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SCHENECTADY — Several Niskayuna lacrosse players saw their first significant action against a powerhouse team when the Silver Warriors defeated 2022 state Class A champion Baldwinsville in a boys’ non-league game on the first of April.
Senior goalkeeper Cooper Harvey was among the group.
“That’s a tough situation to go into. It’s your second start on the varsity, against the defending state champion,” Niskayuna coach Mike Vorgang said. “It was a big moment for him, but it wasn’t too big for him.
“He looked no more nervous than when he was trying to kick three field goals.”
Harvey did that for the Niskayuna football team last fall in its most dramatic win, connecting three times including a 37-yard, last-second game-winner when the Silver Warriors edged Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake 9-6 and clinched the Section II Grasso Division title.
“I was definitely confident,” said Harvey, the Daily Gazette All-Area first-team kicker, on the night his field goals helped Niskayuna cap an undefeated run through the division. “I knew my snapper [Dan Miller], my holder [James Soule] and the line were going to do their job. I had to do mine.”
Harvey was, without a doubt, a key piece to Niskayuna’s most successful football season with his four field goals and 36 extra points on 37 attempts, with the 5-foot-5, 135-pound mighty might nailing all five of his PATs when the Silver Warriors topped Averill Park 35-6 for the Section II Class A championship.
He’ll be a key piece again this spring if the lacrosse team is to put together another championship season. Last season was highlighted by the program’s 18th Section II title, when Niskayuna clipped Ballston Spa 14-13 in the Class B final.
“You’ve got to relax and focus on the fundamentals,” said the 17-year-old Harvey, after making six saves in Tuesday’s 17-6 win over Burnt Hills. “You’ve got to trust the defense in front of you, which I do. As a goalie and a kicker, you can’t freak out.”
Harvey will be kicking next school year for the Westfield State University (Massachusetts) football team and studying sports management.
“He’s played lacrosse for a really long time, and he’s put a lot into it,” Vorgang said of Harvey, who backed up Tyler Carroll last season. “Football is his passion, but I’m so glad he came out to finish his lacrosse career. We’ve had kids in the past who did not play after they committed to another sport. We’re blessed to have him.”
Vorgang said Harvey has all of the traits a coach looks for in a goalkeeper.
“He’s never too up or too down, and it’s great to have that as a goalkeeper,” Vorgang said. “He has unbelievable hand-eye coordination. He’s tough. If he takes a pop, you wouldn’t know it. He’s a kid who will do everything you ask him to do.”
Harvey began his playing career as an attackman, but was soon toting around a stick with the bigger head, and putting all of his effort into stops rather than goals and assists.
“I always had a stick in my hands,” Harvey said. “In fourth grade [youth lacrosse], I was playing attack and they needed a goalie. Why not try something new, and it’s stuck with me.”
Harvey made five saves in Niskayuna’s season-starting 19-4 win over Bethlehem, and made a season-high 11 stops when the Silver Warriors topped Baldwinville 14-9. He gave up four goals in the second quarter of that contest, but two in the third and two in the fourth as his team extended on an 8-5 lead.
“They won states last year, but I was ready,” Harvey said. “Coach had us prepared. My job was to lock in and focus, and make saves when my number was called.”
“He’s doing great,” Niskayuna senior defender Dylan Coan said of Harvey, who shut out Bethlehem in the second half, like he also did in a 19-3 win over Saratoga Spring. “He’s made a lot of clutch saves, and our clear game is really good with him.”
“He’s been really solid all year, considering he didn’t play fall ball,” Vorgang said.
SISTER ACT II
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake has several new faces on its varsity girls’ roster, including eighth-grader Grace Kogut, who has joined her sister, junior Caroline, as a starting attacker. The Koguts were also on the BH-BL field hockey team last fall.
“I think playing [varsity] field hockey will definitely help her deal with things better at this level of lacrosse,” Caroline Kogut said of her younger sibling. “I definitely expect her to do some great things this season.”
Maggie Lescault did that last season as a seventh-grader when she made the Burnt Hills varsity lacrosse team and joined her sister, now senior MK Lescault, as a midfielder starter. Maggie Lescault’s highlight moment came in a state Class C regional final when her goal on an 8-meter drive with 4.6 seconds left gave the Spartans an 8-7 win over Tappan Zee.
“Once Caroline is gone, I can see Maggie and Grace leading our offense,” said MK Lescault, the Spartans’ career scoring leader.
After going scoreless in a season-starting 10-9 loss to Suffern, Grace Kogut had four goals and four assists for her first varsity points in a 22-3 win over Albany.
“That was good for her. Good for her confidence,” Caroline Kogut said. “I know she was very happy afterward.”
Grace Kogut said she’ll remember her first varsity goal for some time.
“I came around the crease, Maggie passed me the ball, and I scored left-handed,” said Grace Kogut, a natural righty. “I have practiced that over and over.”
“In the past year, she has grown a lot from her JV season to this season,” Burnt Hills coach Katie Kerner said of Grace Kogut. “She proved she is ready for varsity.”
Despite that growth, Grace Kogut wasn’t so sure.
“She was so nervous at tryouts,” Maggie Lescault. “We practice a lot together and she’s just gotten better and better. I kept telling her, ‘You’re going to make it.’”
All of the sisters have turned in strong performances in the early portion of the season, with MK Lescault collecting five goals and an assist against Suffern, and Caroline Kogut assisting five times in that game before notching five goals and three assists against Albany. MK Lescault had six goals and three assists Tuesday in a 17-11 win over Niskayuna and eclipsed 400 career points, while Maggie Lescault had four goals and two assists in that triumph.
“Sisters can go two ways,” Karner said. “These sisters coach each other out there in such a good way. It’s so positive. If one of them sees something that will help the other, they will let them know, and vice versa.”
THREE SHUTOUTS
The Schenectady/Mohonasen boys’ lacrosse team has won three of its first five games, and all three victories have come by shutout with Luc Todd between the pipes. The junior netminder made three saves Tuesday in a 15-0 win over Catholic Central/Bishop Gibbons, and before that, he made four stops in an 18-0 win over Maple Hill/Ichabod Crane and seven saves in a 20-0 in over Lansingburgh.
“Our defense wasn’t tested much [Tuesday],” Schenectady/Mohonasen coach Matt Marotta said. “Nick [Boilard] did a great job at faceoffs, and we maintained possession for the majority of the time.”
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