Jake Schneider’s emergence has made life easier for Fieldston and not so pleasant for its opponents.
“Jake Schneider was just ripping them,” Fieldston coach Keith Bergin said. “Jake Schneider was on fire.”
The junior attack has been exactly that of late. He recorded a hat trick against Trinity in the quarterfinals and tallied four goals and an assist in the second-seeded Eagles’ 13-9 win over No. 3 Rye Country Day in the NYSAISAA boys lacrosse semifinals Monday in The Bronx.
“You could see other teams trying to double him or get out to him quickly,” Bergin said. “But he will go on a streak of two or three goals that he will just rip upper 90.”
Schneider’s strong play has opened things up further for the Eagles’ talented scorers. Sam Healy had two goals and dished out three assists, Grady Smith tallied two goals and a helper and Tanner Morris scored twice. Daniel Locker collected 16 saves for Fieldston (14-2). Andrew Farber paced Rye Country Day (8-10) with six goals. The Eagles led 9-3 at the half and pushed the lead to 13-6 after the break.
Fieldston, after two sub-.500 seasons, will play in its first NYSAISAA final since 2009 when it takes the field against No. 1 Hackley 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Manhattanville. The Hornets won both regular-season meetings comfortably. Bergin believes his squad needs to be crisper if they are going to have a chance to upset Hackley.
“We are at a high point in the season right now, but I think if we limit our mistakes and execute on offense we will give them a game,” Fieldston said.
Hackley 16, Poly Prep 3: Sam Alabaster scored three goals and dished out an assist and Jibran Ahmad had two goals and two helpers for No. 1 Hackley (16-0). James Sheldon tallied three goals and Leo Barse added a goal and four assists. Kyle Vogel had two goals for Poly Prep (8-8). The Hornets face No. 2 Fieldston 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the final at Manhattanville.
NYSAISAA GIRLS LACROSSE SEMIFINALS
Hackley 12, Riverdale 11: Lindsey Picard scored four goals and Madeline Hopper tallied three for No. 4 Riverdale (10-3). Sarah Berlinski had two goals and Isabella Bertagna and Sydney Hard both had a goal. Trish Gorman found the back of the next five times, including the winner with 1:44 left to play in the game for the No. 1 Hornets (13-0). The Falcons scored three straight goals to tie the score at 11 with 3:44 remaining when Picard found the back of the net. Hackley faces No. 6 Holy Child 6 p.m. Wednesday in the final at Manhattanville.
Holy Child 19, Fieldston 11: Chloe Chasanoff tallied four goals for No. 7 Fieldston (7-7). Jill Gold and Jenna Chasanoff each scored twice and Rowyn Paul added a goal. Sydney Bryant made seven saves. Charlotte Elcock netted eight goals for No. 6 Holy Child and Liz McCooey added five. Holy Child squares off against top-seeded Hackley 6 p.m. Wednesday at Manhattanville in the final.