GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland girls’ lacrosse team opened its season last week with two wins against two of the top teams in the state.

The Lady Dutch beat Section II rival Niskayuna, 14-5, in a contest played at Union College.

Danielle Tetreault led the scoring with five goals and two assists. Courtney Davis added three goals; Jen Madsen had two goals and two assists; and Amanda Best added a goal and an assist.

Chelsey Newman, Kristen Cagino, and Abbey Fashouer each had a goal.

Amanda Santandrea had four saves in goal.

Guilderland opened up with a 9-4 halftime lead.

“I thought we played an excellent game, especially for it being our first game and against an excellent team like Niskayuna,” Coach Gary Chatnik said. “We controlled the midfield. Amanda, Bridget Daley, Chelsey, Kristen, and Ali DeRizzo played the entire field well both offensively and defensively. They were aggressive and played smart.”

The attack accounted for 11 of the 14 goals.

“Courtney, Jen, Danielle, and Abbey really moved the ball and made good decisions,” Chatnik said. “They are an excellent unit.”

“Unsung heroes”

Niskayuna was only able to get nine shots on goal.

“Our defense will be the unsung heroes this year,” Chatnik said. “They will not make the newspapers, but we as a team know how good they are. Any team that allows a power like Niskayuna only nine shots on goal is doing something right.”

Niskayuna is the defending Class B Section II champion.

Lauren Cagino, Amy Branchini, Corinne Chatnik, Marissa Page, and Casey Gerety make up the starting defense. And Santandrea was solid in goal.

“Amanda had a good night,” Chatnik said. “I thought she made the saves she had to. It was a nice way to get her career going.”

Powerhouse doused

Guilderland traveled to Westchester County to play Section I power Lakeland-Panas High School, which was ranked number two in New York State last year and beat Guilderland in last year’s state regionals.

Guilderland jumped out to a 7-1 halftime lead and won, 10-5.

Newman led the scoring with three goals. Fashouer added two goals and two assists.

Daley had two goals; Tetreault and Best each had a goal and an assist; and Cagino added a goal.

Santandrea made five saves in goal for the Lady Dutch.

“This was another good win against a perennial state powerhouse,” Chatnik said. “It shows that we are playing with maturity and confidence. We jumped out quickly, then they made a small run in the second half, but we made a couple of big plays and put it away.”

Two big plays protected the lead.

Lakeland had a fast-break opportunity with a score of 8-5, but Corinne Chatnik made a stop and Cagino picked up the ground ball and Guilderland went down to score.

Lakeland got the ensuing draw, then an eight-meter penalty shot, on which Santandrea made a great save.

“Those were two big plays among many,” Chatnik said “but they stood out because Lakeland was making a run. The defense did a nice job — they only got 10 shots on goal.

“Amy, Marissa, and Casey had solid games along with Lauren and Corinne,” Chatnik added. “Amanda keeps getting better in goal. We were poised throughout.”

Guilderland’s scoring was potent again.

“It does not have to be any one person scoring for us,” Chatnik said. “Everyone can score on our team. This game, the midfield had a great day scoring. They played excellent and what is not seen is the defense along their field play. I thought Amanda, Bridget, Chelsey, and Kristen had huge games. Abbey ran a lot of midfield. They are coming together as a unit.”

Even though the attack did not score a lot, Chatnik was pleased.

“Our attack does more than score,” he said. “They do not let the ball out of the zone and they distribute the ball well. I thought Courtney, Jen, and Danielle had excellent games — they are hard to stop.”

Guilderland jumps right back into the competition with games against Suburban Council powers Shaker, Saratoga, and Bethlehem this week.