Cold Spring Harbor boys lacrosse reaches state championship with dominant defense in semifinal
Cold Spring Harbor's Ryan McGloin celebrates after scoring a goal in the second quarter of the state semifinal on Friday, June 9, 2023, in Albany. Credit: /Uli Seit
ALBANY — The opportunity to defend a state title still exists for Cold Spring Harbor after a dominating defensive performance.
The Seahawks allowed no goals over a 32-minute stretch as they defeated Pleasantville 7-3, in the state Class D semifinals at the University of Albany on Friday evening.
Ryan McGloin scored three goals for the Seahawks.
“It’s the best feeling in the world to be able to have an opportunity to go defend our state title,” said Cold Spring Harbor goalie Carsen Kirchner, who made 10 saves. “We’ve been thinking about it since after last season ended, we want it to be ours.”
Cold Spring Harbor (13-6) will face Marcellus (Section III) at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at Hofstra for the state Class D championship. A win would give the program its sixth state championship.
A two hour-and-15 minute lightning delay had little effect on the Seahawks once the horn sounded. Nick Reich scored the first goal for Pleasantville with seven minutes remaining in the first quarter, but by the one-minute mark, goals by McGloin and Hayden Calabretta had given Cold Spring a 2-1 lead.
“It was kind of crazy, I warmed up two or three times before the game actually started,” Kirchner said. “Ultimately, I think it might’ve helped me.”
“We all felt we were ready for the game," McGloin said. "We came out pretty strong.”
Reagan Reilly scored a goal early in the second quarter to put Cold Spring Harbor ahead 3-1. Pleasantville (19-2) got back within one on Aidan Cotter's goal, but the Seahawks quickly responded with goals by Alex Bauer and Ryan McGloin to grab a 5-2 lead.
After both teams had gone scoreless for nearly the entire third quarter, McGloin scored a back-breaking goal for the Seahawks with three-tenths of a second left on the clock and a 6-2 lead.
“I saw the clock low, and I was going to go in righty,” McGloin said. “But then I saw the middle open up quickly and I just shot it with my left.”
Alex Bauer scored his second goal with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to give Cold Spring Harbor a 7-2 lead.
But it was the defense that stole the show.
“That scoreless stretch is a credit to these kids here,” Cold Spring Harbor coach Dennis Bonn said. “Not only what the boys covering them did athletically, but the whole defensive unit being on the same page.”
Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.
