LATHAM — It took a lot of sweating and a fourth quarter comeback, but Niskayuna finally found the late scores from its star that it needed to beat Ballston Spa on Tuesday night in the Class B boys’ lacrosse final at Shaker High School, 14-13.
The game went into the fourth quarter tied at 12. Ballston Spa barraged Niskayuna goalie Tyler Carroll with shots and he made a number of saves, but Matt King finally put one past him with 9:20 remaining to give the Scotties the lead.
However, Niskayuna did not back down. Already with five goals to his credit, University of Denver commit Greyson Vorgang scored with 4:55 to play to tie the game, then scored again 1:23 later to give Niskayuna a lead it never relinquished. Vorgang finished with seven goals as part of a nine-point night.
All of this came after it was a back-and-forth first three quarters, with the Silver Warriors never leading by more than three in the first half but Ballston Spa hanging tough, never taking the lead but tying it once. Ballston Spa took the lead by scoring the first three goals of the second half as part of a 5-0 run to make it 11-9 and then led 12-10 before Niskayuna scored four of the final five goals of the night.
“It really was an emotional roller coaster. It was highs when we thought we were pulling away in the beginning, but they were really tough and kept battling back over and over again. It really tested our endurance as a whole team and our belief in each other,” Vorgang said.
This sectional title means a little bit more as Vorgang was forced to miss the first part of the season due to a stress fracture in his foot, not appearing in a game until April 20.
After picking up his first three goals of the night in the first quarter, Ballston Spa put a roving defender on him but he was still able to pick up four more goals through the rest of the night.
“I had a feeling that they were going to do that eventually. He stuck to the game plan, he didn’t get frustrated and then the ball eventually found him,” Niskayuna coach Mike Vorgang said. “His teammates got him the ball seven times or he got a few himself, but it’s a team game and somebody has got to score the goals. When your best player gets seven, usually good things happen.”
Saif Chowdhrey and Lucas Klokiw scored two goals each for the Silver Warriors as well. Ballston Spa was led by King, who finished the night with four goals while John Serina, Peter Siracuse, Geno DeRubertis and Sean Dwyer had two each.
“They fought in the game. Down, keep fighting back and keep clawing. Get it to one goal at the half and take a lead in the fourth quarter, we just weren’t able to hold onto it,” Ballston Spa coach Luke Snow said.
Niskayuna advances to the state tournament, a familiar spot for the program, where it will play in the regional final this weekend for a bid to the state final four.
“I think we can make a good run. We have fighters all over the field, we have really good skill players, our defense has been playing like a unit,” Greyson Vorgang said. “We definitely need to clean up from tonight, we didn’t play our best game, but I’m happy we came out with a championship.
Ballston Spa 4 4 4 1 — 13
Niskayuna 6 3 3 2 — 14
Niskayuna scoring: Vorgang 7-2, Chowdhrey 2-1, Klokiw 2-0, Carroll, D. 1-2, Kerr 1-2, Abdu 1-0, Williams 0-2, Licht 0-1. Ballston Spa scoring: King 4-1, Serina 2-2, DeRubertis 2-1, Dwyer 2-0, Siracuse 2-0, Burmaster 1-0. Goalkeeping: Niskayuna: Carroll, T: 12 saves; Ballston Spa: Zichelli: 8 saves
Categories: -Sports-, High School Sports, Your Niskayuna
