Suffern’s Justin Tiso (26) is checked at the blue line by Mamaroneck’s Ted Bellis (4) in the first period as the Suffern Mounties and Mamaroneck Tigers face off at Sport O Rama in Monsey on Feb. 1, 2013. ( John Meore/The Journal News )
Section 1 Division 1 Tournament
First round
Sunday
No. 1 Suffern (16-3) bye
No. 8 Clarkstown (10-9) vs. No. 9 Kennedy/Putnam Valley/Haldane (11-8-1), 4:15 p.m. at Palisades
No. 4 White Plains (13-6-1) vs. No. 13 Eastchester/Tuckahoe/Bronxville (8-12), 6 p.m. at BIA
No. 5 New Rochelle (12-6-2) vs. No. 12 Carmel (5-10-3), 1:30 p.m. at Ice Hutch
No. 2 Somers/North Salem (15-3-2) bye
No. 7 Lakeland/Panas (12-7-1) vs. No. 10 Nyack/Tappan Zee (11-7-1), 4 p.m. at BIA
No. 3 Mamaroneck (13-7) vs. No. 14 North Rockland (6-13-1), 8:15 p.m. at Hommocks
No. 6 RyeTown/Harrison (10-7-2) vs. No. 11 Mahopac (9-11), 7 p.m. at Ice Hutch
Quarterfinals
Tuesday at higher seed
No. 1 Suffern vs. No. 8 Clarkstown or No. 9 Kennedy/Putnam Valley/Haldane, 7:30 p.m. at Sport-O-Rama
No. 4 White Plains or No. 13 ETB vs. No. 5 New Rochelle or No. 12 Carmel
No. 2 Somers/North Salem vs. No. 7 Lakeland/Panas or No. 10 Nyack/Tappan Zee, 6:45 p.m. at BIA
No. 3 Mamaroneck or No. 14 North Rockland vs. No. 6 RTH or No. 11 Mahopac
Semifinals
Thursday at higher seed
Championship
Feb. 24, 4:30 p.m. at Brewster Ice Arena
Favorite: Suffern has won three straight Division 1 titles, but the defending state champions have struggled at times during the season due to injuries and inexperience. And there will be some pressure. The Mounties haven’t lost a Section 1 playoff game since 2009. Suffern is healthy for the first time in a month and remains a defensive power with Anthony Carudo and Tom Mahoney in front of goalie Nick Modica. There is no extablished go-to scorer at the other end, but Kevin Hill and Justin Tiso are fast and highly-skilled.
Challengers: Mamaroneck split a pair of games with Suffern during the regular season, with each team winning at home by a single goal. The Tigers match up very well. Trey Herlitz-Ferguson, Teddy Bellis, Peter Conley and Robert Morris each present different challenge up front. White Plains also knocked off the Mounties this season. The Tigers have perhaps the best goalie in the section, Chris Stangarone, and play a disciplined style that usually keeps opponents within range. Kevin McGee also ranks among the best finishers in the area. Somers/North Salem isn’t a deep team, but the Sabers are 11-0-1 since Dec. 14 and have enough talent with David Rubenstein and Mitch Lanyi up front and Matt Rubenstein in goal to play with good teams.
Best first-round game: It’s been a long season for No. 11 Mahopac, which came in with great expectations and fell apart. A measure of redemption could be gained by knocking off No. 6 RyeTown/Harrison, a young team that took down Greeley and Rye late in the season.
Upset specials: Mamaroneck is the lower seed, but is expected to beat Somers/North Salem if they meet in the semifinals. The Tigers need to be very careful. Rubenstein is good enough in goal to steal a big game. White Plains is going to have plenty to be worried about if they get New Rochelle in the semifinals. The Huguenots do give up some goals, and they are thin, but they can score in bunches.
X-factor: Leadership. Mamaroneck has more seniors playing big roles than any team in Division 1, and that could outweigh the postseason experience of Suffern.
Players to watch: Justin Tiso (Suffern) So. F; Kevin Hill (Suffern) Jr. F; Nick Modica (Suffern) Jr. G; David Rubenstein (Somers/North Salem) Sr. F; Trey Herlitz-Ferguson (Mamaroneck) Sr. F; Teddy Bellis (Mamaroneck) Sr. F; Brian Schiff (Mamaroneck) Jr. D; Kevin McGee (White Plains) Sr. F; Chris Stangarone (White Plains) So. G, Chris Ramondelli (New Rochelle) Sr. F; Brian Ketchabaw (RTH) So. G; Conner Bubolo (Lakeland/Panas) Sr. F; Mike Gillespie (Clarkstown) Jr. F; Tommy Krincic (Mahopac) Jr. D.; Stephen Varmon (Nyack/Tappan Zee) Sr. G.
