Section 1 championship day will be returning to Rockland County for the first time since 2007.

This year’s games, set for Thursday, May 26, will be held at the Torne Valley Sports Complex in Hillburn, which is just west of Suffern off exit 15A on 87.

The announcement of the site came last week at the annual Section 1 coaches’ preseason rules meeting.

In 2007, the title games were held at the Suffern Middle School. After being played at John Jay in 2008, the games were held at White Plains High School the last two years.

The Section 1 playoffs get under way with outbracket games on Thursday, May 19. Quarterfinal-round games are set for Saturday, May 21. The semifinals are scheduled for Monday, May 23.

Varsity schedules

We will have our first high school games of the season in less than a month’s time.

You can check out league schedules for Suffolk teams by clicking here.

Nassau schedules can be accessed by clicking here.

Schedules for Connecticut teams are available by clicking here.

For a rundown of finalized Section 1 league schedules, click here.

College update

In college news, JoJo Marasco enjoyed a memorable first game wearing the fabled No. 22 for Syracuse University’s men’s lacrosse team on Sunday.

The sophomore attackman, making his first career start for the Orange, had two goals and two assists in a 13-7 season-opening win against Denver. The performance earned Marasco a spot on the first Big East Conference honor roll for the 2011 season. Teammate John Lade, a defenseman, also made the honor roll. Marasco also had three ground balls and caused two turnovers.

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Posted In: College lacrosse, Fairfield lacrosse, fciac, News & Notes - 2011, Section 1, Section 11, Section 8, SWC lacrosse

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57 Responses to “News & Notes: Site for Section 1 championships picked; Regional varsity schedule rundown; Marasco earns Big East honor”

  1. Lax Guy says:

    I really enjoyed the last two years in White Plains, great venue for the section one finals. Central location, decent parking and nice facilities.

  2. A Dad says:

    I’ve played on this field and it’s not very good. There are alot of “potholes” all around the field. Parking might be an issue.

  3. Lax n stuff says:

    Best sites for the finals …

    1. White Plains

    2. Yorktown

    3. Mahopac

    • Bear Attax says:

      Ossining…awesome set up…great field, very close parking, very close rest rooms, lotsa seating, easy concessions, camera positions three stories high…Second replica field right next to the main field for warm up. My fave.

      Fox Lane…same as O, but without the second field…awesome sight when you turn in from 172…atmosphere…it’s just an excellent facility. My other fave.

      White Plains…lotsa seating, nice field, great scoreboard, concession very close, parking was far away but easy, and what did they do for restrooms? (I didn’t have to go, so don’t know where they were.)

      Yorktown…great for a small crowd, but not-so-good for sectionals…difficult restrooms, parking far away, concessions are good, field is alright, not enough seating. They’d have to truck in some extra bleachers for the “other” side of the field.

      Mahopac is nice…big bleachers, but difficult rest rooms, parking is a prob unless they let you park right on Baldwin Place Rd. That could be good though. Concessions would be trucked in I guess.

      Somers…great parking, easy concessions, restrooms not terribly far away, but not enough seating.

      • Lax Guy says:

        Lakeland HS is another very nice venue, new large bleachers, new concession stand and bathrooms across from field in the school. Parking is decent, not sure if it could handle that size crowd.

        Mahopac has a fairly new, really nice concession stand and bathrooms right next to the field. Parking is very good, they handle the parking for the football sectionals without much problem. Lakeland and Mahopac’s bleachers are both large enough.

        I still say White Plains has been Great, everything plus centrally located. Parking is the only downside, but really has not been that bad.

      • LoveTownLax says:

        I know I am biased…. but what do you mean Town can’t handle sectionals? We’ve been hosting for years! There has always been plenty of seating! Our visitor’s bleachers are much bigger than most schools…

        Ossining’s parking is not even “close” to adequate!

        • pac-ker says:

          Yeah, you’re biased alright.

          OHS is surrounded with parking…the facility is brand new and immaculate…Ossining blows away Yorktown.

