By Jordan J. Michael

GUILDERLAND –– A steady rain fell as the Guilderland girls’ soccer team won its first round sectional game at home on Saturday, 4-1, over the Albany Falcons.

The Lady Dutch are the eighth seed in Class AA and Albany was seeded ninth. The rain didn’t seem to bother Guilderland’s game, pressuring the Falcons’ goal whenever possible.

“It didn’t matter what the weather was like,” said junior forward Kyla Parker. “We had a mission to come out here and play with a high level of intensity. We accomplished that today.”

It didn’t take long for the Lady Dutch to find the net. Danielle Tetreault gave the team a 1-to-0 lead with a nice quick move through the Falcon defense.

“Tetreault was all over the field today, making play after play,” said Head Coach Barb Newton. “She runs the offense and sets up numerous plays.”

Jenna Crupi tapped the ball into the Albany goal to give Guilderland a 2 to 0 advantage. Shortly after, Tetreault gave Michaela Maybee a perfect low cross that Maybee easily put into the net. The Dutch were in control, 3-0.

Guilderland was dominating with offensive pressure and the defense squashed any Falcon scoring opportunities. “We clearly had an offensive advantage. My girls came to play,” Newton said.

Albany managed to score a goal on an odd play. Guilderland keeper Erin Kelly cleared the ball up field, but it was intercepted by Ciara Allison who fired it past Kelly. The score was 3 to 1 at halftime.

The Lady Dutch kept the Falcons scoreless in the second half and added another goal.

Emily Nagle threw the ball in to Maybee who immediately tapped it back to Nagle. She served up a cross to Marissa Cubillos who headed it past the Albany goalie. It was a pretty looking goal that put the icing on the cake for Guilderland, 4-1.

The Falcon goalie had trouble handling the wet ball during the game. This gave Guilderland many rebound chances in the match. Albany had some scoring opportunities late, but Kelly and the defense took care of business.

“My team did a great job. I was never too worried,” said Newton.

The Lady Dutch go on the road to face Bethlehem in the quarterfinals today at 3 p.m. Guilderland has a 1-0 and a 5-0 loss against the number-one-seeded Eagles this year.

“I’m going to sit my team down and look at tapes. We had a good game against them and a bad game,” Newton said. “Beating Bethlehem would be quite the feat. This is going to be a team investment.”