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Edgemont Handles Briarcliff in Panthers' Opener

BRIARCLIFF MANOR, N.Y. – Edgemont High School Boys Lacrosse Coach Mark Gryzlo chuckled after his team’s 12-3 win over Briarcliff in the Panthers’ first game of the season.

His team had a comfortable lead at halftime and the game was never really in doubt throughout the second half, so he had to figure out how to keep his team from lagging in the final two quarters.

“We’re not used to being in this position, to tell you the truth,” Gryzlo said. “The idea is to keep these guys focused and their heads in the game. I talked to them about that too because when we did have that lead and came out at halftime, we really didn’t do much with it. We didn’t really put our foot on the gas like we should have.”

The Panthers may not have added much to their lead, but the Bears (0-2) could not increase their total all that much, either. Edgemont senior goalie Trevor Ortega said the experienced defense in front of him made things easier on him in net.

“Coming into this season, we had a lot of returning seniors on defense, so obviously I was pretty happy about that,” Ortega said. “It’s just them stepping up and playing the defense we’ve been playing for the past three years and just really staying mentally strong.”

First-year Briarcliff Head Coach Louis Rosten said Edgemont deserved some credit for holding the Bears to three goals, but also placed plenty of the blame on his own squad.

“I think it was more a case of we didn’t play the game properly,” Rosten said. “We had fellas throwing off their back legs, not catching passes. (Edgemont) played well, don’t get me wrong. But I think it was more of our own poor play.”

At halftime, Rosten had a clear message for his players.

“I told them we’re going to come out and play man-to-man and press out all over the field,” Rosten said. “And that’s it. And we’re going to play the game as hard as we can and see what happens.”

Here is the box score for Edgemont, submitted by coach Mark Gryzlo:

Austin Doukes 5 goals and 2 assistsJared Simon: 4 goals and 3 assistsMason Brooks 2 goals and 1 assistJacob Lerner 1 goalJacob Freidlander 1 assistTrevor Ortega: 6 Saves

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