If the Niskayuna boys lacrosse team is going to win its fourth consecutive Section II, Class A title, it will need more performances like the one it had last Thursday against Shenendehowa.
Three Silver Warriors scored two goals, and Niskayuna’s defense frustrated Shen’s attack all day in a 9-2 Suburban Council victory at the University at Albany’s Fallon Field.
The win came two days after the Silver Warriors (3-0) downed Guilderland 14-2 on the same field.
We beat two of the better teams in the Suburban Council, so it was good, said Niskayuna coach Mike Vorgang. `I don’t think any of those teams had been on the field much before we played them.`
`We are fairly young, and we need to experience some of the things that we saw against Niskayuna,` said Shen coach Mark McQuade.
It took a while for Niskayuna to get its offense going against a stubborn Shen defense. Ben Romer got the Silver Warriors on the scoreboard with a goal off a feed from Nick DiSarro with 8:56 left in the first quarter, but it took more than four minutes before Rob Prendergast tallied to give Niskayuna a 2-0 lead.
The Plainsmen (1-3) cut Niskayuna’s lead in half on Kevin Bloss’ goal, but Dan McKinney scored with 1:26 left in the first quarter to put the Silver Warriors ahead 3-1. Romer and DiSarro then netted second quarter goals to extend Niskayuna’s advantage to four goals heading into halftime.
Niskayuna had to remain patient on offense in the third quarter, but a pair of quick strikes helped put the game away. McKinney ripped a shot past Bob Wardwell from the top of the box midway through the period for his second goal of the game, and Steve Lefebvre tallied a minute later to make the score 7-1.
`I thought we executed the offense pretty well. I was happy with it,` said Vorgang.
`We played well (defensively) in the second half,` said McQuade. `We started controlling some situations that hurt us in the first half. I think they were capitalizing on us in transition in the first half, and we controlled that in the second half.`
While seven Niskayuna players contributed to the offense led by DiSarro’s five-point afternoon (one goal and four assists), Shen’s attack struggled to get any points on the board. After Bloss scored late in the first quarter, the Plainsmen didn’t register another goal until Anthony Zappone scored in the fourth quarter.
`We put some defensive pressure on them, and they threw the ball away,` said Vorgang.
Wardwell ` an eighth grader ` stopped 10 shots in his third varsity start for Shen, while James Manchester matched that total for Niskayuna.
The Silver Warriors continued their strong start with a 12-3 victory over Ballston Spa Monday. Niskayuna jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first quarter and steadily pulled away for its third win of the season.
Jack Leary recorded a hat trick to lead the Silver Warriors. Lefebvre and Steve D’Amario each contributed two goals, and K.J. Flahive added a goal and an assist.
Niskayuna was scheduled to play its first true home game of the season Wednesday against Saratoga. The Silver Warriors’ April 3 game against Guilderland was considered a home game, despite being played at UAlbany.
Niskayuna wraps up an active week of Suburban Council games Friday at Shaker. The Silver Warriors then host Massachusetts power Duxbury Saturday at 3 p.m.“
