Win a draw here, or take a better shot there. Force one more turnover, or make one more save.
Anything of this sort might have allowed the Guilderland girls lacrosse team to become the first Section II squad ever to win a state championship.
Yet, it was Long Island champion Farmingdale that finished in front, rallying to beat the Lady Dutch 10-9 in Saturday’s Class A title game at SUNY Cortland.
It was a great game to watch, head coach Gary Chatnik said. `We controlled the ball well and played well. But we just didn’t execute (in the final minutes).`
These two sides were familiar with each other, with Guilderland having lost to Farmingdale in last year’s state semifinal round.
`We felt comfortable and confident this time around,` said Chatnik.
Part of that confidence was in knowing that Farmingdale’s defense was going to hone in on Danielle Teterault ` the Harvard-bound senior whose seven goals had pushed the Lady Dutch past Section V champion Fairport 13-9 in last Friday’s semifinal.
`We figured that would be the case,` Chatnik said. `But we have other people who can score, too.`
Sure enough, as Teterault lay quiet, her teammates shook off a 4-2 deficit caused by two Dalers goals 23 seconds apart midway through the first half. Amanda Best and Bridget Daley both scored to tie it, and Best hit on her third goal of the game 1:22 before halftime to give Guilderland a 5-4 lead at the break.
Ali Derizzo, Amy Branchini, Corinne Chatnik and the rest of the Lady Dutch defense kept Farmingdale off the board for more than 17 minutes, yet Guilderland could not stretch its lead past two goals.
Down 6-4, the Dalers tied it 7-7, only to see Guilderland make its own push. Off a feed from Daley, Jen Madsen scored with 9:12 left to put the Lady Dutch back in front, and Casey Gerety’s coast-to-coast run to the net resulted in another goal with 6:44 to play to make it 9-7.
But just like it did the day before when it dethroned two-time defending state champion West Genesee in the semifinal round, Farmingdale came back. Less than 90 seconds after Gerety’s goal, Kelly McPartland scored to cut the Guilderland lead to 9-8.
Moments later, the Lady Dutch appeared to get a break when the referees whistled a Dalers’ fast break dead for an injury to Madsen. When play resumed, goaltender Amanda Santandrea stopped Janine Hillier on a point-blank shot.
Guilderland tried to run out the clock, but turned the ball over with 1:20 to play. Farmingdale ran down and, with 59 seconds left, Melanie Raso beat Santandrea for the tying goal.
Raso then won the ensuing draw, allowing the Dalers to hold for one shot. When Kyra Ochwat charged to the net, she drew a foul that Guilderland questioned, but stood. On the ensuing free position shot, Ochwat waited for a split-second, then fired low past Santandrea with just nine seconds left to give Farmingdale the lead for good.
To get to the state finals, Guilderland first had to negotiate last Friday’s state semifinal against Fairport.
Perhaps nervous at the outset, Guilderland watched Fairport seize a quick 2-0 lead on goals by Lindsay McKinnon and Shelby Vakiener. Then, Tetreault took over. In a span of barely six minutes, Tetreault put together four unanswered goals, giving the Lady Dutch the lead for good.
Best and Courtney Davis scored 15 seconds apart to increase Guilderland’s margin to 6-2 at halftime. Fairport closed the gap to 6-4 early in the second half, but that only awakened Tetreault, as she scored two more goals, less than two minutes apart, to double the margin.
Erin Mossop’s goal with less than 15 minutes left sparked the decisive run of five unanswered goals that made the margin 13-5 before Fairport made a futile late comeback. During that time, Teterault put in her seventh goal, and Kelly Comardo converted 13 seconds later.
All this led to Saturday’s final, where a large contingent of red-clad Guilderland fans roared throughout the game, and kept their spirit despite the sad ending, shouting `We love you, Dutch` as the awards were handed out. Teterault, Daley and Best were named to the All-Tournament team.
That trio departs this season ` Teterault to Harvard, Daley to Syracuse University and Best to Fairfield. They were part of a senior group that went 45-2 the last two seasons, just missing the state championship on both occasions.
`This was the best group of seniors,` Chatnik said. `This (loss) is going to hurt for a while, but they have nothing to be ashamed of. They made the community proud.“