By Jordan J. Michael

ALBANY –– The Guilderland lacrosse team has waited a long time for a Class A championship.

The Dutchmen beat Shaker, 8 to 4, at the University of Albany on Wednesday to claim its first sectional title since 1998. The team has reached the final game in four out of the last five years.

“When you reach the title game that many times, you’re bound to win one,” said Head Coach Sean McConaghy after the game. “I’ve been with these guys since they were in seventh grade. They got what was deserved.”

The Blue Bison had a 4-to-2 lead at halftime, but Guilderland scored six unanswered goals in the second half. It was a tale of two different halves.

“I’ve always said that Shaker is our favorite team to play because they bring the best and worst out of us,” Senior Rory Nunamacher said. “We had a bunch of errors in the first half, but we came together. We always do. There is never anything to worry about.”

“All of us have been watching this varsity team get denied a title every year,” said E.J. Genzano. “Now, we have it. We earned the right.”

Bryan Dyer found Nunamacher for the first goal of the evening. One minute later, Luke Walsh scored for Shaker off an assist from Parker Armsby. The first quarter ended in a 1- to-1 tie.

Travis Moore gave the Dutchmen a 2-to-1 lead when he came charging in from behind the goal to put one past Kenny O’Connor. Walsh answered for the Blue Bison and the game was tied up again.

Shaker took a 3-to-2 lead when Jack McCarthy made a stellar move from behind the goal with 7:20 left in the first half. McCarthy shot it low past Christian DePersis as he was falling down and got injured on the play.

The Blue Bison got an unassisted goal from Armsby and it pulled the lead to 4 to 2. Shaker took that two-goal advantage into the third quarter.

“I didn’t recognize my team in the first half,” McConaghy said. “We came into form in the second half. We won face-offs and decided to play some lacrosse.”

Moore rang the post with 4:50 to go in the third and eventually found Nunamacher for a goal on the man advantage. Anthony Powers tied the game at four for the Dutchmen after Paul Jones found him sprinting into the crease area.

Nunamacher gave Guilderland the lead for good when Moore found him again. Matt Siracusa added two consecutive goals for the Dutch and Nunamacher added the last exclamation point with 13 seconds left.

“This is something all of us will remember for the rest of our lives,” said Nunamacher. “I might not be able to sleep tonight because thoughts of this will be bouncing around in my head.”