The Guilderland girls lacrosse team is off to another impressive start.
With Saturday’s 10-6 non-league victory over Section V power East Rochester in Herkimer, the two-time defending Section II champion Lady Dutch improved their record to 6-0.
The game followed a similar pattern to Guilderland’s first five wins, all against Suburban Council opponents. The Lady Dutch built a sizeable halftime lead and kept the Bombers at bay in the second half to earn the victory.
Danielle Tetreault led Guilderland with five goals and an assist, but it was by no means a one-player attack for the Lady Dutch. Jen Madsen contributed two goals and two assists, while Amanda Best and Courtney Davis each added a goal and an assist.
With our team, it’s not a question of one player (contributing). It’s a team effort, said Guilderland coach Gary Chatnik. `We like to share the ball, and we like to find who’s open.`
The Lady Dutch have looked dominant against Suburban Council opponents since opening the season with a 19-8 victory over Shaker two weeks ago. They’ve downed Niskayuna 19-3, Averill Park 16-3, Shenendehowa 18-2 and Saratoga Springs 16-4. In each game, they’ve taken a big lead in the first half before hitting cruise control.
Chatnik said the players are responding well to the challenge of trying to win a third straight Sectional title.
`The kids want to do it,` he said. `They’ve worked hard on and off the lacrosse field. And the nice part is that we’re solid all the way down to the seventh-grade level. This has become a true program.`
Chatnik said as lopsided as the games have been thus far, he knows that the danger of a loss always exists in the Suburban Council.
`Everybody gets better as the season goes,` said Chatnik. `The thing is, we have to play (each league team) twice, so we’re not resting on our laurels. As much success as we’ve had, we know we have to keep working hard.`
Guilderland’s next Suburban Council test comes Wednesday when it hosts Bethlehem. The Lady Eagles opened their season last week by splitting a pair of close games ` an 11-10 victory over Saratoga Springs and a 9-8 loss to Niskayuna.
Like Guilderland, Bethlehem uses a balanced attack to get its points. Six players had three or more points in the first two games, led by Kaitlyn Martin’s seven points (three goals, four assists). Michelle Primomo (three goals, two assists) and Cameron Caesar (five assists) each have five points, while Allie Phelan (two goals, two assists) and Shirah Fudin (four assists) each have four points.
Following Wednesday’s game at Guilderland, Bethlehem stays on the road for its next two league contests ` at Shenendehowa Thursday and at Columbia Friday.“