YORKTOWN — Gritty Niskayuna dug itself out of an early hole with some clutch goals before Yorktown finally subdued Section II’s premier team,

9-6, in a state Class A quarterfinal game Wednesday afternoon at Charlie Murphy Athletic Field.

The emotional setback was the first for the young and surprising Silver Warriors (21-1), who came into the spring season with just five seniors and three returning starters.

“This is something we haven’t felt before as a team,” said Niskayuna senior defender Zach Frohne, who excelled in defeat. “We’ve been down before and come back. This time, we didn’t come back.”

“We did it before in the reg­ular season and pulled out some big games,” said senior attackman Steve D’Amario, who led the Silver Warriors with three goals and an assist. “We had some big victories, but you can’t have those breakdowns and expect to do it at this level.”

After giving up three unanswered goals to open the regional rematch, Niskayuna four times sliced its deficit to one. Yorktown (Section I, 20-3) produced three of the game’s last four goals to create the final margin, and deny Niskayuna its third state semi­final appearance and second at the Class A level.

“We’ve got good players. They’re not quitters,” Niskayuna coach Mike Vorgang said of his team, which came in ranked

No. 18 on the STX/Inside Lacrosse national poll. “After they got the three goals, we made it 3-2 and we were right there. Then they scored and we scored again, and we were still there.

“We were fighting the whole way. It just didn’t go our way today.”

The contest was nothing like Yorktown’s four previous postseason games, in which it outscored its foes, 68-20. The Cornhuskers rolled past Valley Central in their regional semifinal, 18-3, and won their section before that with a 17-5 blistering of Lakeland/Panas.

“We got fired up and got the first three goals, and we let them back in it. They’re a very good team, and it went back and forth and back and forth for a while there,” said soph­omore attackman Kevin Interlicchio, who topped the Cornhuskers with three goals and two assists. “Our seniors did not want to go out with a loss on this field.”

“Every time we got within a goal, they did a good job of responding,” Vorgang said. “Credit to them.”

Credit as well to Niskayuna, which got an ice-breaking goal from Dan McKinney with two seconds left in the opening quarter and another score from D’Amario 70 seconds into the second frame to make it 3-2. Third-quarter goals by Will McPartlon, Jared Franze and D’Amario got the Silver Warriors within one each time, with D’Amario’s making it 6-5 at the 1:30 mark.

“In the end, we didn’t have enough,” D’Amario, an All-Amer­ican, said afterward. “All five of us seniors [including Seth Berggren, Paul Sapia and Brendan Leach], we’re all feeling it right now.”

Interlicchio produced a goal with one second left in the third quarter, and Tom Casey’s flick past James Manchester gave Yorktown an 8-5 edge with 9:21 left in the final period. D’Amario’s third goal 27 seconds later was followed by Interlicchio’s third at the 4:34 mark.

“The biggest goal, in my opinion, was the one with a second left in the third quarter,” Vorgang said. “They got that one after we had the ball at the other end. We were one-on-one and their goalie made a big save, and they come down and score.

“I wish we held it for 10 more seconds.”

“That was a big momentum shift,” said Interlicchio. “The third quarter was back and forth, and that gave us momentum going into the fourth quarter.”

Interlicchio, Brendan Kurpis and John Ranagan scored before the game was eight minutes old, giving Yorktown its early advantage. While Niskayuna gallantly fought back, its bid was slowed by an

0-for-5 showing in man-up sit­uations, and hot Cornhuskers goalie Mike Bonitatibus, who made several sensational stops among his 13 saves.

Frohne was Niskayuna’s standout defensive player. Normally a shortstick defensive midfielder, he moved to the defensive end fulltime and with his one-on-one work limited Kurpis to one goal and one assist. The All-American came in with team highs of 54 goals and 35 assists, and was 4-7 against Valley Central.

“I played the best I could and as hard as I could for 48 minutes,” Frohne said.

Niskayuna also lost to Yorktown in the 2007 state quarters, 6-5. Niskayuna is 2-4 all-time in state play against Yorktown, winning in 2005 (Class A) en route to the title game and in 2000 (Class B).

“I didn’t feel we’d go undefeated up until now,” said Vorgang. “There’s only four teams still playing, and I’d give 10 losses in the year for this one.”

Section II’s other hopefuls were also eliminated, as South Glens Falls fell to John Jay, 17-2, in Class B, and Johnstown was outmatched by Rye, 18-3, in Class C.

Niskayuna 1 1 3 1 — 6

Yorktown 3 1 3 2 — 9

Niskayuna scoring: Jared Franze 1-0, Dan McKinney 1-0, Will McPartlon 1-0, Steve D’Amario 3-1. Yorktown scoring: John Froats 2-1, Rocky Bonitatibus 0-2, Tom Casey 1-0, Kevin Interlicchio 3-2, Brendan Kurpis 1-1, John Ranagan 2-0.

Goalkeepers: Niskayuna, James Manchester, 13 saves. Yorktown, Mike Bonit­atibus, 13 saves.