GUILDERLAND - It took four overtimes on Monday for one of the better soccer seasons to end for the Guilderland boys' varsity.

It was four excruciating extra periods that Guilderland played with one more player than Niskayuna, yet the Dutch still could not get the game-winning goal. Niskayuna got the goal with 1:20 left in the fourth overtime frame to knock the Dutchmen out of the Class AA Section II tournament. The final score was 3-2.

The Silver Warriors did it with 10 players on the field instead of the starting 11.
"They made most of their opportunities," said Guilderland Coach Mike Kinnally. "Any time you win with 10 players, you deserve to win."

Jake Johnson scored the game-winning goal after receiving a nice pass over the top of the Guilderland defense. The Dutchmen did not respond in time and Johnson put a shot into the low corner to ice the game and eliminate the Suburban Council's number-two seeded team.

But it was not how the Dutch played late in the game that sealed their fate; it was how they played early.
"I didn't feel from the start that we were playing our best," Kinnally said. "You play a team like this and you end up in a situation like this.
"In the final third, we had some opportunities," the coach added. "But we didn't really get a good start. We played quickly in the second half but there was some intangible missing. We gave up two goals - one off a corner [kick] and the other off a mental lapse."

Even though the first half went by with no one scoring, Niskayuna looked like it was the higher-seeded team. The Warriors dominated stretches of play and had Guilderland's players on their heels.

The stellar play of sophomore goalie Devin Bailey kept the Dutchmen in the contest.

The Dutch picked up their play in the second half, but fell behind as Johnson scored his first goal of the contest just nine minutes into the second stanza.

Bailey came out to play a ball but ran into one of his own players. Johnson got to the ball and was able to kick it into the upper corner of the goal to give the Silver Warriors the lead.

That goal seemed to wake up the Dutchmen and they finally got on the board with 19 minutes left in regulation play.

Junior midfielder Ryan Ashbaugh scored after receiving a great pass through the defense and into the penalty area from Rory Nunamacher. Ashbaugh took the pass and finished a shot to even up the game.

Niskayuna took the lead a few minutes later.

Seth Berggren scored off an assist from James Belcastro to put the Dutchmen behind again.

Guilderland got the equalizer with 9:46 left in the half.

Senior Zakary DuGuay took a free kick in the Niskayuna half of the field. He fired a shot toward the goal.

Junior midfielder Patrick Quinn went up in the air and the ball went off his head and then quickly bounced off Ashbaugh's head for a goal to tie the game.

Intense overtime

Regulation play would end in a 2-2 tie and force an overtime to decide the victor.

Guilderland dominated the first overtime session and frustrated the Niskayuna players.

After Tyler Gansfuss missed a shot wide, he let go with an F-bomb that the official did not like. He gave Gansfuss a red card, ejecting him from the contest and forcing the Silver Warriors to play short-handed the rest of the contest.

Guilderland tried to take advantage in the second 10-minute overtime period but could not get the winning goal.

Quinn missed a header and senior forward Frank Campagnano put a couple of good shots on goal. Those shots were stopped by Niskayuna goalie, Luke Citriniti.

The third overtime - the first five-minute extra session - was pretty uneventful and a fourth overtime was needed. Both teams went out for another five-minute period.

Three minutes and 40 seconds later, Johnson scored the winning goal and the Silver Warriors were able to celebrate the victory.

Guilderland took 17 shots in the contest to Niskayuna's eight. Bailey made seven saves for the Dutchmen and Citriniti also made seven for Niskayuna.

At the beginning of the year, Coach Kinnally thought, he might be in the position Niskayuna was in for its contest on Monday.
"I didn't enter this year thinking we would be the favorite at all," he said. "I thought possibly we would knock a few people off. This was a heck of a game for the second round of the sectionals. This is a game that could be in the final four. For the number-two seed, that is a heck of a draw."

"Feel for the seniors"

Kinnally said that he feels sorry for the seniors who have given to the program. There were five seniors on the team this season: Campagnano, DuGuay, defender Justin Sedefian, defender Karl Mohr, and goalie Scott Vincent.
"I didn't want Frank, Karl, Justin, and Zak to go out like this," Kinnally said. "I hope they understand the great things they did this year."

They accomplished a lot in what Kinnally proclaimed was a rebuilding year for his varsity team.
"I look at the [state] rankings and we were 19th before this game," Kinnally said. "It would be nice to finish in the top 20. We've won more games every year. I was more concerned this year about giving up goals. This is the first time we've given up three goals all year."

The Dutchmen won 15 games this year, with a pretty young team. There will also be a few players coming up from a junior-varsity team that finished with a 14-3 record.

But the soccer team is a test of attrition, and Guilderland found that out Monday.
"I always say that this is the longest shortest season," Kinnally said. "It's two months long and I'm exhausted, almost emotionless. It's hard to imagine that it's over, especially looking back to training camp in August. I really feel for the seniors."