Photo by Larry Palumbo/Coyote Magic Photography

The playoffs of the inaugural Empire State Cup at Central Square Stadium outside of Syracuse, New York start on Saturday, July 28.

Top-seeded Hudson Valley is a 5-0 in round-robin play, edging New York City in a tightly-contested battle of undefeateds, before defeating Western in an overtime thriller.

Despite the loss, New York City (4-1) earned a bye with wins over Central and Adirondack on the first day of action, Thursday, July 26.  You can check out a Day 1 gallery of photos featuring teams from all six regions here.

NYC will meet the winner of Western (2-3) and Adirondack (0-5) in the semifinals.

Long Island (2-3) and Central (2-3) will play-in with the winner meeting Hudson Valley in the second semifinal.

Full tournament standings, schedules, results from games played Friday, July 27, along with and statistics, are below.

STANDINGS W L GF GA

Hudson Valley 5 0 46 30

New York City 4 1 43 30

Western 2 3 44 36

Long Island 2 3 36 40

Central 2 3 39 44

Adirondack 0 5 24 52

SCHEDULE/RESULTS

Thursday, July 26

Western 11, Adirondack 3

Hudson Valley 11, Central 6

New York City 8, Long Island 4

Central 12, Adirondack 3

Hudson Valley 10, Long Island 8

New York City 10, Western 8

Friday, July 27

Hudson Valley 12, Adirondack 5

New York City 12, Central 6

Western 10, Long Island 6

Hudson Valley 6, New York City 5

Central 10, Western 9

Long Island 9, Adirondack 7

Hudson Valley 7, Western 6

New York City 8, Adirondack 6

Long Island 9, Central 5

Saturday, July 28

No. 4 Long Island vs. No. 5 Central, 9:30 a.m.

No. 3 Western vs. No. 6 Adirondack, 11 a.m.

No. 1 Hudson Valley vs. Long Island/Central winner, 1 p.m.

No. 2 New York City vs. Western/Adirondack winner, 3 p.m.

Sunday, July 29

Fifth-Place Game, 9:30 a.m.

Bronze-Medal Game, 11 a.m.

Gold-Medal Game, 12:30 p.m.

