Hudson Valley teams look to once again shine in New York high school field hockey spotlight

When it comes to field hockey in New York State, Section 1 is the one. Teams from the section that is made up of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Dutchess counties came away with two of the three state titles last fall.

In fact, since 2000, there have been just two years in which Section 1 did not have at least one state champion: 2007 and '08.

So as we take a look at some storylines in state field hockey this fall, the success of Section 1, and one program in particular, are front and center.

Lakeland looks for Lucky 7
 
Lakeland (Shrub Oak) is carrying a jaw-dropping, state-record streak of six straight state titles. The Hornets have won nine titles in their history, with the first in 1990 in Class A and the last six coming at the Class B level.

The architect of that amazing run of success is coach Sharon Sarsen, who is in her 34th season and has amassed more than 500 wins.

Sarsen will have a strong senior group to work with that is led by midfielders Dana Bozek and Valerie Perkins, defender Julia Kim and forward Brianna Muniz. Bozek is considered to be one of the state's premier players.

Mamaroneck's also back for more
 
Like fellow 2014 Section 1 state champion Lakeland, Mamaroneck boasts one of the state's most established and successful coaches in John Savage.

The Tigers, who beat Sachem East 5-0 in last fall's state Class A final, are led by senior left wing Lizzie Clarke, who is not only an able scorer but versatile and unselfish.

Cornell will be ‘Gladd' to have Garden City standout

Taylor Gladd attained a rare accomplishment following her sophomore year this past June. The Garden City midfielder gave a verbal commitment to an Ivy League program, verballing to Cornell's admissions process.
Gladd is a strong two-way player who participated at the Junior Olympics and who dedicates herself to field hockey 12 months a year. That's evident by her outstanding array of skills on both ends of the field.

Whitney Point hopes to be on point again

It was a banner season for Whitney Point in 2014. The Golden Eagles went 20-1 and won their first state title since 1999, beating Carle Place 1-0 in the Class C state final.

Whitney Point lost four starters to graduation, including five-year starting defender Courtney Dunham, the MVP of the state tournament who is now a freshman at the University of Rochester.

But with five ninth-graders who were all on the varsity team last season, the Golden Eagles should be strong again. However, Whitney Point suffered its first loss this season, a 2-1 setback to Fayetteville-Manlius, on Sept. 3.

Shen seeks return to glory

Shenendehowa (Clifton Park) fell short of its expectations in 2014. After winning the Class A state title in 2013, the Plainsmen fell to Saratoga Springs 1-0 in the 2014 Section 2 title game.

The teams met again on Sept. 8, and Shen gained a measure of revenge, winning 3-2 in overtime on a breakaway goal by Emily Fraser less than 30 seconds into the extra session. Fraser has made the U-19 national indoor team.

Shen has a talented and experienced group surrounding Fraser in Kelly Barkevich, Taryn Marra and Carli Pelletier.

Multimedia news and sports editor and producer Joe Lombardi is director of media initiatives and managing editor of the DailyVoice.com, as well as the primary author of the most recent edition of "Lacrosse for Dummies." Follow Joe on Twitter @Joe_Lombardi or e-mail jlombardi@dailyvoice.com.