Ballston Spa boys lax runs past Warwick

EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. » Whether the stick is on the ice or on the turf the same rule applies – ‘ Win the face- off and you rule the world.’

As all four boys Section II champions proved Wednesday at two different local sites, owning the face- off ‘ X’ and immediately starting your offense in the state tournament extends your season and the Ballston Spa boys lacrosse team put another line in their historic season with a 19-8 win over Section IX’s Warwick Valley at Columbia High School.

“I think it’s the same thing in the game we’re going to watch in a few minutes ( Niskayuna vs. Kingston) that Austin (Deskewic) z and (Niskayuna’s) Eoghan (Sweneey) are one or two of the best in the section or maybe even in the state,” Ballston Spa coach Lucas Snow said. “It’s a pleasure to have it on our team. That’s the key though. Face off team, the wings and our face off that guy at ‘ X’ Austin really allows us to do that.”

The quick start on the center of the turf set up Ballston Spa’s commanding 7- 0 first quarter lead.

“I think the key to that was we were executing at a high level,

taking great shots and trying to shoot the other thirds of the net and execution,” Snow said. “That’s the name of the game and at that point we were really doing well with that.”

It was a perfect start, but Warwick adjusted its offense, moving from firing on Scottie goalie James Nash from further outside of the circle and attempting to power through the Ballston Spa defense to get closer and challenge the cage protector one- on- one with some success later on.

“We’ve got to play a lot better man- to- man, the defense take better angles on guys that play in-

side out a lot better,” Snow said. “We’ve got way too stretched out against them and that hurt us a little bit on the scoreboard.

“James ( Nash) saved us a couple of times to keep it where it was, but what’s number one is just going to have to be plan better angles on defenses and playing tighter, against higher competition.”

The Scotties have averaged almost 20 goals per game during their postseason run and will travel to Lakeland Panas High School to face Section I champion John Jay Saturday at 3 p.m.

“We have eight guys that can put it in the back of the net,” Ballston Spa’s Zac Schuette said. “We can even go deeper, you know, so it’s just good.

“Everyone contributing and that makes them have to play all six guys, not just one or two.”

Schuette led Ballston Spa with his five-goal, three assist afternoon with Lucas Bennice snapping the twine four times and Alex Yerou adding three tallies and an assist.

Not lost on the senior attack is the Scotties defense, also holding teams under double digit goals throughout the same run.

“It’s awesome for our defense. They get us the ball back if, if we lose it and it’s really credit to them and I think them going against us and us having to go against them in practice it just pushes us to work harder and it makes us better as a team and a family,” Schuette said.

The run is not over for the Scotties.

“We’ve shown from the first day we’ve always had set goals along the way, the Suburban Council Gray Division champions, Section champions and in each game now it becomes another goal,” Snow said. “If we come out and execute like we did in the first quarter right there, we give ourselves an opportunity to play well and hopefully come out in the end with a win.”