MIDDLETOWN — Senior midfielder Lucas Klokiw knows the next step in Niskayuna High’s quest for a Class B boys lacrosse state championship won’t be as easy as Wednesday’s 21-4 win over Section 9 titlist Warwick at Faller Field.
Klokiw scored two of his three goals as the Silver Warriors (17-2) bolted to a 5-0 lead in the Class B regional game and were never challenged in the mismatch with Warwick (14-5). Niskayuna led 18-2 at the half and made ample use of its bench.
But the perennial Section 2 powers were tripped up last year in the next round of the state playoffs as Section 1 champ Rye prevailed 18-8 in the regional final.
Klokiw, who will play lacrosse at Division I Denver next fall, doesn’t want his high school career to end without having an opportunity to capture the school’s first state title since 2015. Niskayuna will have to beat Section 1 champion Yorktown in their showdown at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday at Mahopac High to advance to the State Final Four.
“We’re going to have to play better as a team,” Klokiw said. “Last year, we kind of fell apart in the second half. This year we have a lot of chemistry and we all worked hard in the offseason with a lot of weightlifting and practices. I’m confident we’re going to get past Yorktown and move on.”
Niskayuna coach Mike Vorgang, who started the boys lacrosse program in 1993, liked what he saw from his team in the dominant win over the Wildcats.
“We wanted to come out and try to play well and shoot the ball well and we really did that well today,” he said. “We challenged their goalie on every shot. We wanted to make sure to be really organized and play quality offense. Defensively, I think we could have done a better job, but offensively we played very well.”
Vorgang said Klokiw, a three-year starter, set the tone with his early goals.
“He’s our best midfielder,” Vorgang said. “When he plays like he played today, it’s going to be a really good day for us.”
Niskayuna had a balanced scoring attack with Davey Carroll scoring four goals and Greyson Vorgang and Saif Chowdhrey each scoring three goals. Greyson Vorgang led the Silver Warriors with five assists.
The Niskayuna coach is looking forward to taking on the Section 1 winner on Saturday. He said the Silver Warriors trailed only 8-6 in the third quarter in last year’s game vs. Rye, but didn’t see the ball much the rest of the game because it couldn’t win any faceoffs.
“That score is a little misleading to how the game played,” Vorgang said. “I think Saturday is going to be a great game. Yorktown is a great team and we’ve played them many times in the state tournament. We’re looking forward to it.”
Warwick 1-1-2-0-4
Niskayuna 11-7-1-2-21
Warwick scoring: Vogt 3-0, Finn 1-0, Sullivan 0-1. Niskayuna scoring: Carroll 4-1, Vorgang 3-5, Klokiw 3-1, Saif Chowdhrey 3-0, Licht 2-2, Williams 2-0, Kerr 1-2, Sami Chowdhrey 1-1, Abdu 1-0, Clark 1-0.
Goalies: Warwick, Solari, 3 saves. Niskayuna, Harvey, 3 saves, Katz, 1 save.
Categories: -Sports-, High School Sports, Sports, Your Niskayuna
