It was a slugfest from the get-go, with Mahopac and Lakeland-Panas both showing up to the Wild Wild West shootout with some significant ammo.
A game of this magnitude was supposed to play out this way.
Both teams are front-loaded with mudslingers capable of scoring goals by the bundles. When they're toting the hot sticks, each team can reel of a rapid-fire run.
In the end, Lakeland's spurt was too much for Mahopac to weather.
Lakeland broke a 3-3 tie with a six-goal onslaught, en route to a 14-8 sectional semi-final victory over the Indians March 27 at Lakeland HS in Shrub Oak, N.Y.
The game was halted for over 30 minutes in the third quarter, as the eruption of thunder sent both teams to the locker room. The Rebels were nursing a 10-5 lead with 3:25 remaining in the stanza.
The win catapulted the Rebels (15-3) to their second Section 1 championship appearance in as many years. The red-hot Rebels are riding a seven-game win streak entering the marquee battle.
The No.1 seed rebels face No.2 Yorktown in a rematch of last year's Sectional Championship on Wednesday, May 2.
The highly anticipated matchup comes with plenty of sizzle.
The Rebels squandered a 9-5 advantage and ended up losing, 11-10, in overtime.
Lakeland-Panas has used last year's meltdown as motivation, with players stenciling the words "end it" on their lockers while the close score of the heartbreaking loss is plastered all over the locker room walls.
The Rebels defeated the Huskers in the Murphy Cup back on May 1. That crucial win accomplished one of the two main goals the Rebels had set for this season. The other goal? Winning the Section 1 championship.
"You've got one of the more historic games here," said Rebels coach Jim Lindsey of Wednesday's behemoth title game battle.
"It's two arch rivals that want to go at it. We're going to have a dogfight on our hands."
With 1:56 remaining in a seesaw first quarter, Mahopac's Kevin Carey slipped through the nooks and crannies of the Rebels' D.
Carey nailed a short-range goal to deadlock the game at 3-apiece.
Lakeland-Panas responded, as Conor Prunty rocketed home a laser that froze up Mahopac's D.
Prunty's blast jump-started a mammoth 6-0 surge, a streak that broke the game open in the second quarter.
"We're all about momentum," said Rebels senior captain Will Fallo.
"Everything was clicking. We had to win 5-6 faceoffs to keep that (6-0) streak going. It was just like the Murphy Cup, where we had that big run in the third quarter."
During the aforementioned Murphy Cup, the Rebels ripped off a 5-0 run to seize control of the game. They deposited three goals in a span of 1:01 and overwhelmed their blood rival Huskers.
Against Mahopac, the Rebels' commanding second quarter tear allowed Lakeland-Panas to grab a 9-3 lead they never relinquished.
"We got into that mode where everything started going our way," said Shawn Honovich, who scored four goals and rocketed home a true dagger that gave the Rebels a 14-6 edge with 6:52 remaining.
"We just kind of put them away right there. We got into the flow of things and most importantly we kept our momentum and didn't let up."
It was before a bi-partisan crowd in Shrub Oak and heading into Memorial Day weekend. Considering the way the Rebels were sharing the love around, it seemed more like Valentine's Day weekend.
That's what happens when we're unselfish," said Prunty, a junior who's being actively recruited by Division-I programs such as Marist and Siena.
"We just keep the ball moving, and make that extra pass."
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