The frozen four: Suffern, White Plains, Mamaroneck, Somers/North Salem.
Championship matchup: Suffern and Mamaroneck.
37 Comments
I’m really hoping for a suff mamo final.. going to be a great game!
I have a bad feeling that Suffern and Mamaroneck will not meet in the finals.
Suffern is not a lock to get past the Dubset NewRo winner (if both advance)
And Mamaroneck could get picked off by a hot goalie.
Dougherty, you gonna change the poll question this decade?
And when I hit “refresh” on the lohud website, it only takes like 5 minutes to update…
What are you guys running over there, Windows 86?
That would be Mamks state title. If they best Suff in title game there season is complete. On the other hand it would be a blow to Suff in they aren’t in Utica. Most probable first round foe will be Saratoga for whomever comes out of Sec 1. Suffern went upstate and beat them while Mamk lost 6-0. Mamk seems to get pumped for these games while Suff tries to play it as another game. I think Suff has to be prepared to match and exceed intensity. Talent alone wont carry them in c’ship games.
Mamaroneck’s most pressing question: will Chapanese show up to rally the Tigers for the playoffs?
@Burke
You are 100% right. At the beginning of every year Suffern sets it’s sights on winning a State Championship while other teams set their sights on merely beating Suffern.
C’mon Rocket where’s your optimism!! These two teams will go through their opponents like Grant through Richmond!!! (I think that’s geographically correct..)
Anywho – Let’s root for a funand controvery free playoff and may the best team win… and postman lose….
I don’t think Turning Chapanese will show up unless Mamaroneck makes the championship game. OR, if they get knocked out by another team.
I disagree that Suffern sees mamaroneck as just another game. Suffern knows that Mamaroneck plays their best hockey verse them. They stop being selfish, their D stops taking as many chances, and their goalies know they can’t let up more than one bad goal if they want any chance to win.
From an entertainment standpoint alone… I would love to see Mamk v. Suffern & Pelham v. Rye. But I would not mind seeing the newbie John Jay v. Rye.
The reason why most teams look to beat suffern is… because in order to get to the state playoffs, you will most likely have to get through suffern. So the mentality is to beat suffern… then worry about the state. Suffern did not have to worry about section 1 the last few years… they knew they were superior. THIS YEAR… very different story. WP and MAMK both showed they can beat Suffern… THIS YEAR SUFFERN HAS TO WORRY ABOUT SECTION 1. I truly doubt they are worried about Utica right now. Their coaches are not stupid. It just takes one bad mistake and Suffern is done. In the last 3 years Suffern was so good, they could make 3 or 4 mistakes and still win section 1. Not this year.
A few months ago this board had Suffern dead in the water. To young, slow, small…lost to much talent etc… My how things have changed. Mamo/Suffern rubber match would be great but both teams have plenty of business to take care of.
Section 2 is a toss up between three teams…Shaker/Colonie, Shenendehowa and Saratoga. All very evenly matched. I like Shaker.
Gonna be fun… good luck all!
rjmkrm , I think other people are taking Rocket Fuels body parts and using them as Names. LOL. I don’t think Rocket Fuel is using multiple names and having each part of his body pontificate.
Please suffern 85’. Give it up. Everyone knew suffern is good this year. They also know they’re very beatable.
If different parts of rocket fuels body is making predictions…. I’d like to hear from his sphincter.
Please? Selective memory runs rampant here. Go read the boards from late November/December.
Dump – probably right. But it would still be fun to watch postman lose…
Suffern85 – for real? Suffern is ALWAYS “in the conversation” (I am chanelling my inner Dougherty here). On goaltending and D alone they were a near unanimous pre-season choice to win the section. The main sentiment was that they were not going to be as dominant as they have in past years, and for the most part, they haven’t. But what team would be when they graduate their entire powerplay.?
Where they have really excelled this year is vs. the upstate teams. Mamo – not so much. If the Mounities win the section they have as good a shot as anybody to win the State again. Especially if this relatively young team is able to fight off the big game nerves and perform as they have all season.
I think Suffern 85’ is trying to take some of the pressure off the young mounties. They were preseason favorites and now look, John has them as post season favorites. Sure maybe some dopes said they are no good etc etc. but on a blog you’ll get every extreme comment if you look at EVERY post.
