Focus Issue 1

Brook High School

Blind Brook High School Band Takes on Citi Field in an Exciting Performance

By: Rachel Horn and Emily Tian

On September 16, 2022, the Blind Brook High School Bands were proud to represent the school at the Citi Field Mets game, under the direction of Mr. Lotze. The buses left Blind Brook at 4:30 pm, arriving just in time for the performance. First, the band members were invited backstage to watch the behindthe-scenes as they got ready to perform. They were also able to observe the filmmaking process es, operators, and crew members. In preparation for the perfor mance, the months of June and September were dedicated to the memorization of the Na tional Anthem. In order to ensure that everyone was performance-ready, the band prac ticed by splitting up sections of the piece, and playing each one from memory. The Wind Ensemble and Con cert Band pulled off an out standing performance of the national anthem in front of an audience of thousands. Several players on the field acknowledged the musicians, and band members were also excited to see them selves on the jumbotron. After the show, students and their fam

ilies were able to enjoy the rest of the baseball game from the stands. The Mets played against the Pittsburgh Pirates, finishing the game with a victory of 4:3.

It was an honor for the band to be able to play at Citi Field, one of the most reputable stadiums in the country. Deli cious foods and an energized audience filled the band with excitement. In addition to being an enjoyable experience for ev eryone, this bonding experience also brought the group closer together.

When asked about the performance, band director Brian Lotze remarked, “Playing at Citi Field was such a special ex perience for the band students and their families. Having the opportunity to rehearse, mem orize, and perform the national anthem in such a short amount of time is an amazing accomplish ment. Seeing all of the band stu dents and their families have such a good time at the game was something so important to me and our community!”

Blind Brook Band mem bers said they felt lucky to have the opportunity to participate in

Aces, Kills, Blocks, and Teamwork: The Recipe for Trojan Volleyball Dominance

this surreal experience. As one band member explained, “We will never forget when 40,000 peo ple gazed down at us. The audi ence’s applause invigorated us, leaving us with a strong sense of pride for our band, and school.”

On October 1, 2022, Blind Brook’s Varsity Volleyball team won their homecoming match in an exciting victory over Tucka hoe. Trojan fans filled the bleach ers, dressed in blue to show their school spirit and support their team. Before warmups and gameplay began, Senior Captains Ava Steele and Lauren Reed were thanked for their commitment to the volleyball program in the traditional rose ceremony. Cap tain Halle Greaige, Senior, was unable to attend the game, but still received an acknowledgment for

for her dedication to the team in the Blind Brook lineup. Both teams took their usual war mups, received pep-talks from their coaches, and gameplay got underway.

Continued on page 3

Homecoming

Blind Brook Tennis Season and Homecoming

By: Zoey Possick

The Blind Brook Girls Varsity Tennis Team fought hard this past season. Having the shortest season of the year, the team has worked incredibly dili gently to make every practice and match count. They displayed this in their Homecoming match against Rye B Team, coming out with a strong win of 6-1. Many family members of the team came to show their support, as well as members of the commu nity, and Blind Brook’s own Boys Varsity Soccer team.

To kick off their match, Athletic Director Kim Saxton led the team in their annual rose ceremony to honor the senior team members. The team also up held its well-known commitment to providing endless snacks before each match. The girls closed off their season with a 3-in-a-row winning streak, and are hoping to carry that through to sectionals on October 8th. However, the season will come to a melancholic end as the team loses their senior players. Captains Alyssa Trokie and Sim ryn Sharma, playing first singles and first doubles, respectively, have shown their dedication to

By: Max Corbin

the team throughout the sea son, and their teammates have expressed their sadness in pre paring for a season without them.

The spirit and support of first-year coach Todd Bazzini has been incredibly impactful and meaningful to the team. As a whole, the players have strength ened their mental and physical abilities as athletes and team mates. When asked about Coach Bazzini, Captain Alyssa Trokie stated, “He is positive, easy to talk to, and is always able to cheer us up if we’re down in a match. I’m certain if it wasn’t for him and his reassurance, it would have been way harder to win any of the matches I’ve played this season, and I’m so happy to have had him as my coach.”

Captain Simryn Sharma adds, “Coach has been an incredible addition to Girls Varsity Tennis. Being on the team for the past four years, I have had a hand ful of coaches, but nothing like Coach Bazzini. He cares about every player and takes time to work with each of us both on and off the court. He is the best way to end my last year on the team and his positivity and humor

will always inspire me.” The team has collectively expressed that they are hopeful Coach Bazzini will continue to work with them in the future. The wom en’s tennis team has had a season of growth in all aspects, coming to a bittersweet, but strong, end.

