Trojans Beat Niskayuna 10-9 in NYS Lax Semifinals

Story by Brendan Thomas

Dale Stasco came off of the bench to score his only goal of the game with just two seconds left in the fourth quarter, giving Garden City a 10-9 win over Niskayuna in a New York State Public High School Athletic Association boys lacrosse semifinal game.

The back-and-forth game was played at Tenney Stadium, on the campus of Marist College.

“Incredible lacrosse game,” Garden City head coach Steve Finnell said. “[Niskayuna] is an unbelievable team with an unbelievable coach. They average 18 goals per game for a reason and to hold them to just nine is a real tribute to our defense."

Justin Guterding led Garden City (18-3) with two goals and four assists. Cody George had three goals, all coming off of Guterding assists, and assisted on Stasco’s goal at the end. Jack Worstell had two goals and Lucas Clay and Tim McDonagh each added a score. James Sullivan was 9-20 on face-offs, tying for the game-high with six ground balls. Dan Dolan made seven saves in goal for the Trojans.

Niskayuna (21-1) was led by five points (three goals, two assists) from Luke Goldstock and four goals from Michael D’Amario.

In a game of runs, Garden City scored the game’s first five goals, taking a 5-0 lead after the first quarter.

George scored the first goal of the game at the 9:59 mark on an assist from Guterding. Just five seconds later, after a face-off win by Sullivan, the same combination teamed up again to give the Trojans a 2-0 lead.

Clay Lucas and Jack Worstell padded the lead to 4-0 with 6:45 left in the opening quarter with an unassisted goal each.

McDonagh brought the lead to 5-0 at the end of the first quarter with a goal on another assist from Guterding.

Niskayuna proved their high ranking in the second quarter, racing back with five consecutive goals of their own to tie the score at 5-5. The Silver Warriors scored all of their second quarter goals in a span of 3:52.

Guterding answered right back for Garden City, just 1:15 after Niskayuna tied things up, ripping a shot into the back of the net on a feed from Jack Metzler.

Garden City took a 6-5 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.

Niskayuna scored the first two goals of the third quarter to take its first lead of the game, 7-6 with 7:52 on the clock.

The Trojans again had an answer, receiving goals from Worstell and another Guterding to George combination to take the lead right back at 8-7 with 2:36 on the clock.

That lead held going into the fourth and final quarter.

The Silver Warriors again scored the first two goals of the period, taking a 9-8 lead with just 6:52 remaining.

Guterding again responded for his team, tying the score at nine with an unassisted score with 4:14 left.

Garden City stole possession with just over two minutes remaining and, with 11  seconds left on the clock, called their final timeout to draw up a play.

Guterding started the ball out of the corner, running towards the back of the net. He passed to George, who originally looked to shoot, but was blocked by a defender. He then found Stasco, who provided the heroics for the Trojans.

“Coach drew up a play designed for either me or [Stasco],” George said. “I wanted to take the shot but saw Dale had a better shot and he put a great shot on goal. This win means so much because people doubted us against Niskayuna. We came out with grit and determination and that gave us confidence.”

Garden City advances to play Jamesville DeWitt in the state championship game on Saturday. The game will be played at St. John Fisher College in Rochester at 11 a.m.