Suffern vs. WP – Suffern is better in every area except goaltending. I know suffern loves their goalie but Stangarone is better.
Suffern vs. Mamaroneck. Mamaroneck has deeper stronger bigger forwards, I give Mamk the edge there. Defensemen – Mamaroneck has one very strong dman in Schiff… then there is a dropoff to their 2nd best dman… and then there is a huge drop off with their 3 to 6th dman. Edge Suffern
Goaltending- This is closer than most would think. Brill has been stellar at times and mediocre/weak other times. Modica is steadier and more consistent, and with all the games he plays with the hitmen…. he has a lot of great experience playing against top notch players. Edge goes to Modica (But Brill on a good day can outplay him, he came up big as goalie of the section 1 champion Mamaroneck lacrosse team, so he is surely capable of playing his best in the biggest of situations).
So yeah, Suffern will not cake walk to a title win. The best thing that could happen to them is Mamk choking again in the playoffs (they’ve been bad ever since 2009) and not getting to BIA championship.
@rjmkrm Fair enough. I think Section 1 this year has a legitimate shot to win both state titles. Suffern/Mamo and Pelham/Rye/JJ are all quality teams. No guarantee that any of these teams get out of section 1…but if they do… this year…more than any other, section 1 is as strong as any section in the state.
We can agree that the playoffs this year will be highly entertaining!
@rjkdumshit . or whatever your name is.. you won’t see me lose anything.. Im not playing.
Now my prostate is blogging?
postman, I don’t think he meant you would lose your game…. but if suffern loses you will lose your sh.. BTW, I think you accidentally misspelled rjmkrm’s name.
I don’t see how anyone would argue that Suffern will have a tougher time in years defending their title this year. The proof is in the 2 regular season section 1 losses and the 1 goal victory over Mamk.
I like Mamaronecks seeding. They should not have a major problem getting to the section 1 championship…. unless they blow it. This is the first year in a while that Mamaroneck is expected to make it to West Points defective cousin… BIA. It’ll be interesting to see if they can put together a good run and make it.
Where will the regional championship game be held?
Breaking: Nyack/TZ forfeits there game against LP. No news why yet.
I’m guessing kids went away for the week or weekend? Does Nyack/TZ need to also include Nanuet?
@ breaking news to bad to hear that, they would have won that game.
I noticed Clarkstown is able to use Palisades for playoffs. Since when? I thought Ebersole, Murrays and Palisades were not good options?
Are you serious? Lp game cancelled
Watch out for SNS and the Rubenstein duo, truly remarkable.
This guy knows what he’s talking about ^
Lp just got themselves a 1st round bye…..Thanks to Nyack/Tappan Zee
End of 2 Pac about to send Mama home for the season – Pac up big
@Rocket Fuel
good question about murrays, eb & palisades (a really small rink)
I’m hoping Cliff has some info to offer. I’m guessing a hundred patrons for WP vs. ETB (apparently several kids went on vaca)...not much point in everybody going up to BIA for opening round game – don’t see how that is good for sec 1 from a dollars & cents angle??? WP probably gets Eb for very low price. The WP bus probably cost more than Eb rental fee.
Rumor is RTH paid half what Playland charges for a bunch of game slots at Eb when Playland went down. City of WP rewrote entire sched to be a good neighbor…rec’d no public credit for the gesture.
Mamo should be a little scared to face SNS in th semis, should be a good one.
@rocketfuel FYI – Pac defeats Mamo by 28 in basketball – sends Mama home, not bad for country boys lol
The chance of Mahopac winning the AA basketball chance is slim and none. YOu have a better chance of winning the lottery without a ticket. Mamaroneck is farrrrr from a hotbed of talent as far as basketball goes. However, congrats to PAC basketball for lowering the boom on Mamk.
As far as SNS is concerned, I would think Mamk is more concerned with RTH than SNS.
Will be a 8-0 game Mamaroneck
Agree with Suff85 that the state is up for grabs. Any of the 5 state ranked teams in Sec One can go deep. No truly dominant NYS team in either DI or DII. Thinking one those 5 teams will ride a hot goalie to the state finals.
Ha postman – good to see you are in your normal cheery disposition…
SNS will be a good game with Mama and any team can win, RTH still has a game to play, do not be so quick to declare RTH winners in their game tomorrow.
Pacfan – I think our basketball team has had like 3 winning season in 20 years. We’re not know for basketball that’s for sure…
But our Tennis teams will smack you all over the court.