Hudson Valley Captures Silver Medal at Empire State Cup

From Thomas Perrino

Local Middle School students helped the Hudson Valley capture the Silver Medal in the 2014 Empire State Cup. The lacrosse tournament was held between July 31st-August 3, 2014 in Syracuse, New York.

Hudson Valley faced a team representing Western New York in their opening game and cruised to a 19 to 3 victory. The offense was led by Yorktown’s Keegan Doller, who won 20 of 26 face-offs, and Reese Andrews. Also contributing to the offensive onslaught was Croton’s Blake Borges and Cortlandt’s Max Popolizio.

Hudson Valley then faced Central New York and was beaten 12 to 1. However, Central was forced to forfeit all of their games, as they were using ineligible older players. The next day saw Hudson Valley losing a grueling 5 to 4 decision to New York City, before rebounding and beating the Adirondack region 8 to 4. The final match of the night was against the team from Long Island, which was loaded with elite travel players from New York and Connecticut. Hudson Valley fell 10 to 3 in the one-sided affair.

Saturday saw Hudson Valley facing Adirondack in the quarterfinals. With standout goaltending provided by Mahopac’s Michael Argilia and stifling defense anchored by Yorktown’s Chris Perrino and Brendan Williams, as well as Shrub Oaks’ John Hufnagel, Hudson Valley prevailed 3 to 0. The semifinal saw a rematch with Western. Hudson Valley prevailed 10 to 4, setting up a rematch in the finals with Long Island.

In Sunday’s Championship Game, Long Island again dominated, prevailing 10 to 2. However, the boys from Hudson Valley had their heads held high as they accepted their Silver Medals. The Hudson Valley team was led by Yorktown High School’s Junior Varsity Head Coach Joe Borges.

Photo Caption: Head Coach Joe Borges, Chris Perrino, Blake Borges, Keegan Doller, Brendan Williams and Reese Andrews.