LEADERS

Goals

12 – John Januszkiewicz, Western

11 – Christopher Santangelo, Hudson Valley

11 – Michael Rastivo, New York City

10 – Gale Thorpe, Central

10 – Matthew Heldberg, Long Island

10 – Christian Trasolini, Long Island

9 – Brian Prestreau, Hudson Valley

9 – Connor Fields, Western

8 – Brian Prunty, Hudson Valley

8 – John Uppgren, New York City

8 – Colin Woolford, New York City

Assists

6 – John Januszkiewicz, Western

5 – Alex Corpolongo, Hudson Valley

5 – Patrick O’Brien, Long Island

5 – Michael Rastivo, New York City

5 – John Uppgren, New York City

5 – Connor Fields, Western

3 – Mitchell Rick, Adirondack

3 – Gale Thorpe, Central

3 – Ryan Wright, Central

3 – Eric Gannari, Long Island

3 – Anthony Ramaizel, Long Island

3 – Austin Bishop, Western

3 – Matthew Kaser, Western

Points

18 – John Januszkiewicz, Western

16 – Michael Rastivo, New York City

14 – Connor Fields, Western

13 – Gale Thorpe, Central

13 – John Uppgren, New York City

12 – Christopher Santangelo, Hudson Valley

12 – Matthew Heldberg, Long Island

12 – Patrick O’Brien, Long Island

10 – Brian Prestreau, Hudson Valley

10 – Brian Prunty, Hudson Valley

10 – Christian Trasolini, Long Island

Saves

28 – Brenden Deady, Adirondack

23 – Michael Zingaro, Hudson Valley

23 – Daniel Katzman, New York City

22 – Taylor Ferrino, Western

21 – Dylan Moser, New York City

20 – Kyle Lake, Western

19 – Anthony Delosreyes, Long Island

18 – Zachary Anderson, Adirondack

16 – Jacob Wood, Central

15 – Maximillian Smith, Central

GAME RECAPS

Hudson Valley 12, Adirondack 5: Brian Prunty and Christopher Santangelo each had three goals and one assist as Hudson Valley pulled away from Adirondack. Hudson Brian Prestreau added three goals for Hudson Valley, Valley, which took  a 7-1 lead at halftime. Alex Corpolongo had one goal and one assist. Kevin McDermott and Andrew Landis each scored once. Michael Zingaro (six saves) and James Danaher (two saves) split time in goal for HV. Mitchell Rick paced Adirondack with four of their five goals. Anthony Zabielski scored once and Bradley Johnston recorded an assist. Brenden Deady made 12 saves in the loss.

 

New York City 12, Central 6: Michael Rastivo exploded for five goals and two assists as New York City rallied past Central. The score was tied 3-3 after the first quarter, but NYC shut out its opposition in the second and kept the scoring steady, leading 6-3 at the half and 9-4 after three quarters. Ross Schnitzer and Colin Woolford each scored twice, while John Uppgren scored one goal and two assists. Dylan Molloy added one goal and one assist. James Coughlan had a goal and Carter Lewis had an assist to round out the scoring. Daniel Katzman and Dylan Moser each made four saves in the win. Nathaniel Smart scored two goals and one assist to lead Central, with Matthew Moran scoring twice and Gale Thorpe adding one goal and one assist. Kendall Vecchio added one goal. Connor O’Hara and Colin Stone each chipped in an assist. Jacob Wood made three saves and Maximillian Smith recorded one in the loss.

Western 10, Long Island 6: Western used a balanced attack to top Long Island in a comeback win. John Januszkiewicz and James May each scored two goals and one assist. Austin Bishop and Matthew Kaser contributed one goal and two assists. Mittan Craig, Connor Fields and Austin Goltz added singles. Kyle Lake (three saves) and Ferrino (two saves) split time in goal. Christian Trasolini paced Long Island with four goals, with Patrick O’Brien (one goal, one assist), Maxwell Chin (one goal), and Matthew Heldberg (one assist) rounding out the scoring. Anthony Delosreyes (six saves) and David Hwang (three saves) split time in goal.

Hudson Valley 6, New York City 5: In a battle of previously undefeated teams, Hudson Valley edged New York City. Both squads were a 3-0 heading into the game. Christopher Santangelo scored three goals to lead Hudson Valley. Kevin McDermott, Brian Prestreau and Brian Prunty each scored once. Alex Corpolongo chipped in two assists, and Michael Zingaro (four saves) and James Danaher (two saves) split time in goal. John Uppgren (three goals) and Colin Woolford (two goals) scored for NYC; Daniel Katzman and Dylan Moser both played excellent in goal, notching six saves apiece in the loss.

Central 10, Western 9: Gale Thorpe scored five goals to help Central edge Western. Matthew Moran (two goals), Marshall Case (one goal, one assist) and Ryan Wright (one goal, one assist) also recorded multiple points. Ronnie Bertrand (one goal) and Nathaniel Smart (one assist) rounded out the scoring for Central. Maximillian Smith and Jacob Wood each made three saves in the win. John Januszkiewicz (three goals, one assist) and Connor Fields (two goals, three assists) led Western in scoring. Austin Goltz (two goals), James May (one goal), Mitchell Wilson (one goal), Matthew Kaser (one assist) and Daniel LaCrosse (one assist) rounded out the scoring for Western. Tyler Ferrino made 13 saves in the loss.

