On Tuesday, May 17, Rye Neck’s lacrosse season came to an end with a hard-fought 10-8 loss to Lourdes in the Class C outbracket round. Although the Panthers’ defeat brings with it a sense of change in the program, head coach Amanda Heyde believes that Rye Neck’s stock will continue to rise.
Coming into Tuesday’s game, Heyde knew the No. 15 Panthers would face a stiff challenge from their visitors. Although Lourdes came into the showdown with few wins to its name, the Warriors’ difficult regular season campaign meant that the No. 16 seed would be prepared for the game.
“Lourdes had a really challenging schedule, they had good games with some strong schools and our league was a bit weaker,” Heyde said. “But our girls came out to play today.”
Heyde’s club got off to a quick start, holding onto a slim lead for much of the first half. The head coach credits the Panthers’ athleticism and transition game for carrying Rye Neck through the opening minutes. But when the Warriors began to control the time of possession and rally, it was up to the Panther defense—and goalie April Zhang, who made nine saves on the day—to keep them in the game.
“We were winning the draw and able to fast break down to the goal,” Heyde said. “But when they started to win draws, it was the defense that really held us together.”
It looked as though Lourdes would head into halftime 6-5 before a last second penalty gave the Warriors one last shot with no time remaining. Lourdes converted to build a two-goal lead, but Heyde was pleased with the way her team didn’t let the goal dash its hopes.
“In any other game, maybe that would have happened,” she said. “But they came out and played for the entire 50 minutes, they never got down.”
While they came out strong in the second half, however, Rye Neck simply couldn’t close the gap. Kathleen DaSilva finished with three goals, and Kayla Casas had two goals in the loss.
While the Warriors advanced to take on top-seeded Albertus Magnus on Wednesday, May 18, after press time, the loss gave Heyde and the Panthers time to take stock of the season. Although Rye Neck will graduate a senior class that was instrumental in building the Panthers’ program from the ground up three years ago, Heyde remains confident that the lacrosse team is in good hands.
“This senior class is special; they started the program and established a great foundation and set the bar high for everyone to follow,” the head coach said. “But we’ve got girls now who have the experience of playing in two sectional games, we’re going to have a few big additions from the JV level, and hopefully the girls will remember this game and use that in the future.”
