GUILDERLAND — It sure wasn’t pretty, but the end result fit nicely for the Guilderland boys’ lacrosse team.

The Dutchmen, who were sloppy on the offensive end, held off a pesky Columbia team and advanced to the Class A Section II title game with a 6-4 win.
"We really didn’t want it to be that close," said Guilderland senior Co-Captain Scott Raffensperger. "We wanted to send a message that we were the better team."

The Dutch beat the Blue Devils by one goal, 7-6, when they played in the regular season this spring.

But right now, their goal is to survive and advance, and the Dutch were happy they did that.
"A win is a win," Raffensperger said. "We are now looking at Friday."

Friday is the Class A championship game, which will be played, as was Tuesday’s game, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Face-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. For the third straight year, the Dutchmen will be on the field in the title game against Niskayuna, which beat Shenendehowa, 12-6, on Tuesday night.
"I’m rooting for Niskayuna," Raffensperger said after his game ended and before the second semifinal started. "I’m good friends with the kids on their team. But I also want to beat them. It would make the sectional run complete if we beat them in the final."

The Dutchmen will have to play a lot better than they did on Tuesday if they want to beat Niskayuna, which has won the last two sectional title games against the Dutchmen.

Guilderland will especially have to play better on offense.
"Upset and frustrated"
"I was nervous the whole game," Guilderland Coach Sean McConaghy said. "But I was also upset and frustrated. It’s hard to score goals when you can’t pass the ball from the wing to the X [behind the goal]. I also didn’t have a good feeling watching us go on seven man-ups and go 0-7."

Guilderland actually scored two extra-man tallies in the contest, but missed on numerous chances.

The Dutchmen led 1-0 at the end of the first quarter and 3-1 at halftime, as their defense was stellar, anchored by the goaltending of junior Nick Koss.

Another junior, Aaron Cahill, scored the first goal of the contest just a minute-and-a-half into the game. Classmate Quinn Connell got the assist on the tally for the Dutch.

The Dutch had numerous opportunities to add to the lead but either turned the ball over against the Columbia zone defense or just missed shots.

Rory Nunamacher, a sophomore, made the score 2-0 in favor of the Dutch.

He scored on an extra-man opportunity less than a minute into the 12-minute second quarter.

Senior Uriah Myrie assisted on the goal.

Raffensperger, a defenseman, tallied the third goal of the game for the Dutch. He got a pass back from Myrie on a fast break and bounced a shot past the Columbia goalie, Dan Smith.
"Our team is good in transition," Raffensperger said. "We try to push the ball hard. That’s the way I love to play and that’s one of the reasons why [the University at] Albany recruited me. That’s the way they play and it’s fun lacrosse."

Columbia finally scored with 5:40 left in the first half. Ron Law scored an unassisted goal to get the Blue Devils on the scoreboard.

Guilderland pulled out to a 5-1 lead in the third quarter.

Matt Stillman scored on a quick stick shot after catching a pass by Connell with a defender draped all over him. Myrie scored on an extra-man opportunity with an assist from Cahill.

Guilderland went into a scoring drought and Columbia got a goal with 3:20 remaining in the quarter to pull within three, 5-2.

Corey Heck got the tally for the Blue Devils.

In the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils put a big scare into the Dutch with two goals to close the gap to one.

Jesse Pavlick scored with an assist from Tim Daigle with 6:26 left in the final frame. Daigle made it 5-4 with 5:29 left, with the assist going to Pavlick.

The score remained that way as both teams couldn’t connect on shots and both team’s goalies were outstanding in goal.

But with the Blue Devils pressing to get the ball back in the final minute, Nunamacher scored with 35 seconds to go. Conway got the assist on the tally that sealed the win for the Dutch.

Koss made 12 saves in goal for the Dutch, including some big ones down the stretch. Smith made 13 stops for the Blue Devils.

Guilderland scooped up 40 ground balls to Columbia’s 24 and the Dutch out-shot the Blue Devils, 24-18.

The Dutchmen also won the face-off battle, 9-5, mostly behind the work of senior Jordan Dubose.
"Koss is the boss"

But McConaghy thought his team didn’t play at its best.
"We weren’t prepared to play," the coach said. "We weren’t prepared to work or ride or move our feet to catch or throw.
"It’s not going to be there all the time," McConaghy added. "Stillman missed one-on-ones with the goalie three times. That’s something that doesn’t happen. It can’t be anything other than an off day on offense. Their zone was good but it’s not anything we haven’t seen. I’m sure Nisky was watching that."
"I talked to Koss and I told him, ‘You are a sick goalie, but you got to do this for me,’" Raffensperger said. "He stuck it out and made some incredible saves. He made the difference. Koss is the boss."
"The defense is bringing it every game," McConaghy said. "It’s always defense, defense, defense."

McConaghy also mentioned one defender who played a good game.
"Kyle Klapp doesn’t get a lot of mention," the coach said. "But he was on number 21 [Jake Hutchins] and he shut him down. He’s a kid I was hoping to step up. It was like a Senior Day for him."

Tuesday’s win follows up a 17-9 quarterfinal win on Friday for the Dutchmen. Stillman scored seven goals to spark the offense that broke open a close game at the end of the third quarter.

Myrie scored four goals, including two in a three-goal stretch at the end of the third quarter.

Though McConaghy was upset with the way his team played, he knows that all the teams in the area are tough.
"That’s the way the whole Suburban Council is," the coach said. "People have beaten other people all year. You have to bring it the whole day or you’re looking to get upset."