It’s hard to stop the Guilderland girls lacrosse team once it gets its offense rolling.
Bethlehem knew that coming into last Wednesday’s Section II, Class A final at the University at Albany, and the Lady Eagles were reminded of that fact as Guilderland pulled away to a 14-4 victory.
We knew this would be a tough game, said Bethlehem coach Dawn Austin. `We hoped it would be closer, and what it came down to was they had a roster of 24 players, and we had a roster of 18. We didn’t have the quality of depth to put in off the bench.`
The game was scoreless through the first eight minutes, but it wasn’t long before Guilderland’s high-powered offense built a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. The Lady Dutch (20-0) went on a 5-0 run, led by two goals from Bridget Daley, before the Lady Eagles (14-4) got on the scoreboard.
`It took us a while to get rolling, but I think that’s just our style,` said Daley, who finished with a hat trick. `Bethlehem has a really good team and a really good defense.`
Guilderland’s defense was more than just good on this night, though. The Lady Dutch rarely allowed Bethlehem a quality shot on goal, and when the Lady Eagles did get the ball on cage, goaltender Amanda Santandrea was there to make the save. Santandrea finished with 10 saves.
`Guilderland has a strong backer defense where they have a lot of speed and a lot of subs they can put in so they always have fresh legs out there,` said Austin. `They’re a tiring defense to play against.`
`Our offense controls (the action), but I was so impressed by my defense tonight. It was a nice collective effort,` said Guilderland coach Gary Chatnik.
Danielle Tetreault led Guilderland’s offense with a four-goal, two-assist performance, but she had plenty of help. Besides Daley’s hat trick, Courtney Davis and Erin Mossop each scored three times, while Amanda Best and Jen Madsen contributed two assists apiece.
`We never have a main weapon,` said Chatnik. `If you look at any of our games this season, somebody else is leading us (in scoring).`
Shirah Fudin, Kaitlyn Martin, Allie Phelan and Michelle Primomo scored Bethlehem’s four goals, and goalie Kristina Maksuti stopped five shots in the Lady Eagles’ first Sectional final appearance in three years.
`I’m extremely pleased with our season,` said Austin, whose Bethlehem team had no seniors on its roster. `We were a team that was previously 9-9, we came into this season losing only two seniors and we were hoping to use what we learned last year to help us this year.`
Guilderland advances to the regional round for the third consecutive year. The Lady Dutch meet the Section IX champion Wednesday in Kingston, with the winner facing the Section I champion Saturday in Westchester County.
`I think this (third Sectional title) puts an exclamation point on it,` said Chatnik. `Each year, we’ve had great senior leadership. This year we had eight seniors, and they’ve all won three titles now.“
