For Sleepy Hollow boys lacrosse coach Gary DiVico, the upstart Headless Horsemen must avoid faltering under the same problem that's plagued the recently-woeful New York Knicks in their 0-3 first round against Boston – too much reliance on key scorers.
Beyond the essential ingredients, other players will need to shine as the team nears the mid-way mark of the 2011 campaign.
Sleepy Hollow (7-1), which rattled off seven consecutive wins before wilting under the weight of a 5-1 second quarter spurt (en route to a 12-7 loss to Tappan Zee), will not rest on its laurels. A league championship has been the goal from the start and the team will not lose sight of an attainable accomplishment.
This season, Sleepy has the overall strength in numbers to become more balanced. The spread offense that DiVico runs is predicated on sharing the wealth, making guys slide and hitting the open man. Under this system, no single player is going to shoulder too much of the scoring load. Now it's time for other players to take some of the scoring mantle as the Horsemen share the wealth around.
"There are guys we need contributions from, to bring us to the next level," explained DiVico "You can't just depend on Jorge (Berenguer) and John Michael (Bogusz). We need more from our attack, need other guys contributing."
Defensively, keeper Jay Ramirez has kept the net intact. Helping the man between-the-pipes has been Tyler O'Donnell, who DiVico describes as "the quarterback of the defense."
Chris Diaz, in his first year playing lacrosse, has offered immediate contributions defensively.
"He's playing a key role," said DiVico. "I tell him, 'I wish you played all four years. He's been a diamond in the rough."
"I mean were halfway through the season, we are 7-1 so I'm not going to complain," DiVico said. "But we can get better. I think we can do more. We haven't played since Monday. We should come out with a lot of energy."
Sleepy Hollow has surfaced as a giant amongst their local teams, albeit they lack the depth and skill set of the rich lacrosse real estate at Yorktown, Mahopac, Somers, Lakeland/Panas, over-the-bridge teams such as Suffern and Tappan Zee.
Over a brief layoff, Sleepy has focused on patching up holes in their game. While they won't be shooting for perfection, they know aspects of their game need to be refined.
"We have to communicate a little bit better on defense," explained DiVico. "On offense we have to finish, we were getting open looks at the goal against Tappan Zee.
"There have been times where we've found some open looks, found some seams and we need to take advantage of them. Either that or the guy tries to go one-on-one and makes a save. Against good teams, those are the plays we have to finish."
With upcoming games against familiar foes such as Westlake and Briarcliff, DiVico is anticipating balanced scoring. The league foes have a good scout on the Headless Horsemen now and will be making a concentrated effort to lock up on potent scorers. The Horsemen must take advantage of strength in numbers over this crucial upcoming stretch.
Pleasant Surprise
In a matter of weeks, Jack Centra has gone from unknown commodity to immediate plug in Sleepy Hollow's offensive system. Centra, a wiry junior, has jumped at the opportunity to earn meaningful minutes at attack. There was a certain void in the offense and a starting attack job up was up for grabs.
The unsung Centra will be called upon to supplement the scoring exploits of go-to-guys such as Jorge Berenguer (20 goals, 21 assists), Denis Maloy (21 goals, 10 assists), Tim Rachlin (18 goals, 11 assists), and senior John-Michael Bogusz (12 goals, 11 assists).
Centra left his fingerprints on the turf in wins against Westlake, Clarkstown North, and hapless Blind Brook.