          • LoveTownLax says:

            you mean the parking on the streets? Cause the lots are not that big… right? And are you implying that Town’s facilities are not clean? I was there last year, sorry, I don’t think Ossining is all that great. and I’d rather be in Yorktown at night..

            My point about being biased was that we certainly CAN handle sectionals as we have for many years, as opposed to what Bear Attack foolishly said, not to diss Ossining. You are a little sensitive…

  4. Go Mounties says:

    In past years Yorktown and John Jay have played the finals on their home fileds. Torne Valley is not technically Suffern’s homefield but it will be close enough for McNally’s Maniacs! Bring home the title Suffern!

  5. Laxtime says:

    I think it’s nice to “spread the wealth” and have Rockland as the host every 3-4 years. I agree White Plains is probably the best site but not sure if it’s fair to have it there every year.

  6. wiilax says:

    all games should be at middletown h.s. best stadium by far.you also have good places to eat before or after games. you have to see there jumbotron

  7. LoveTownLax says:

    In theory I have no objection to Rockland hosting, but Suffern? What is so special about it???? Farthest west you can go before Jersey….. Last time they hosted there was not ONE Rockland team playing, it was completely ridiculous that all of us from Westchester had to drive almost an hour to play teams from the next town over. And when we are so concerned about budgets, should we be busing our kids over there? And what a waste of gas for us all, not to mention a long trip for all of the HS kids that would be driving there to support their teams!!! If there aren’t any Rockland teams in the finals it should be moved to Westchester. It can be done if they have a backup plan in place, as they should have last time.

  8. SUlax says:

    The site of the Finals should just stay the same every year. It seems like every other sport keeps it consistent and there is never any problems. Football has the finals at Mahopac which is a fantastic venue, lots of parking and nice facilities. Basketball plays in the Westchester county center. Lacrosse should pick a nice school like White Plains or Mahopac that has the accommodations and keep it there year in and year out.

  9. justlaxin says:

    Don’t agree. Having a football championships at Pac each year is not fair when New Ro has to play Pac at its practice and game field. Rotating gives the fans all a chance to see the facilities in Section 1. I think LP, Pac, Town, JJ, etc should rotate the game. I like Lakelands new field. Town has the prestige of Charlie Murphy Field at the bottom of the hill. JJ is a nice location as well. And so on. I dont like the fact that it is in Rockland County when no Rockland team has made the finals since 2003. I know that will irk some, but keep it in Westchester. I would leave the hockey finals in Rockland for comparison.

    • SUlax says:

      I can respect you opinion, but its not like Mahopac is a power and is playing in the championship game every year. JJ, and Yorktown have been able to play lax championships on thier own field even though it rotates. Frankly i dont believe in a championship game that home field really matters. This isnt professional athletics where teams are playing across the country. Fans of New Ro for example are showing up in the same numbers whether the game is at Mahopac or White Plains. A turf field is a turf field i just cant buy that it gives any advantage at this level. Having a rotations of a few select schools makes sense to me, i am certainly with you, i am against having the lacrosse finals in rockland, almost all if not all teams most of the time are coming from across the river. The games are always on a weekday in starting in the late afternoon, getting across the tappan zee during rush hour isnt ideal in my mind.

  10. SirLaxalot says:

    I think White Plains works best – centrally located and no homefield advantage for any finalist (unless White Plains makes it). White Plains also has a jumbotron and they get hed shots of every starter and put them up on it. Middletown is fine for the state semis or regionals but not Section 1 title games. It’s not even located within Section 1.

  11. LoveTownLax says:

    White Plains is a great field and centrally located, but parking is difficult…. Especially if you have the late game and can’t get there early, as many fans tend to stay for all 3 games (and why not, it’s great lacrosse!) It should definitely rotate, and so should football finals, but that’s an issue for another season… Good point about the TZ bridge nightmare, SU. And my thoughts exactly SirLaxalot – Middletown for Section 1 finals? NO WAY! Fine for regionals, though. We will see how the season unfolds, but without a Rockland team in the finals, this decision is foolish.

