Save sends Plainsmen into final
Tebbano stop at buzzer secures Shen victory over Guilderland
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. » The game came down to the final play.
Shenendehowa and Guilderland boys lacrosse teams threw everything they had at each other but, in the end, goalie Anthony Tebbano’s save earned the hosts a 9-8 Section II Class A semifinal victory Friday.
Shen coach Jason Gifford said that Guilderland played a strong game.
“Guilderland came out, they played hard and they played their tails off,” Gifford said. “They pushed it in transition and got some good looks on Anthony ( Tebbano). I am proud of my guys for battling. Guilderland defenders are as tough as they come and to have to kill out those last two minutes was something we practiced, something we worked on, but it is not easy.”
With 20 seconds remaining Guilderland got possession trailing by one, raced down the field and took a shot that could have tied the game.
Tebbano came up big, however, to stop the shot and send Shen to the finals.
Guilderland started the scoring on a goal form Connor Quimby before goal from Matt Stucchi and Pierce Holohan made it 2-1 Shen. Guilderland tied it at the end of the first with Tucker Peceri’s goal with 28 seconds left in the first.
The second and third quarters were controlled by opposite teams with Shen getting four goals to Guilderland’s one in the second and Guilderland getting four goals to Shen’s one in the third.
That made it 7-7 heading into the fourth quarter.
“At the end of the third quarter, start of the fourth I told the kids, this is playoff lacrosse, this is what it is about and this is what fun is to me,” Gifford said. “I know it may be a little twisted, I don’t know, but that was fun. That is the way it should be.”
Tebbano made a huge save in goal to preserve the tie at the end of the third.
Guilderland scored first in the fourth when Brock Walden put his team up 8-7.
“We knew it was going to be a dog fight,” Stucchi said.
“We know they are a great team and they played hard in the playoffs. We knew we had to stick to our fundamentals. If we just kept playing hard, we knew we would pull out a win.”
Shen answered back when Dean Cannon scored his third goal of the game to tie it again at 8- 8.
The deciding goal came from Stucchi, who hit the back of the net with 6:28 remaining in the fourth quarter. Shen wound down the clock and fought off the Guilderland attack the rest of the way.
Stucchi said the last twenty seconds were a challenge.
“You would love to have the ball in your stick at the end of the game, but eventually running it out for two minutes is tough,” Stucchi said. “Once they got the ball the ball with twenty seconds left, I knew Anthony was going to make a play. Just had to hold them off for five more seconds and I knew Anthony would come big. He has been our best player the whole year and I was happy to get the win.”
Tebanno fought hard the whole game to make sure his team stayed within range and had to continue fighting, making the huge save at the end of the fourth quarter.
Gifford said Tebbano was a rock for the team in goal.
“He was outstanding,” Gifford said. “We go as he goes, we expect him to be good. He is a four year varsity player, three year starter and that is what we expect out of him. He has been great all year, he has kept us in big games, he was outstanding tonight down the stretch and that is what we need from our seniors in big games.”
Tebanno said he knows what he needs to do and did it on the field today.
“The team worked really hard all season, they worked hard all game and I knew I needed to come up with a big stop for them,” Tebanno said. “That was all for the team.”
Last season, the Plainsmen finished as the Section 2 Class A champions and with this win are looking for the repeat.
Tebanno said the team needs to keep fighting to take the championship.
“It is going to take a lot of hunger,” Tebanno said. “We have to stay hungry. Even though we won it last year, we got a target on our back, we know we have to step up and we know we are going to do that.”