Rye girls lacrosse dismantled John Jay 14-1 Friday night at Nugent Stadium, booking its spot in a third straight Section 1 Class C final.
“It’s pretty impossible to stop a multi-headed offensive monster,” coach Michelle Mason said of the top-seeded Garnets, “and our defense played just outstanding.”
Senior Mia Howson scored the first of her three goals in the game’s opening minute, on an assist from Annie Toulouse. Despite the fast start, Mason kept calling for the Garnets to speed up the pace and be “less tentative.”
“You could see those first couple possessions of this, that little like hesitancy holding the ball a little too long,” Mason said, “and then they got the rhythm.”
Rye (14-4) added another three goals in the first before John Jay (11-7) scored its lone goal of the game.
By halftime, the Garnets shook off any section semifinal nerves and posted an additional five goals for a 10-1 lead. Rye got two goals apiece from seniors Beau Whaling and Paige Tepedino, and junior attacker Mary Ebeling. Junior Blake Sasse added one.
Meanwhile, freshman goalie Dylan Ehrlich turned away nine of John Jay’s 10 shots.
“I was really happy about my performance,” Ehrlich said, “and I just felt like I really helped my team out, which is like such a rewarding feeling.”
With four minutes left in the game, senior Clare Nemsick scored Rye’s only goal in the fourth quarter, and with it, guaranteed its spot in the section final.
The last two seasons, Rye went 1-1 in section championships, with both games being decided by a single goal against Nyack. While this year’s title game will once again be hosted on Nyack’s home turf, the game won’t be against the RedHawks for a change, as the team moved up to Class B this season.
Instead, the No. 1 Garnets will take on No. 2 seed Pelham (15-2) under the lights at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Rye beat the Pelicans 15-7 for its first win of the season back in March.
“It’s always a good rivalry game, because they’re also in our league,” Mason said of Pelham. “We’re so excited to prep, and got a couple days to get ready, so it should be good.”