  12. Sect1LaxNut says:

    I agree. The parking at White Plains is not good, especially if you get there just for the late game. Good luck finding anything anywhere near the field!

  13. Lax Novice says:

    I saw Johns Hopkins play Towson this weekend, a 10-6 victory for Hopkins at Towson’s field. It was a slow start for John Ranagan that afternoon, but I read he played much better last night in the Blue Jay’s 18-5 walloping of Delaware. They are going with seniors at attack, so I did not see Kevin Interlicchio on the field Saturday. John Fennessey played well at close D for Towson, I thought.

    • slacrosse says:

      KI played. In box score with a shot.

      • Lax Novice says:

        In the Delaware blowout, yes. He did not play in the game I was at on Saturday against Towson.

        • laxer says:

          the leading scorer on hop is a sophomore right now… at attack. Zach Palmer.

          • Lax Novice says:

            Palmer starts with thh two seniors, Boland and Wharton, with Benn as the 1st attack off the bench. Interlicchio will get his opportunity, it’s very early yet. He likely would have played significant minutes already if Wharton’s pre-season injury had been serious enough to keep him out of the lineup.

            With the two road wins already, Hopkins has taken a big step in ensuring their 40th consecutive appearance in the NCAAs.

  14. laxer says:

    I think there are far better and more central venues than the one picked. It is far more than likely that the teams that are playing for the sectional championship will travel 45 minutes to an hour in order to play this game and will not get the fan support they would want to play a sectional final game.

  15. Long road says:

    Big mistake moving the section 1 finals to Rockland. Why?
    1. Traffic during the week across the TPZ bridge is beyond awful.
    2. White Plains has been a great host. Best field and scoreboard anywhere and no home field advantage as WP is not there yet.
    3. College coaches coming to scout the game may never find the field and will see the traffic on the TPZ and just head to LI.
    4. There will be no team from Rockland in the finals so why make fans travel.
    5. Why not white plains, or purchase, or iona, or pace, or white plains, yeah I said it twice.
    6. One word…Jumbotron
    7. The environment and the economy. By late May gas may be six dollars a gallon.
    8. Last I checked there is no toll to get to White Plains.
    9. I ask you, is Rockland a hot bed for lacrosse or is Westchester?
    10. I can’t come up with a tenth reason so nine will have to do.

  16. Observer Lax says:

    I remember two years ago a lot of our Long Island friends argued Connor English was the better all around player and our Connecticut friends that Matt White was the better all around player compared to JoJo. Well … That was then. Congrats JoJo!

  17. ??? says:

    The reason the finals are at Suffern is money THEY have to spend. Nobody cares about the gas, travel , jumbo trons, or the travel of fans, etc etc… IF economic times were better, it would not be at Suffern. It is that simple.

    I do agree with most of your points. White plains is a great venue and is centrally located for the SECTION. Yorktowns field is horrible and puddles in the rain. Should not have sectionals there. Torne Valley does have some issues as well, suffern middle school fields are much better.

  18. LoveTownLax says:

    ??? – it’s true about the puddles in Town.., can’t argue with you there…. So the process is that various districts offer up their field, and then the decision is made by…. Who? Joe, can you enlighten us?

    • Joe Lombardi says:

      LTL –

      The first step is for a potential host to petition to be the host site. A site can’t be selected if that doesn’t happen. So while many folks throw out potential sites, the fact is, if that host didn’t ask to be the host, it won’t be. The potential sites are then discussed at the preseason rules meeting, attended by all coaches.

      • LoveTownLax says:

        Thanks Joe. Is the final decision made by the coaches? Is it made public which schools petitioned? Is there a policy for lax about alternating sites? (As opposed to football and basketball which of course do not…)

  19. rlaxfamily says:

    ??? – explain the money piece to me please. The Section charges an entry fee that they keep and use to cover expenses and use to fund awards dinner. The school does get reimbursed for the game expenses, score keeper, seruity/supersvision – but don’t make money. The schools booster clubs are asked to run concessions or school makes arrrangemetns. So what does it mean by “if eccomonic times were better, it would not be at Suffern.” Thanks.

