Photo by Dave Anderson
To say Luke Palmadesso played in a big role in Yorktown’s first New York state championship since 2003 would be, well, a big understatement.
The two-time All-America midfielder was dominant in the faceoff X and was named most valuable offensive player in Yorktown’s 10-9 Class B title-game win over Jamesville-DeWitt.
It was quite a run for the Huskers. We caught up with Palmadesso, who will play his college lacrosse at Villanova University.
Now, here are Luke’s thoughts on the championship season.
What was the feeling like when the clock went to zeroes and Yorktown had finished off the win against Jamesville-DeWitt for the state championship?
It was truly breathtaking. It was just an unbelievable scene, the whole team exploding onto the field as “The Crop” (Yorktown’s student cheering section), alumni and families erupted in the stands.
That moment at the end throwing the ball into the air and running to the dog pile is a moment I’ve tried to imagine over the years and now that it’s happened I will never forget it.
You can watch a video of Palmadesso throwing the ball in the air and the state title celebration below:
How does the feeling of being a state champion compare to what you thought it would be like in all the years of working hard chasing the goal?
Being a state champion is unbelievable. It still seems surreal. The whole playoff run has really been like a dream. It just is so special that we were able to accomplish our ultimate goal after working towards this for nine years.
We recognized the fact going into the playoffs, and especially the final game, that we were playing for so much more than ourselves. We were playing for the entire Yorktown community whose support was amazing, and also all the teams that came before us and may have fallen just short.
It is just really nice to see how much joy this title has brought to the entire town, and our team could not be more proud to bring this championship home to Yorktown.
If you had to pinpoint two or three keys to the team’s run to winning the title, what would they be?
I think what really helped us was that we had a great appreciation of each other, of every single player on the roster, 1-35. Everyone realized his role on the team and bought into the system as a whole.
Our team chemistry was incredible throughout the year. We never cared who was scoring the most goals or anything, we were a very unselfish bunch.The team also had a lot of fun off the field together, whether it was team dinners or just hanging out. I believe that contributed to our on-field success.
We also have an incredible coaching staff, when you play for Yorktown you get D1 college-level coaching. All these things gave us great confidence and allowed us to believe in ourselves as a whole.
What are one or two plays during the state title run that will stick in your mind and that you may tell friends in college that you meet who are not aware about what the team did?
It’s hard to say, there were just so many big plays. All of them really helped us win, even the little things, from some clutch saves, to important groundballs, to big goals, to terrific takeaways to key faceoff wins.
One specific play I’ll never forget was (Austin) Fusco’s man-down, coast-to-coast, game winning goal in the final, that was just insane.
What will you be doing lacrosse-wise this summer to prepare for the start of fall lacrosse in college?
I have a very detailed workout schedule from Villanova to do. I will also be playing in the Sound Shore league for Husked Corn.
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Posted In: Hudson Valley, Player's perspective, Section 1
