Sound Shore

Mamaroneck’s Juan Giraldo, center, is hugged by teammates after he scored the team’s second goal against White Plains during the boys soccer game at White Plains High School on Oct. 20, 2011. Mamaroneck beat White Plains 3-1. ( Xavier Mascareñas / The Journal News )

See more photos from the Mamaroneck and White Plains boys soccer game in a photo gallery, and go to LoHud.com to read the story by writer Vincent Z. Mercogliano.

Port Chester’s goalie Jose Gonzalez makes a save on an indirect kick against Byram Hills during the last minutes of the first half during the boys soccer game at Byram Hills High School in Armonk on Oct. 13, 2011. Port Chester beat Byram Hills 1-0. ( Xavier Mascareñas / The Journal News )

See more photos from the Port Chester and Byram Hills boys soccer game in Armonk in a photo gallery, and go to LoHud.com for the game story Friday.

‘Tis the season for senior pranks, and this one’s a doozy … New Rochelle police were called out on Wednesday afternoon for a report of a possible body floating in the lake near New Rochelle High School. It turns out it was three blow-up dolls that were the “floaters”; police believe students threw them in there as a joke, reporter Will David says. (Sorry, we don’t have any pictures.)

Port Chester voters chose 18-year incumbent Anne Capeci and first-time candidate Bob Johnson to fill two open school board seats today.

Left in third place was Dominic Bencivenga, who sought to return to the board following a 12-year stint that ended in 2007.

Capeci, 72, who works as Rye Town clerk, was the top vote-getter.

Newcomer Johnson, 56, is a parent who teaches chemistry at a Connecticut high school. Prior to his teaching career, he worked in management at a precious metals company.

“I’m excited. I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work,” Johnson said Tuesday night.

The vote tallies were 964 for Capeci, 795 for Johnson and 659 for Bencivenga.

Residents also endorsed a $79.56 million budget for 2011-12 that raises the tax levy by 3.3 percent, by a vote of 734 to 666.

Abiyot Endale, a member of the Westchester Track Club runs with fourth-graders at the Chatsworth Avenue Elementary School in Larchmont today. Photo by Seth Harrison

Endale, who is from Ethiopa, was among four African members of the Westchester Track Club, who along with Mike Barnow, coach of the track club, held running workshops for students throughout the school day. After learning about aspects of how the runners lived in their home countries, the kids worked with the runners on stretching exercises and then ran running drills with them. Look for photos at Lohud.com and in tomorrow’s edition of The Journal News.

It’s awards time for the good work done by so many in our area this past season. Scarsdale’s Hiroki Kobayashi is our Westchester/Putnam player of the year and Clodalain Lolo of North Rockland has earned our Rockland player of the year. Scarsdale’s Joseph Cipriano and Spring Valley’s Ryan Marcus are our coaches of the year.

Let me tell you, it was exceptionally difficult picking the Rockland All-Stars and the Westchester/Putnam All-Stars, between the first team, second team and honorable mentions, especially Westchester/Putnam. Rockland has just 11 public schools and that was tough, but imagine what it was like with the Westchester/Putnam coverage area. There are 64 teams, including public, private and Catholic schools. And we include Fordham Prep in the Bronx, which has mostly Westchester kids on the team, and Mount St. Michael, which sits on the Mount Vernon border. The problem was, there were just too many talented players and too few slots. There are players on second team who could have made first team in other years and players on honorable mention, including a few who made All-State, who could have been among the top 22 in other years.

I agonized over many of these picks, but I spoke or e-mailed with all 64 coaches (plus the 11 in Rockland) and talked to independent people for thoughts on players. I had my own opinions as well and in the end, it was up to me to make the selections, and I did the best I could. You’ll see there are a lot of honorable mentions, reflecting the talent level.

If we had a rookie of the year, it would have been Mahopac freshman midfielder Arun Basuljevic. There are coaches who just rave about the potential he showed. Briarcliff’s Jon Cabeca and Irvington’s Ben Ovetsky had fine freshman seasons as well.

In the offseason, you’re welcome to let us know when seniors formally commit to play college soccer. You can email me at bheyman@lohud.com. We’d love to get those announcements up here on the blog.

Thanks to everyone for reading the LoHud soccer blog and posting during the season. We have had a lot of interest, and it’s appreciated.

Finally, below are the scoring leaders for the season:

Rye goalie Tatiana Saunders can’t reach the ball as Garden City scores the winning goal in overtime of the New York State Class A soccer championship game at SUNY Cortland today. Photo by Seth Harrison

Members of the Rye soccer team console each other after losing to Garden City in overtime of the New York State Class A soccer championship game at SUNY Cortland today. Photo by Seth Harrison

Garden City defeated Rye 2-1 after scoring a goal in the final seconds of the second overtime period to win the championship. Look for the story at Lohud.com and in tomorrow’s edition of The Journal News. View a gallery of photos from the Rye vs. Garden City championship game.

Rye celebrates after PIttsford Mendon’s Erin Lyons, left, deflected the ball into her own goal for the only score of the New York State Class A soccer semifinal game at Tompkins-Cortland Community College in Dryden, New York today. Photo by Seth Harrison

Rye advanced on to Saturday’s championship game with the 1-0 victory. Look for the story at Lohud.com and in tomorrow’s edition of The Journal News. View more photos from Rye vs. Pittsford Mendon.

Rye Country Day School is back on top. The top-seeded Wildcats claimed their second Fairchester Athletic Association tournament title in three years, taking down visiting No. 2 King Low Heywood-Thomas with a dominating 4-0 victory on Saturday.

Taylor Washington, the RCDS senior standout bound for B.U., had dedicated this season to coach Cristiano Pereira and Pereira’s dad, Almir, who passed away this past summer. And Washington, a four-year starter, delivered for them with two goals and one assist in the final. Ian Tecklin, Ignacio de Lera and Alex Gendelman stood out in the midfield, according to one big Wildcats fan who was there.

Harvey was hoping this was the year, too, the year it could get by its nemesis, Watkinson of West Hartford, the host in the Hudson Valley Athletic League championship game. The Cavaliers were seeded No. 2 and Watkinson was No. 1, just like in last season’s final, won by Watkinson 4-0. But for the fourth time in the last two years, Watkinson beat them, this time 3-0 on Saturday. Unlike last year’s title round, Harvey was in this game. It was scoreless until the 60th minute when Bryce Kadis scored off a corner kick, his first of two goals.

“It’s disappointing,” coach Alex Morse said. “We had a lot of good chances in the first half that we didn’t convert. They outplayed us. They had a little more skill. … We were kind of deflated after the first goal.”

Both Harvey and RCDS may get bids to the New England Prep School Soccer Association playoffs that begin on Wednesday.

Rye celebrates their 1-0 win over Cornwall in a class A girls soccer regional final at Middletown High School.

See more photos of Rye vs Cornwall girls’ soccer