Long Island 9, Adirondack 7: Patrick O’Brien scored two goals and two assists to help Long Island record its first win of the Cup. Matthew Heldberg and Christian Trasolini each scored twice. Ryan Henry, Justin Rothstein and Mario Vezza adding singles; Anthony Ramaizel chipped in two assists. Brian Hughes (five saves), Anthony Delosreyes (three saves) and David Hwang (two saves) all saw time in goal for Long Island. Cody Dyer, Bradley Johnston and Troy Miller each contributed one goal and one assist for Adirondack. Anthony Zabielski scored twice. Brad Nardella (one goal), Chris West (one goal), and Kyle Fragnoli (one assist) rounded out the scoring. Zachary Anderson (five saves) and Brenden Deady (two saves) each saw time in goal for Adirondack.

Hudson Valley 7, Western 6 (OT): Kevin McDermott scored the game-winner in overtime to lift undefeated Hudson Valley. The game was tied 2-2 at halftime and 4-4 after three quarters. Brian Prestreau (two goals, one assist), Brian Prunty (two goals), Alex Corpolongo (two assists), David Rubenstein (one goal), John Yozzo-Scaperrotta (one goal) and McDermott (one goal) rounded out the scoring. James Danaher (six saves) and Michael Zingaro (four saves) split time in goal. John Januszkiewicz (two goals, two assists), Matthew Kaser (one goal, one assist), Austin Bishop (one goal), Connor Fields (one goal), James May (one goal) and Austin Goltz (one assist) were responsible for Western’s scoring. Kyle Lake finished with nine saves in goal.

New York City 8, Adirondack 6: Michael Rastivo scored two goals and one assist for New York City. The game was tied deep into the fourth quarter, 6-6, but NYC was able to take command of the game late to secure the win. Colin Woolford added two goals. Ross Schnitzer, Dylan Fowler, Dylan Molloy and Gregory Pietroforte added singles. Carter Lewis and John Uppgren each recorded a helper. Daniel Katzman (seven saves) and Dylan Moser (four saves) each saw time in goal. Mitchell Rick (one goal, three assists) and Brad Nardella (one goal, one assist) led Adirondack in scoring; Zachary Cole, Dillon Flood, Troy Miller and Michael Mineau each had one goal. Zachary Anderson and Brenden Deady made two saves apiece in the loss.

Long Island 9, Central 5: Matthew Heldberg scored four goals to lead Long Island and wrap up round-robin robin play. Patrick O’Brien added two goals and one assist. Anthony Ramaizel, Nicholas Santorelli and Christian Trasolini chipped in singles. Mario Vezza, Joseph DeMarco and Eric Gennari each recorded an assist; Anthony Delosreyes earned the win in goal with four goals. Gale Thorpe led Central with two goals and one assist. Kevin Lux (two goals) and Connor O’Hara (one goal) rounded out the scoring. Jacob Wood (four saves) and Maximillian Smith (three saves) split time in goal.

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8 Responses to “Unbeaten Hudson Valley is top seed as Empire State Cup playoffs start”

  1. LI Guy says:

    I’m sure all are aware but just in case, the fact is very few if any of the top players on Long Island opted to play in this.

  2. HV Lax says:

    I get the fact this is recruiting showcase event and not run by the state like ESG but still it would be nice to see Hudson Valley get a gold medal. Bring it home guys!

  3. HV guy says:

    Don’t worry LI guy we’re well aware. But we know you wanted to make sure we knew and we appreciate it.

  4. LaxLessons.com says:

    Final score from today: HV 10, LI 4.

    HV earns a spot in tomorrow’s 12:30 p.m. gold-medal game against the winner of today’s 3 p.m. NYC/Western game.

    LI will play in the bronze-medal game tomorrow at 11 a.m.

    • LI I Mean NYC Advances says:

      looks like NYC( with much help from LI and other players not from NYC)) will advance to play HV tomorrow for the Gold at the Empire State Cup. Good Luck HV

    • NYC Player? says:

      is Colin Woolford really a player from NYC or from anywhere in NY? According to the Choate School(CT)Lacrosse website “young” Colin is from Norwalk CT?? Odd , very Odd

Leave a Reply to HV Lax