CLIFTON PARK — In an excellent show of resilience, the Guilderland lacrosse team played the best it had all season in its final game, and it was almost enough to upset Shenendehowa.

With just seconds remaining in regulation play of Tuesday’s Class A quarterfinal, Jake Cornetti-Skott rang his shot off the iron post for the Dutchmen. The ball ended up in the stick of Kevin Dyer, who had been a serious problem for the Plainsmen defense all day.

Dyer tried desperately to get a shot off with a swarm of defenders on him, and almost did, but the ball bounced to the ground, and was scooped up by goalie Anthony Tebano.

The buzzer sounded. Shenendehowa held on for a 9-to-8 win.

“That’s how close this was,” said Guilderland goalie Sam DiPace after the loss; he had made some great saves to keep his team alive. “An inch could have changed this game.”

Dutch Head Coach Sean McConaghy was proud of the way his team fought, saying, “No one should have their head down.” Cornetti-Skott was probably feeling bad about his missed attempt, but, with the work ethic that the junior has, McConaghy said, he’d most likely be practicing that shot tomorrow.

“They weren’t ready for us,” Dyer said of Shen, the two-seed in Class A. “We had nothing to lose.” Guilderland was seeded seventh.

Dyer and Gus Schwenk each scored three goals for the Dutchmen. The two attack men had no fear, going right at the Shen defense. During a minute-and-a-half stretch in the second quarter, Dyer and Schwenk connected to bring Guilderland from being down two goals, 4 to 2, to being ahead by two, 6 to 4.

First, Dyer popped off a defender and fired a pass across the field to Schwenk, who had time to place his shot in the net. Then, off a broken clear attempt by the Plainsmen, Dyer picked up the ground ball, and bounced it between Tebano’s legs to tie the game at 4 to 4. Next, with great vision, Dyer found Schwenk open again for a score, and then Schwenk scored while being pushed to the ground from behind.

“Everyone really stepped up,” said Schwenk. “This was make or break.”

^{_{Amazing play: Guilderland’s Gus Schwenk, flying though the air, puts a goal past Shenendehowa’s Anthony Tebano in the second quarter of Tuesday’s Class A quarterfinal in Clifton Park; he got pushed in the back. The Dutchmen lost, 9 to 8. The Enterprise — Jordan J. Michael}}

A tough loss can sting, but the Dutchmen players and their coach were thinking of how well they played on Tuesday. On April 30, Guilderland, which finished the season at 8-10, lost to Shenendehowa at home, 17 to 6.

Coming into Tuesday’s sectional game, McConaghy said that Guilderland knew it was better than what that previous result could entail. “We haven’t quit, not once,” said the coach afterwards. “By a mile, this is the best game we have played.”

Fans couldn’t have asked for a more exciting game of lacrosse. Guilderland and Shenendehowa showed amazing athleticism and spirit, whether it was a talented maneuver on offense, a clutch save, or a burst of speed. The contest got chaotic at times as the ball would bounce all over the middle of the field before a player successfully scooped it up.

The Plainsmen tied the score, 6 to 6, in the third quarter after DiPace gave up a rebound off his chest protector; Liam Cannon quickly picked up the ball and put it in the net. No more goals were scored until Dyer made an unbelievable move in the fourth quarter — he used the Shen defender to screen the goalie, and then spun off the defender with a blistering shot.

However, Shen went on to score three straight goals — Matt Stucchi, Pete Russo, and Dakoya Rainville each got one in that order — for a 9-to-7 lead. Shen had found a way to control possession, and the shots that the players took were placed between the goal post and DiPace’s hip; McConaghy said that’s the hardest spot for a goalie to make a save.

“The shots were good,” DiPace said after the game. “We had some simple mental breakdowns, like slide mistakes, but, otherwise, we played awesome.”

As the centerpiece of Guilderland’s toughness on Tuesday, Dyer scored the Dutch’s final goal while being triple-teamed at the side of the net. It seemed like nothing could stop this kid.

“That was definitely our best,” he said.