Football Homecoming

The Blind Brook Varsi ty Football team faced off against Albertus Magnus High School on Friday, September 30th at homecoming. With Albertus Mag nus coming off a 0-4 stretch to start the season, many were confi dent that the Trojans could come away with a homecoming win.

The Trojans started hot right from the kickoff. The first play of the game was a recovered onside kick, which led to a touch down run by junior Robby Car ey. Albertus Magnus quickly retaliated by scoring the follow ing drive. In response, quarter back Jake Minick scored off of a QB sneak after a lengthy drive into Albertus territory giving the Trojans a 13-7 lead. A few minutes later, the scoring didn’t stop with senior Lucas Monte sano catching a beautiful pass to put Blind Brook up 20-7 at the halfway mark. After halftime, the Trojans scored one more touchdown, thanks to sophomore Carmine

Casino. The game had many oth er high points, such as intercep tions by seniors Lucas Montesano and Andrew Civetta. Unfortunate ly for the Trojans, Albertus Mag nus wasn’t willing to go down quietly, and proceeded to go on a 37-point run during the sec ond half, making the final result 44-26, a victo ry for Albertus Magnus.

While the game didn’t swing in favor of the Trojans, Blind Brook still played a great game. Some notable players were senior John-Paul D’Inver no, who ran a tremendous 92 receiving yards, and senior Jack Vnenchak, who ran 100 receiv ing yards. When asked about the team’s performance, Jack Vnen chak stated, “We lost our fire at halftime, and we need to work harder this week to make sure that doesn’t happen in the future.”

Jack and the rest of the Trojans are looking forward to finishing the season off strong with four games left. The team put up a

great fight and their talent cer tainly hasn’t gone unnoticed

Homecoming

Down to the Wire, Trojans Emerge Victorious

By: Noah Dweck

The Blind Brook home coming soccer games took place during the evening of Saturday, October 1st. The girls’ game was first, followed by the boys’ game. As the huge crowd filed in, the girls took the field, followed by the Croton-Harmon Tigers girls team. Once the senior ceremony end ed, the game began. The Tro jans immediately brought intensity and energy. Trojans goalie Anna Vnenchak didn’t let anything pass her, and was unstoppable in the net. Addition ally, the defense was great, and the Tigers had trouble getting to the goal. The Trojans displayed intensity from the very begin ning, especially from freshmen Kayleigh Curran and Bella Mon tesano. Despite the Trojans’ great energy, the score remained 0-0. However, this all changed with about twelve min utes left in the first half.

The Trojans were award ed a free kick after a foul commit ted by the Tigers. Senior Sophia DeLaurentiis landed a beauti ful kick right into the goalie’s box, where striker Riley Storch scored, giving Blind Brook a

a 1-0 lead. The crowd went wild with the Trojans in control. This goal gave the Trojans the confidence they needed for the last twelve minutes of the half. With less than six minutes left in the second half, Senior Emma Kulekofsky gained control of the ball and put a missile into the back of the Tiger net from about 30 yards away, extending the Trojan lead from 1 to 2 goals. Blind Brook went into halftime with a 2-0 shutout going, and a great performance from goalie Anna Vnenchak. Coming out from half time, the Trojans felt good with their 2-0 lead, and hoped to maintain it. With a goalie change as well as some other changes, the Trojans were off to a good start in the second half.

With about 22 minutes left in the game, the Tigers fi nally struck, with a shot to the bottom left corner of the net to single the Trojan lead down to 1. About two minutes later in the game, the Tigers were award ed a penalty shot after a foul in side the box on a free kick. With

twenty minutes remaining, the Tigers tied the game 2-2. The game remained even for the next twenty minutes, re sulting in overtime. The first overtime went by with ten min utes of solid defense from both sides. With 45 seconds left in double overtime, captain Jor dyn Shohet dribbled the ball past her defender, and put a great shot into the bottom left corner of the goal, eking out an exciting victory for the Blind Brook Girls Soccer Team!

