SLEEPY HOLLOW – Nobody was ready to go home.

After the program’s best run in nearly 30 years, Sleepy Hollow suffered a 9-7 loss to Pelham on Friday in a Section 1 Class C quarterfinal. It was the first setback of the season for the No. 1 seed.

“It’s rough,” senior midfielder Will Kelly said. “We had bigger expectations, but I couldn’t be prouder of what we did. I think we got caught up in the moment at times and then with time winding down, we ran out of gas.”

The Horsemen sat together for 20 minutes after the final horn, before the coaches sent them down the hill for one last postgame huddle in the locker room.

“We’ve been through so much together,” added Kelly, who recalled a 1-15 record his freshman season. “We took our lumps then, but we know how to fight. And we didn’t give up.”

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A blizzard of turnovers overheated everyone on the field and made possession time scarce, but the Pelicans took advantage of extra-man and transition opportunities to pull ahead in the fourth quarter. There was a moment or two of settled offense, as well.

“It was going back and forth and back and forth,” Pelicans attackman Eric Elbery said. “Eventually, we were able to hang on to the ball and get it around. We got our legs moving in the third quarter. We were pretty lazy in the first half, but we got a break, got some water and went from there.”

Pelham will visit Byram Hills in the semifinals.

The Pelicans did not have Johns Hopkins commit Jerry Reen in the lineup due to an injury. He is questionable for the rest of the season.

“I still feel like we have enough talent and depth on this roster to push forward,” Pelham coach James Rogers said. “Sleepy Hollow was significantly more difficult to play against than I expected. They have athletes up and down the lineup. Their poles come out and put on an intense amount of pressure. There is no easy dodging. (Dylan) Nelson is an absolute horse. I’m not sure he ever came off the field.”

The Pelicans took a 4-3 edge into the fourth quarter, then got a long pole transition goal from Nick Loria. Next came a settled goal from Matteo Johnson and then an extra-man goal from Callum Reen. 

While the Horsemen did answer, Teddy Johnson and Elbery cut the comeback's short and stretched the lead to 9-5 with 2:46 to go.

"We played toe-to-toe earlier this season with Mamaroneck," Rogers said. "We’ve just to come out viewing every team as Mamaroneck and play with the same intensity."

The value of wing play was obvious each time Henry Moderelli scooped a ground ball to give Pelham critical faceoff wins. He was busy, too, helping the Pelicans lock off Nelson, who had a quick hat trick.

Pelham (10-5): Elbery had two goals and two assists. ... Chris Francini and Daniel Johnston also had one goal apiece. ... Callum Reen finished with a goal and an assist.  ... Lucas Fredbeck and Will Dunhill each had one assist. ... Will White made six assists.

Sleepy Hollow (15-1): Nelson had three first-half goals and one assist. ... Kelly had two goals and one assist. ... Tyler Mahood had a goal and two assists. ... Harrison Halesworth had one goal. ... Liam Hanson made five saves.

"I know the guys I play with and there is no quit, ever," Nelson said. "I didn’t think we were going to lose until there were five seconds left on the clock. I couldn’t be prouder and I mean that from the heart. ... This really all started with this group and the guys a year ahead of us. We all played in the youth program from when it was founded. I remember coming to watch the high school games and that feeds the program. I’ve got my brother in the stands. It’s generation to generation. There’s a lot of good lacrosse kids in this area. I’ve seen it. I’ve coached the younger guys. To get everyone in the stands for a game like this one just expands the sport and it’s great for the town, which really came out for us."

Mike Dougherty covers boys soccer, boys lacrosse, girls basketball and golf for The Journal News/lohud.com. He can be reached at mdougher@lohud.com, or on Twitter @hoopsmbd, @lohudlacrosse, @lohudhoopsmbd and @lohudgolf.