Daily Sports Digest: Eastchester Boys Lacrosse Preview

The Top Spot:

The Eagle lacrosse team finished last year with a 5-11 record, but Coach Larry Petriccione is hoping his team’s experience will give them an age this season.

Recently Patch caught up with Coach Petriccione and talked about the upcoming season.

As far as age and, more importantly experience goes, what type of team do you expect to have this season?

“We have a senior-laden team and we expect to be very strong.”

What were some of the weaknesses your team had last year that you hope to improve upon this season?

“We need to improve on picking up ground balls”

Who are some of your returning players coming back who you see being big contributors?

“Tom Cirillo, A, Rob Carinci, M, Joe Arcidiacono, G, Pat Guido, D, and Nico Martino D”

Who are some of your new players you are expecting to thrust into a larger role on the team?

“Jack Longlade, D”

How has the team been preparing in the off-season?

“We played in a winter league and players worked out on their own.”

What are your goals for the season as a team?

“To play extremely hard at all times.”

Are there one or two games circled on the schedule this season?

“Our entire league schedule is circled at this time, our league is excellent.”

What are you personally looking forward to this season?

“I am personally looking forward to seeing our seniors enjoy their final season and for them to have the best experience possible.”

College Sports Notebook:

The Rutgers University women’s lacrosse team, coming off a 15-7 victory over Hofstra, is home on Saturday to meet intrastate foe Monmouth.

Game time is 1 p.m. at the RU Turf Field in Piscataway, NJ, and is the front end of a doubleheader, with the men’s team taking on St. John’s at 3 p.m.

The Scarlet Knights dismantled Hofstra in Hempstead behind a career-best four goals from senior midfielder Ali Steinberg of Suffern, marking the ninth hat trick of her career.

Lauren Sbrilli of Martinsville, NJ, and junior attack Annie McGinley of Moorestown, NJ, each added three goals for the Scarlet Knights.

The Scarlet Knights roared to a 3-0 lead in the first 3:23 of the game before Hofstra scored, then Steinberg notched back-to-back goals on a deflection, and an assist by Danielle Mascera of Vernon, NJ.

Steinberg—who was selected the Big East weekly honor roll--scored just after the break on a free position shot before Hofstra went on a 2-0 spurt to pull within three, 7-4. RU answered with five unanswered goals to take control of the contest.

Steinberg--a unanimous preseason all-Big East selection—has won the weekly accolade four times in her career, and twice this season.

Steinberg totaled eight draw controls, four goals, four ground balls and four caused turnovers in a 1-1 week for the Scarlet Knights.

On the season, Steinberg paces RU with 15 points on 11 goals and four assists. She also ranks second on the squad with 12 draw controls and five caused turnovers.

Mortarboard musings

• The Manhattan men’s lacrosse team took an 8-2 lead into halftime and held off a late rally to defeat the Mercer University 8-6 in Macon, GA, to snap a two game losing skid. The victory was the first road win of the season for the Jaspers (2-4) and kept the Bears (0-8) searching for their first win of the year. The Jaspers return home on Saturday to host Binghamton at 1 p.m. at Gaelic Park in Riverdale. Junior attack Paul Moreau of Pearl River took seven shots for the Jaspers, with three on goal, but was held scoreless.
• Sean Kilpatrick of White Plains, top scorer on the Bearcats with nearly 15 points per game, leads the University of Cincinnati basketball team against Texas on Friday night in a second-round game of the NCAA Championship at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN. The Bearcats (24-10) are the No. 6 seed while the Big 12 Conference Longhorns (20-13) are the No. 11 seed. Florida State, No. 3, and No. 14 St. Bonaventure are the other two East Region teams in Nashville. The game can be seen today at 12:15 p.m. on CBS.
• The Purchase College baseball team, coming off a sweep of John Jay College that evened its record at 6-6, visits local rival Manhattanville today at 3:30 p.m., and then plays doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday against SUNY Cortland and St. Joseph’s Brooklyn, respectively, at Silver Lake Park in West Harrison. Both games are set to start at noon. Third baseman Kevin McQuade of Mamaroneck drove in two runs in a 9-4 first-game win over John Jay. The Panthers completed the sweep in 5-1 style.

Weekly Sports Poll:

It’s March, so this week’s poll question deals with the topic that will be on everyone’s mind for the next month: The NCAA Tournament.

Kentucky and Syracuse come into the field of 68 as the top two seeds but as we all know, anything can happen in March.

Let us know what number one seed you think has the best chance to win it all this season in our , and if you don’t think any of them will win let us know in the comments section.

The Daily Sports Digest is Patch’s way of increasing reader involvement in sports coverage. We would like to provide you with for you to add your best photos and/or videos to share. If you see anything in our high school scores, standings or schedule that requires updating, please e-mail Mark Rinaldi directly at HVDailySportsDigest@gmail.com or like us on Facebook and post updates on our wall. Marc Maturo covers college athletics across the nation. Please send updates of your local schools or players to marcmaturo@aol.com.