BH-BL girls lax survives storm
Spartans advance to Class C regional round
The Section IX Goshen Gladiators arrived at Centennial Field and started like a storm against the Burnt HillsBallston Lake girls lacrosse team Tuesday night.
The lightning-quick visitors went up 3-0 like it was nothing.
Spartan coach Jake McHerron called a time out, and that’s when the real storm arrived.
With sideways rain, wind turning umbrellas inside and out and the entire media contingent holding down the available tent, Burnt Hills rallied to take the lead, waited out a 45-minute thunder delay and survived a late storm surge from the Gladiators to advance to the New York State Class C final four this weekend.
The quick three-goal start from Goshen worked McHerron into a frenzy, storming the sidelines and making quick substitutions. When it still wasn’t up to his standard he called a timeout.
“I think we were a little tense,” McHerron said. “I think we were all holding on, being such a young team because I have a lot of eighth-graders, ninth-graders, tenth-graders on the team.
“I just had them to re-focus on that it’s still a game, it’s still lacrosse, we still play with six-bysix goals and to settle down and just play our game. Once we did that it helped us out and we were able to control until we ran into that break.”
Senior defenseman Alexandria Safford broke through out of the time out and junior Lauren Hopsicker scored to cut the Goshen lead 3-2.
After another Gladiator score, the Spartans reeled off four straight goals heading into the scheduled halftime break as Taylor Safford put in two goals during the run and give Burnt Hills a 6-4 lead.
Burnt Hills continued its scoring run with goals from junior Christina Pedone and Hopsicker, for a 6-0 run an 8-4 lead.
The squads traded goals again before a thunderclap forced the evacuation of Centennial Field and the stands for 30-minutes.
Each subsequent lightning strike in the distance and a final rolling roar of thunder put the contest on hold for 45 minutes.
Both teams used the break to regroup in their own way.
“I think it was just basically to just relax, have fun while we were out there,” McHerron said. “We were in the locker room jamming to music, just trying to keep them relaxed for the entire time.
“They are big on these 90s and these Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, all these other songs are in there and a little hip hop in between.” When asked if he sang along with his troops McHerron was open.
“Of course you have to enjoy it while you can because every one of these moments is special,” McHerron said.
Down by four goals, Goshen found new life late and scored three times to close out the contest, including a pair of tallies from senior Mackenzie Kurek before the Spartans were able to gain possession and run out the final minutes of the contest.
“There were scary moments, but we definitely stuck with it,” Burnt Hills senior Taylor Safford said. “Possession is key. The ground balls are the top priority and getting that ball on the offensive end is possession and we have the ball.”
Burnt Hills is unique as it has six eighth-graders on the varsity squad, something Safford can relate to in her final season as a Spartan.
“We have a lot of young kids and they’re exactly like me since I was on varsity for eighth-grade,” Safford said. “I’m glad they go to experience this ride because when I was in eighthgrade I got to experience this ride.
“I always tell them to calm down. It’s all about that possession and not stressing out in the moment.”
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake will travel to Suf- fern Middle School to face Section I Rye High School at noon on Saturday in regional competition.