GUILDERLAND — The players on the Guilderland girls’ lacrosse team do everything fast.

Whether it’s pushing the ball up field for a transition goal or being quick on the defensive end, the Lady Dutch used their speed to win their second consecutive Class AA Section II title on Thursday night at Union College.

Guilderland beat rival Shaker, 18-10, for the third time this year to win the title and improve to a perfect 20-0 this season.

The Lady Dutch play in the regional semifinals against the champion of Section I at the University at Albany’s Fallon Field on Wednesday night. The first face-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

“It feels amazing,” senior captain Lauren Cagino after Thursday’s game. “There’s no other word to describe it than amazing.”

“It feels so good winning the section again,” said sophomore Chelsey Newman. “We want to keep going to states. We want to go all the way, but we are taking it one game at a time.”

“They were ready to go the last couple of days,” Guilderland Coach Gary Chatnik said. “They’ve worked so hard for this.”

“We all work together”

Guilderland blew open a close game at about the midway point of the first half.

When Shaker’s Lexi DalCol scored to make the game 5-4 with 14:52 left in the opening half, few thought it would be the Blue Bison’s last goal for 11 minutes and 10 seconds.

The Lady Dutch scored six unanswered goals in the meantime to take a commanding seven-goal lead, 11-4.

Bridget Daley sparked the scoring run with a goal with 14:04 left in the half. Daley made a strong move to the goal and switched to her left hand to shoot the ball into the net.

Daley scored 30 seconds later on an even prettier move to the goal. Daley drove from behind the cage to the front of the goal, then spun back quickly and rifled a shot for the tally.

“I wanted to help out the team,” Daley said modestly. “I wouldn’t have been able to do that without my teammates. We all work together. I love all of them.”

Newman scored the second of her six goals on a free position opportunity after Shaker fouled with 10:44 left in the opening stanza.

Newman scored less than a minute later on an assist from Jen Madsen.

Madsen scored a goal of her own with 8:58 left in the half. Her unassisted tally off a strong drive to the goal gave the Dutch a 10-4 lead.

Newman scored again for the sixth goal in the run. Her unassisted tally with 5:19 left gave the Lady Dutch the big lead and pretty much gave them the win.

Adrianne Devine ended the scoring run as she got a goal off an assist from DalCol.

Guilderland scored twice more to build its lead to 13-5 at the halftime intermission.

Danielle Tetreault scored an unassisted goal with 3:01 left in the half and Newman added another goal on a free-position shot with 2:24 left.

Tetreault opened the scoring in the game off an assist from Madsen and senior Abbey Fashouer scored with an assist from Courtney Davis.

Shaker senior Kat Thomas scored two goals early in the first half. The Duke University-bound star’s only two goals of the game sandwiched a tally from Newman.

Daley scored on a free position after Thomas’s second goal and Amanda Best scored off an assist from Madsen with 15:57 left in the opening half.

“We do that,” Chatnik said of the scoring run. “We don’t pick, because if we did, I wish it was earlier when we’d do it. They figure out what to do. They are good at recovering from what’s going on.”

“It’s amazing the way they move the ball,” Cagino said of watching her teammates on offense. “They’re very good at it. They are picture perfect. The attack just controls the ball. The way they handle the ball is great.”

“Blessed with speed and smarts”

The Lady Dutch added to their big lead in the second half.

Guilderland did not give up a goal until 14:08 remained in the 25-minute half. Best and Tetreault both scored unassisted goals to make the score, 15-5.

DalCol scored for Shaker as did Laura Barlow but that was as close as Shaker would get.

Tetreault, Best, and Newman each scored to round out Guilderland’s tally. Jenna Crupi assisted on Newman’s goal.

As much as the offense can put up points for the Lady Dutch, the defense was also a big key to Thursday night’s contest.

Sophomore goalie Amanda Santandrea made eight saves for the Lady Dutch, including some key stops on close-range shots.

“She’s stood up this year,” Cagino said of the first-year starter. “She’s worked really hard and came out and played really great. She has two more years. It’s going to be amazing what she’s able to do when she gets older.”

From the attack to the goalie, what the Lady Dutch have showcased this season is a tremendous amount of speed.

“We’re so fast,” said Newman, who also controlled the draw controls in the contest. “We move the ball fast up the field. We also can pass the ball up the field fast as well. For us, speed is a major factor.”

“We’re fast,” Chatnik said. “We’re blessed with speed and smarts. They are easy to coach in that respect.”