MAHOPAC — The Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake boys’ lacrosse team wasn’t able to get much momentum during its NYSPHSAA Class C regional championship game against Section 1’s Rye on Saturday.
Although the Spartans were able to string together some late goals, it was too little, too late, falling to Rye 12-6.
“We’ve got to embrace the experience and be happy with where we got to,” said Burnt Hills’ coach Jason LaPietro. “We want to compete a little bit better in certain situations, but they’ve got nothing to hand their heads about and they should be proud of everything they accomplished.”
Burnt Hills, who recorded a blowout 21-4 win over Section 9’s Our Lady of Lourdes last Wednesday, was looking to return to the state semifinals for the second straight year.
“We really didn’t make too many changes,” said LaPietro, who took over the program for Tom Schwan this season. “I’ve got two great coaches, who are true lacrosse guys. A lot of our players this year were involved in what we did last year under Coach Schwan, pushing through as far as we did.”
Rye came out to a 4-1 lead in the first quarter and built the lead to 6-1 at the half. The Garnets continued a stretch of scoring nine straight goals until late in the third quarter, when the Spartans’ Lucas Donahue finally brought an end to that stretch.
“There’s five freshmen out there,” LaPietro said of his squad. “Our seniors are going to go on and do great things, but the young guys are going to learn and work to get back here.”
“Sometimes in the moment you might lose the appreciation of it,” he added on being in the state tournament. “Then you realized what you have accomplished. We talked all week about being one of four Section 2 teams that’s getting to practice and that’s a big deal; you want to be able to get there, but it’s not easy.”
Trailing 12-2, Burnt Hills was able to score the final four goals of the game, cutting the deficit to 12-6, before time expired.
Colden Swisher and Donahue each had two goals for the Spartans, while Ronan Kuhn and Ryan Lussier each had one.
Burnt Hills finished its season 11-9, after a tough Suburban Council schedule. Rye advances to the NYSPHSAA Class C semifinals, which will be on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at UAlbany against Section 8’s Manhasset.
Andrew Keller led Rye in scoring with three goals, while Tyler McDermott, Garrett Sullivan and Tucker Hess each had two.
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake 1 0 1 4 — 6
Rye 4 2 5 1 — 12
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake scoring: Swisher 2-0, Tullock 0-1, Donahue 2-0, Kuhn 1-0, Lussier 1-0. Rye scoring: Keller 3-0, McDermott 2-0, Redd 1-0, Howson 1-1, Sullivan 2-0, Hess 2-0, Berkery 1-0.
SCHUYLERVILLE FALLS TO PLEASANTVILLE IN CLASS D REGIONAL
Although the Schuylerville boys’ lacrosse team got off to a strong start in its NYSPHSAA Class D regional against Section 1’s Pleasantville, the Black Horses eventually fell 15-5.
With Schuylerville leading 3-2 in the second quarter, Pleasantville scored 12 consecutive goals, a run that extended to the fourth quarter, blowing the game open.
Daniel Picart led the way for Pleasantville with five goals, while Shane Mueller and Erik Coleman each had three.
Ollie Bolduc contributed a pair of goals for Schuylverville, while Landon Cumm had one goal and two assists. Joshua Bowen and John McGarrahan each had one goal.
Contact Kyle Adams at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @kasportsnews.
Categories: High School Sports, Sports
