The Guilderland hockey team earned the inaugural Albany County Cup, but the Dutchmen are focused on a bigger prize the Section II, Division I title.
Guilderland (12-3-0 league, 13-9-1 overall) defeated Shaker/Colonie 4-2 in Saturday’s Albany County Cup final at the Albany County Hockey Facility.
It’s real nice to win a tournament, but right now our focus is on Sectionals,` said Guilderland coach John DeRubertis. `It was really nice to have an intense, competitive game going into Sectionals, but otherwise it had no bearing on our Sectionals seeding.`
Shaker/Colonie (4-8-2, 8-13-3) rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game at 2 before Josh Evans scored the go-ahead goal for Guilderland late in the third period.
`We battled hard, and we’re starting to come around in our season,` said Shaker coach Steve Hudak. `I think we’re peaking right now, which is when we want to peak.`
Evans’ goal carried a little controversy in Hudak’s eyes. S/C goaltender Jim Lanne stopped Nick Koss’ initial shot, and it appeared the goal became dislodged before Evans skated in untouched and poked the rebound in.
`The net was clearly off. Everyone in the rink saw it except the refs, I guess,` said Hudak.
Guilderland took its 2-0 lead on two first period goals by Dan Dickinson.
`He’s a goal scorer, and he seems to be there at the right time,` said DeRubertis. `He’s got a nose for scoring.`
`I thought we played well in the first period, but Guilderland’s a team that capitalizes on their opportunities, and they’ve got some goal scorers,` said Hudak. `We’re a team that has to battle for every opportunity.`
Seth Clickner got S/C on the scoreboard early in the second period when he picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and skated along the right side before firing a slap shot just inside the blue line past Guilderland goaltender Brendan Glennon. D.J. O’Connell tied the game later in the period when he took a pass from Mike McCloskey and ripped a shot over Glennon’s shoulder.
Both teams had chances to take the lead in the third period before Evans scored with 2:18 left.
`(After the second period) I told them they quit. ‘You guys got two goals and thought it was going to be easy, and that’s not how it works,’` said DeRubertis. `I emphasized to them that with Sectionals coming up, if you approach every game this way, you’re going to get it handed it to you. And they responded in the third period.`
Collin Burg added an empty net goal with seven seconds left to seal the victory for Guilderland.
Both teams begin their Sectional playoff pushes Wednesday. No. 2 seed Guilderland hosts No. 7 Saratoga Springs at Union College, while No. 6 S/C travels to No. 3 seed LaSalle.
`We have a tough game coming up on Wednesday,` said Hudak. “