  20. Laxit says:

    It was discussed by the coaches at the rules meeting and then the decision was announced by the lacrosse coordinator for Section One.

  21. Old Rugger says:

    I think most of the venues mentioned are solid. Town’s field does tend to puddle which I think is not quite as good as the other venues mentioned. Seeting is not a problem and non-rain days no problem.

  22. Just sayin says:

    White Plains is def the best place to play the finalssss

  23. Ray says:

    I agree. White Plains works best as the host site though the parking is not ideal. Maybe they should play it at Army each year?

  24. LoveTownLax says:

    I ask all Westchester Lax Fans to speak out against repeated insanity……. Yet again, 6 teams from Westchester County have to drive all the way to SUFFERN to watch our teams play each other… Now, of course if there was ONE team from Rockland in the Section Finals this would be okay… However, COMMON SENSE should prevail and the powers that be in Section One should make an Executive (rational, intelligent) decision and MOVE the games to a location in WESTCHESTER… All we keep hearing is how we had to re-align geographically to “save” money (btw, driving to Arlington saves Yorktown taxpayers how much money????) A gallon of gas is about $4.30, and just how GREEN is it for hundreds of fans to drive about 40 miles, across that dreaded TZ bridge at “rush hour?” (or the BMB for those of us up North,) to watch neighboring teams play each other… And how many fans from Rockland are going to come and watch? As blogged above, many of us saw this coming, (how could you not?) and this is just absurd.. Not to mention what time the kids playing and watching the late game will get home, with school the next day. The last time this happened I contacted the Section One Director and she told me it just couldn’t be changed on such short notice. Really??? I think it can be done. Joe – is this not RIDICULOUS????

    • ReLAX says:

      LTL is so correct! 5 of 6 teams are fr above 287! Suffern middle school are you kidding me!! Some people jumped all over me a few days ago when I said no rockland team would be in the finals! WP is a great location! Thank goodness they have the downstate finals, but suffern for the section finals is a Joke!!! Section 1 lacrosse was MADE in the Yorktown area & the Finals should always be played somewhere near the Town. Terrible Job of selecting anywhere far from there

      • SWLAX says:

        We agree!

      • Lion says:

        Great..perhaps we should just default the finals and semi-finals games to teams above 287.

        The rest of the section can have a separate tournament to play for an at large bid to this exclusive tournament.

        Lets do this for all sports!

        We’ll cede Mt.Vernon, New Rochelle to the semi finals of basketball and have 2 other teams earn their way there.

        In hockey, Suffern is an automatic, just nominate them at the beginning of the year for the state tourney.

        The other teams can just play for fun and participation trophys..

        • ReLAX says:

          Seems like everyone agrees w/ LTL!! Suffern/rockland can be the hockey location. Lax finals belong somewhere fr WP to Somers

          • Lion says:

            I’d agree, but only get Westchester complaints about hockey finals location in West Point (near Rockland).

            just read old hockey blog entries.

        • LoveTownLax says:

          absolutely not, Lion… that is not at all the point, not mine at least… Wouldn’t a location in Westchester be better, regardlss of where in the county the team is located? And White Plains, for those south of 287, be ideal? No exclusivity – just common sense alternate location if no Rockland teams in…

    • GreenBear says:

      Well stated….Now that all teams are from this side of the river, someone make a common sense decision and change the games to somewhere this side of the Hudson.

  25. jack says:

    Couldnt have put it any better LTL…this is a JOKE!!!!

  26. lax4life says:

    Equally absurd is starting the L/P Pac game at 3:00 p.m. on a school day. I don’t see how the students at these schools who have supported their teams all season long can travel 40 miles to watch the game without skipping a few classes. A little more thought is needed here by the powers that be.

  27. Old Rugger says:

    They got rid of the power league and changed leagues to accomodate “expensive gas prices: so Ad’s budgets wouldn’t suffer then they do this which makes no sense they should have 3-4 venues on call and once finals are established pick the one that makes the most sense cost/distance wise.
    Somers, JJ, Town, WP, all better /closer venues this year than Suffern.

