YORKTOWN, N.Y.—When it comes to Section 1 Class B girls lacrosse, Yorktown vs. Horace Greeley has developed into one of the region's most enduring and intense rivalries.
They have met in the Class B championship game three years in a row: After Yorktown beat Greeley 15-12 in the 2023 final at Nyack, the Quakers got their revenge in 2024, topping the Huskers 10-8 at Lakeland.
That loss was on the Huskers’ minds for literally 12 months.
“The second that whistle blew last year, they ran on the field to celebrate, we felt that hurt, and we carried that into every day this season,” said Yorktown coach Heather Raniolo, who won a sectional title as a Husker player in her junior year in 2011, in addition to now two as a coach. “To step on this field and get it back, that was our motivation.”
Yorktown, ranked No. 7 in the state in Class B, sure did just that, overcoming an early 4-1 deficit to rally for a 14-6 victory in this year’s Class B championship game against Greeley, ranked No. 4, at Lakeland on June 4. The win gave the Huskers their 13th sectional title in their legendary history.
The Huskers will go back to Lakeland at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 7, to play Section 8 champion Garden City, who is ranked No. 7 in the Q-Collar Girls Public School National Rankings, in the Region 1 championship game.
After the win against Greeley, the Huskers went across the field to the stands under the lights to meet their fans. One could see the pure joy on the faces of the Husker players as they celebrated with their loved ones.
“Just to share this with the fans and my teammates is absolutely incredible,” said Yorktown senior captain Brie Gaccino (3G, 2A). “We lost last year so we obviously wanted to win so bad this year. To do it in front of an amazing group of people is just phenomenal.”
Greeley had entered the game as the No. 2 seed, with Yorktown seeded No. 5.
“A lot of the people on the team know what it’s like to win and know what it’s like to lose, and last year’s loss was absolutely detrimental to us,” Gaccino said. “Using last year’s loss as motivation really fueled us and we proved the entire section wrong.”
The Huskers just really wanted it, according to Yorktown senior captain Sofia Boucher (2G, 1A, 1 draw control).
“Coming in as the fifth seed and knowing what people had to say about us, it really fueled us,” Boucher said. “As a team entirely, we just worked as a group. It was really awesome for all of us to come out, show up, and really get it back. Last year when we lost the section, it really hurt for our seniors, it really hurt for us, and it means the world to be able to do this, especially my senior year. I wasn’t ready to be done yet. I just love this team and can’t wait to see where we go.”
Gaccino cut the Quakers’ lead to 4-2 with a goal with just two seconds remaining in the first quarter.
“I thought I have go to get a big goal going into the second quarter,” Gaccino said. “I saw six seconds left on the clock and I said, ‘I just have to go and get the goal’, and that’s exactly what I did.”
The game was tied at 6-6 with 6:34 to go in the third quarter, with Yorktown exploding by scoring the final eight goals of the game afterwards. The third of those goals, coming after a Husker time out, was scored by Annie Cunneen (1G, 1A, 2 draw controls), assisted by Ava Ryan (2G, 1A), with just 32 seconds left in the quarter, to put Yorktown up 9-6.
“It was big to pull ahead right there,” Raniolo said. “I wanted to get the girls composed, understand that we were up two and at that point we needed to really stay composed, keep control of the ball, work the clock a little bit, and wait for our big moment to finish.”
Yorktown closed out the game by outscoring the Quakers 5-0 in the fourth quarter, which included a goal from Boucher.
“My teammates passed me the ball, trusted me with the ball, and I was able to finish with it,” Boucher said. “Offensively, we really cleaned it up. We worked together as a team. We passed the ball, we cut, we looked for the right option. We used the clock and just took our time with it.”
Helping Yorktown (12-7) shut down Greeley defensively was Samantha Conboy (10 saves).
“That kid (Conboy) came to play,” Raniolo said. “She was a momentum changer. She gave her whole heart tonight. We are so proud of her.”
Sydney Sateriale (3G, 1A), Lily Diaz (2G, 5 draw controls), Ava Cunneen (captain, 5A, 3 draw controls), Claire Sullivan, Kendall Kardon (captain, 1 draw control), Caitlin Mulvihill (captain), Siobhan Mulvihill, Izzy Wilson, Ella Robustelli (1 draw control), Ella Simone, Khloe Clarkin, Mia Capellini (1G), Megan Durante, Juliet Horton, Gianna Boucher, Serena Zimmerman, Addie Schluter, Julia Fitzsimmons, Annie Durante, Courtney Hyndman (assistant coach), Sheridan Gorman (manager), and Alexa Kaplan (manager) also made up the Huskers’ sectional championship squad.
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