Raiders Lacrosse Team on a Winning Streak

The Raiders have had an explosive start this season, opening with a streak of four wins, already surpassing their win total for the past two seasons combined. The Raider's success can be attributed to strong team leadership, new faces such as freshman Andrew Bernstein, and a change in team tactics. Scarsdale has yet to be seriously tested, and will face their first big test on Tuesday 4/12.

On Thursday 3/31 the Scarsdale Boys Lacrosse team faced Nanuet at home. The game opened quickly with Nanuet scoring within the first 2 minutes, 1-0, Nanuet. A quick pass by senior captain Elliot Graham lead to a responsive goal by freshman Andrew Bernstien ,1-1. Sophomore Rob Rolfe added to the tally with five minutes left, giving the Raiders a 2-1 lead. The lead was short lived as Nanuet pulled the game back from the Raiders with a long range goal, 2-2 to end the first quarter. Bernstein had a top shelf finish to give the Raiders the lead, but Nanuet countered with a low finish to tie the game 3-3. Bernstien responded with a goal to complete his hat-trick, 4-3 Raiders with five minutes remaining in the second quarter. Sophomore Cooper Schneider added to the lead to make it 5-3, and the score stood until the end of the half.

The 3rd quarter opened quickly, with Junior Cooper Schneider scoring to make it 6-3. Bernstein added another within two minutes to make it 7-3 Raiders. After some back and forth play, junior William Cabrera scored for the Raiders to make it 8-3 with 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, followed by another goal for Bernstein, with one minute remaining. Junior Seth Thornton followed with an immediate response to put the Raiders up 10-3, followed by another goal for Cabrera, 11-3 at the end of the third quarter. Nanuet opened up the fourth quarter with a goal to shorten the lead to 11-4, quickly countered by a long range shot from senior captain Andre Cutrim to make it 12-4, his first of the season. Andrew Bernstein also followed for his sixth of the game, and another came from Graham, then Thornton to make it 15-4. An exciting mid-air one-handed shot from Bernstein, his seventh, made it 16-4 as the game comes to a close.

On Saturday 4/2 the Scarsdale Boys Lacrosse Team faced off against Horace Greeley at Greeley. The game started slowly, ending the first quarter 5-3, with goals coming from Junior William Cabrera and Senior Captain Elliot Graham. The Raiders came out strong in the second quarter, out scoring their opponents 5-1, behind a hat trick from Cabrera, ending the half 10-4. The Raiders had another strong quarter in the third quarter, outscoring the home side 4-1 behind a hat trick from Graham, bringing the score to 14-5. Greeley started the fourth quarter with a quick goal, fighting hard with the Raiders but eventually succumbed to three from the away side with goals coming for the first time this season from Senior Andrew Braun and Sophomore Jack Brosgol. The Raiders ended the game 17-7.

On Tuesday 4/5 the Boys lacrosse faced off against Nyack at home. The game opened quickly, with Junior Seth Thornton scoring within the opening minute. Junior William Cabrera followed with a hat trick within five minutes, before Junior Cooper Schneider added his first of the game. Cabrera scored another giving the Raiders a 6-0 at the end of the first quarter. Schneider added another at the beginning of the second quarter followed by another hat trick, this time by Senior Captain Elliot Graham, to end the half 10-0. Cabrera scored in an otherwise slow third quarter, but in the fourth quarter Nyack scored their first of the game, but were quickly countered with a goal from Graham, his fourth of the game. Nyack returned with one more goal before the end of the game, but it was too late. Final score; Raiders 13, Nyack 2. Graham finished the game with 4 goals and 5 assists, and Cabrera finished with 6 goals, as they lead the Raiders to a strong victory.

The Raiders hope to continue this strong momentum into a difficult upcoming game versus Mamaroneck on April 19th at home. Freshman Andrew Bernstein, offered some encouragement for the Raiders saying, "The big day is April 19 against Mamo. We haven't beaten them in a while and with our new additions and improvements by former players we think this year can be the year."

Text and photos by Justin Barlow