    • LoveTownLax says:

      exactly Old Rugger….. It is the nature of the playoffs that you never know if you will “play the next day” so why can’t the sectional finals follow the same flow? There are two days after semis to get the paperwork done…. Isn’t that why we pay the big ($8) bucks to see these games – administrative costs?…. I am confident the refs will find their way to the appropriate venue! :o)

      • Lion says:

        Schools can’t just hold open fields in possible anticipation of an aall day event that would require lots of logistical planning.

        Your better off arguing a permanent location, like Mahopac for football, County Center for basketball, or West Point for hockey.

        ..or if its rotated, but it on a 4 year cycle, so you’d only have to make the tortorous commute to Suffern every 4 years or so.

        • LoveTownLax says:

          logistical planning – some school custodial staff, concessions, and what else? And I don’t think any other school’s turf was used today – either your playing at the finals, or your season is done! And the Girl’s finals were at Yorktown yesterday, so Town’s was available…. I absolutely contend that there can be an alternate site set aside.

        • rlaxfamily says:

          Your statement is incorrect, Lion. Schools can “just hold open fields” at this point in the season. LTL is correct, at this point in the season, if your not in it, your field is most likely sitting empty. As far as the staff goes…the section pays the school hosting for the staff needed to run the events and they other coaches from the section volunteer their time to assit the section. The school staff is eager for the cash so any school picking up a last minute game is not a big deal – in fact it happens every time it rains and the AD’s need to reschedule.
          This I believe is an opportunity for a school to be showcased and bring a little attention to their facilities. Money is the root of all that is going on here or in this case “not” going on here. The athletic budgets get cut, the teachers are getting pink slips and Westchester players all need to travel on a $1000 bus ride while their parents follow behing paying $4.29 at the pump to sit in traffic to cross the river where no teams from Rockland are playing.
          Take the cash from the AD’s salray and then we will see how fast the buses will stop rolling.

          • Indian J says:

            It’s really politics. I know that in girls lacrosse, Suffern has been in it for a span of 20 years or so and hated going all the way to Mahopac or Yorktown all the time. Often times there opponent was L/P or Town and they could ride their bikes while suffern had to pack food and water. So, they elected ( the coaches) to rotate years between having it in Westchester/Putnam one year and Rockland the next. It seems foolish in Boys Lacrosse because the rockland teams are more often than not eliminated in the earlier rounds and don’t end up playing at the site anyway. By this same token, scheduling a finals at Yorktown, Jay, or Mahopac always seemed dubious to me. (Why should they get a home game? They are always in it as we have discussed.) A location like WP or a number of other locations that are central to the section as a whole would be the best. If and when a Rockland team shocked the world, they would have to travel over the bridge but that’s about it. No more 3pm games either. 430-630-830. My two cents.

          • Lion says:

            Would someone complain about holding the finals in Rockland every 4 years? I’m sure they would…

            But whats our goals here… Grow the game so, like in baseball any team from around the section can win, or keep it a provincial northern suburb sport specialty?

          • OT says:

            seriously?

            grow the game?

            in Rockland … by having 6 teams from the “provincial northern suburbs” travel across the bridge to play three games – the first of which during school hours?

            please

  28. Just Right says:

    There are some things in life , that with a little thought are not very difficult. Having the same venue for the High School finals is a GOOD thing. Everyone will know where they are going, to win the championship!! They are the same distant from lower West, Northern West and Rockland. And these WORK!

    Basketball-County Center
    Football-Mahopac HS
    Baseball- Dutchess Stadium
    Lacrosse- White Plains HS (You can even start having the girls there too)
    Wrestling- Pace University

    For the other sports , sorry I dont know the venues they use?

    • Lion says:

      Hockey is held in West Point.

      Although Suffern is an annual finalist, fans from contending Rye, Pelham, Mamaroneck or White Plains always voice complaint about this trip.

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