Aces, Kicks, Blocks, and Teamwork

continued from page one

The Trojans dominated the court for the first half of the match, winning the first set 25-7 and the second set 25-12. After falling behind 2-0, Tucka hoe seemed to wake up in the third set and won it 22-25, mak ing the match score 2-1. Driven

the game three sets to one. Proud teachers, parents, friends, and other relatives of our Tro jan Volleyball players cheered loudly as the ball went out of bounds off Tuckahoe and hit the floor for the final time, cele brating a hard-fought, and well-earned, triumph for Blind Brook. The following player stats are provided by Coach Carlone: Zaara Suhail, Junior, with 5 aces. Oriah Rosenfeld, Fresh man, with 16 kills. Lauren Reed, Senior, with 7 kills. Ella Rosenfeld, Freshman, with 5 blocks. Ava Steele, Senior with 4 blocks.

While there aren’t stats listed for the entire team, every sin by a determination to come out victorious, cheers from Tro jan fans, and encouragement from Coaches Gina Carlone and Samantha Yannuzzi, Blind Brook was able to eke out a victory in the fourth set, taking a 25-23 victory and ultimately winning

gle girl on the court had a part in the win for Blind Brook and they are all significant parts of one whole team. The volleyball team quarterfinals are on Monday, October 31. Go out and support Trojan Volleyball in their last season games!

Homecoming A Trojan Soccer Victory

By: Noah Dweck

After the exciting Varsi ty Girls Soccer game, the Varsity Boys Soccer team took the field, with a roaring crowd ready for another thrilling homecom ing showdown. From the start, everyone knew it was going to be a close game. The score re mained even until around a quarter in when the Croton-Harmon Ti gers had a fast break and put a cross into the middle of the box. The Tigers scored a goal which put them ahead of the Trojans. While the Tigers had the early lead, the crowd still maintained optimism that the Trojans would be victorious. Defense, led by captains Jack Sassower and Ethan Taerstein, was strong for

rest of the first half. With less than 11 seconds remaining in the first half, the ball crossed into the middle of the field where Eli Zimmerman got a great touch into the goal. This tied the game, giving the Trojans and their fans all the confidence head ing into halftime.

The score remained sta tionary until around the third quarter. That changed when the Tigers attacked, volleying the ball into the net off of an impres sive cross. However, after further review, the play was called off side and the game remained tied.

Toward the end of the second half, the Trojans started to dom inate on offense, with the addi

Focus Staff

Editor-In-Chief: Anna Baker-Butler

Operations

on of multiple huge saves from goalie Jack Bachmann. This was all due to the intensity of Blind Brook captains, Daniel Karetsky and Nico Gonzalez. Karetsky’s passing was on point, and Gon zalez was blowing past the defenders easily. Freshman Jack Shaw was also a vital compo nent for the Trojans, with quality passes and great hustle. As the Trojans started to get the ball closer to the goal, juniors Tomo Yamano, Martin Otero, Eli Zim merman, and sophomore Noah Brookman were creating the best opportunities in front of the net. Yamano had multiple big crosses in the second half, and

Brookman kept working the ball around the box, with Otero and Zimmerman around both of them.

Despite the many close at tempts in the second half, unfor tunately, Blind Brook scored no goals. The game went into a 10-minute overtime. For the last ten minutes, the Trojan defense was impossible to get past, and the ball was mostly in the Tigers half.

With no goals scored in overtime, the game went into dou ble overtime. The crowd was going crazy, hoping for a Trojan goal to end homecoming week end with a win. The ball went up and down the field, until there were about four minutes left in double overtime. The ball was in the Croton-Harmon box and was redirected multiple times. Final ly, Blind Brook’s Martin Otero got a perfect touch on the ball and scored the winning goal, another soccer victory for the Trojans! The crowd was so loud that many were able to hear the noise from their houses in the Arbors community. With the po sitioning and touch from Mar tin Otero, the Trojans exited homecoming night with two double overtime wins.

When asked days lat er about scoring the winning goal, and what securing the homecoming win felt like, Ote ro stated, “It felt really good to fi nally win it through a lot of hard work with the team. My broth er was there and he did it last year, and he was very happy for me.”

There could not have been a better way to end homecom ing weekend off then with two game winners in double overtime!

Writers

Zoey Possick and Rachel Horn

Multimedia Directors: Jordana Esterow and Charlotte Zelin

Layout Editor/Webmaster: Natalia Terentiev

Social

Melina Kohilakis

Editors

Features: Ben Messafi, Politics: Kunjal Kothari, Arts and Entertainment: Sydney Anmuth, Health and Science: Emily Tian, News: Abbie Goldstein, Viewpoints: Hailey Mallah, Sports: Joshua Dweck

Zoey Possick, Alexa Grossman, Noah Dweck, Rachel Horn, Emily Tian, Max Corbin