

“The first time we faced Warwick in a sectional final, it was during the COVID year, and we showed up and we were not mentally prepared for it,” Stoddard said. “We were not expecting what was going to happen and it showed up on the scoreboard. Today, they were more experienced. They’re seniors now and they’re more experienced in that situation. They showed it today.”