RYE — If there is strength in numbers, then the Guilderland girls’ lacrosse team will be able to keep a stranglehold on its Section II crown next year.

Six underclassmen members of last year’s Section II champion Lady Dutch team were selected to play for the Adirondack team at the Empire State Games this past weekend.

Amanda Best, Abbey Fashouer, Bridget Daley, Danielle Tetreault, Chelsey Newman, and Lauren Cagino represented Guilderland at the 30th edition of the Olympic-style games for New York all-stars.
"We rub it in a little," Tetreault said about playing with members of teams they beat in the spring to win the title.
"This is a big accomplishment for Guilderland," Newman added.
"This shows how strong our team will be next year," Best said.
"But when we’re on the field, we are all equal," Cagino said.

The Adirondack team members played well together, though they won just two games and finished the tournament with a 2-3 record. They got a chance for a medal but lost in the bronze medal game, 12-7, to Central.

Adirondack did beat Western, 7-6, in the first game of the tournament as Tetreault scored the winning goal with 51 seconds left in the game. It was her second goal of the game, and Newman and Best also tallied in the contest.

But Adirondack lost something in the first game. Fashouer injured her knee just 10 minutes into the game and missed the rest of the games.

The Guilderland players missed having one of their senior captains on the team.

Adirondack then beat New York City for its second win of the tournament.

Tetreault, Best, Newman, and Daley each scored a goal in the win.

"We have good players"
"Everyone here is a good player," Tetreault said. "The vibe here is that we have good players. That will make it tough in the league."

Though most of the six Guilderland players will be underclassmen next season, they were excited to play for a college coach — University at Albany mentor Lindsay Hart and assistant Jen Fluck. And the players were also excited to play in front of other college coaches.
"The coaches here are great," Best said.
"It’s amazing," Cagino said. "I’ve already improved because of Lindsay and Jen."

Cagino will be the other senior captain for Guilderland next spring.
"We’re the only team with college coaches here," Newman said.
"It’s nice to get something different than what we get from our high-school coaches," Daley said. "It’s good to hear someone else’s styles."

Cagino and Fashouer will be seniors next year while Tetreault, Best, and Daley will be juniors. Newman will be a sophomore next year.

Improving their skills and being recruited were just two of the reasons the Guilderland six wanted to play at the Empire State Games. There were other reasons as well, such as playing with different players from their region and against players from other parts of the state.

The players stayed at Manhattanville College and got to bond.
"We’re good friends outside of the lacrosse field," Newman said. "We’ve built friendships and we are looking out for each other."

There were other aspects of the game some players were working on.
"This definitely will help my leadership skills for next season," Cagino said. "Abbey and I are captains and I learned a lot of things to bring back to the team."

Plans for next season
"Everyone is so good that the level of competition rises," Daley said.

The Guilderland players know what it takes to win a championship. They want to defend their title and playing in off-tournaments will only help them accomplish that goal.
"We want to make it to Cortland," Newman said of the site of the state’s semifinal and championship games.
"We want to win sectionals again," Tetreault added. "But we also want to take another step."
"We have so many people coming back," Best said, "so we’ll be good."

Though just four players graduated from last year’s team, they were key players on the defensive side of the field.
"We have some players that graduated on defense," Tetreault concluded. "We have some big shoes to fill."