Monday, Nov. 13, 2017: Lakeland extends field hockey title run to nine

   Leading off today: Junior Julianna Cappello scored the first three goals as Lakeland defeated Vestal 5-0 for the NYSPHSAA Class B field hockey championship Sunday.

   The championship was the ninth in a row for Lakeland, which went 22-0 this fall and outscored opponents by a 140-5 margin.

   Cappello scored just 1:23 into the final following a penalty corner, but Lakeland didn't have breathing room until Cappello scored twice more to start the second half.

   "Julianna just made things happen," longtime Lakeland coach Sharon Sarsen said.

   Lakeland hasn't lost since a 2-0 setback at Darien (Conn.) on Oct. 20, 2012 and hasn't lost to a New York opponent since falling to Putnam Valley in the Section 1 Class B final Nov. 1, 2008.

   Sarsen is 617-71-39 in 36 seasons as coach.

    • Whitney Point made it four straight victories in Class C finals by edging Carle Place 1-0. Leanne Bough connected off a penalty corner with 3:46 left at Maine-Endwell.

   "It's surreal," coach Nicole Huston said. "One was awesome, but being able to have four is hard to comprehend. It's amazing what this program is turning into."

   It's never over 'til it's over: Perry/Mount Morris forfeited a pair of regular-season football wins last week due to a player eligibility issue, the Wellsville Daily Reporter noted.

   York/Pavilion and Bolivar-Richburg each picked up the after-the-fact wins. Coupled win a forfeit received from Geneseo after a close loss, B-R improved to 5-4 for the season.

   "It's strange for something like this to happen once, but twice is something you don't see often," B-R coach Steve Smith said. "You tell the team all the time to control what you can. Clearly, we have no control over situations like these."

   The paper reported that the Perry/Mount Morris player lacked "an adequate health examination during the 2017 season."

   Attempted murder charge for attack on QB: A Queens man has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly using his minivan to run down Long Island City quarterback Christopher Miraba in an Oct. 31 incident, New York City media reported recently.

   Keith Richard, 50, of Long Island City was being held without bail and facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.

   Miraba, 17, was leading his league in passing yards, completions and passing touchdowns at the time, The Times Ledger reported.

   The junior was among a group of teens throwing eggs on Halloween night according to reports, but it was not clear whether Miraba was participating in the prank. Witnesses said Richard drove his vehicle onto the sidewalk toward the youths. As Miraba ran, Richard allegedly struck him intentionally, according to the charges. Richard then

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reversed the van, striking Miraba again, and then drove forward, hitting the teen for the third time before fleeing the scene, the DA's office said.

   Richard stopped half a block away and a witness approached and told him he had killed a person. Richard allegedly said, "That's what happens," according to the criminal complaint.

   Miraba was taken to an area hospital, where he was being treated for a fractured skull base, multiple spinal fractures, bruised lungs, a broken right femur, a pelvic fracture and a broken right ankle, the Queens DA's office said.

   Richard was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court the following day on charges of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting serious physical injury and reckless driving.

   Not a fan: I missed this story when it ran last month, but it's a safe bet football coaches Dino Babers of Syracuse University and Joe Martillotti of Long Island's Lawrence High won't be trading Christmas cards.

   The Daily Orange interviewed 14 New York high school coaches about Babers and how he recruits players from New York, which is always a touchy subject for SU coaches since the state is certainly not rich with Division I talent. Comments seemed mostly neutral or somewhat positive, but there were also detractors.

   Martillotti's beef with Babers seemingly stems from how ex-Lawrence star Jordan Fredericks was handled at SU. Fredericks led the team in rushing in 2015 as a freshman under the previous coaching regime but found himself buried on the depth chart the following fall.

   Frustrated over a lack of playing time, Fredericks asked Martillotti to help him figure out what to do. So, Martillotti said, he called the football office. He said repeated calls to Babers went unanswered and finally got in touch with Mike Hart, the then-running backs coach. Hart told him to speak with Babers since the head coach doled out playing time.

   Martillotti said previously head coaches often returned calls. Yet, Babers did not and the situation became "standoffish," Martillotti said.

   "To not get a phone call back," Martillotti said, "it's just completely disrespectful. As far as I'm concerned, I will never send another kid to Syracuse. ... I think the guy is, to put it bluntly, a complete piece of (expletive)."