Black Horses win 11th straight

Schuylerville beats Lansingburgh for possible top seed

SCHUYLERVILLE — Thursday’s boys lacrosse game between Schuylerville and Lansingburgh provided each squad with a chance to possibly earn the No. 1 seed in the Section II Class C tournament.

It took some time, but the homestanding Black Horses all but assured them - selves of that lofty designation.

Schuylerville scored the final eight goals of the game, turning a 5-4 deficit into a 12-5 victory. It was the 11th consecutive win for the Black Horses, and their second over the Knights in as many meetings this year.

“It was truly a battle, from start to finish,” Schuylerville head coach Andrew Smith said. “It was punch- for- punch in that first half, without a doubt.”

“In the second half, we just came out and made a

few mental mistakes that we shouldn’t have made,” Lansingburgh head coach Chris Larson said. “They took advantage, and they rode the momentum.”

Schuylerville had outscored its previous 10 opponents 138- 36, but Lansingburgh made a statement by keeping the Black Horses off the board through the first quarter. In doing so, the Knights took an early 2-0 lead.

“We’ve been working really hard in practice for the last week or so on stopping the transition game,” Larson said. “We just tried to pack in our zone and make them have to throw a skip pass across the top and force a shot from 15 yards that our goalie could handle.”

Schuylerville came to life in the second stanza, tying the game at 4-4 just seconds before the halftime break. Lansingburgh regained the lead with a Dakota Franklin goal roughly five minutes into the third quarter, but the Knights would not score again.

The Black Horses changed the tempo of the game, and scored several second-half goals in unsettled situations. The onegoal deficit became a 7- 5 lead after the third period, and three goals in a 2: 39 stretch in the fourth put the game away.

“In the second half, we came out and we really picked it up,” Schuylerville freshman Zach Pierce said. “We played pretty well.”

Pierce paced Schuylerville with five goals and three assists, and has emerged as the leading scorer on a seniorladen team.

“He wants to be out here,” Smith said of the freshman. “He wants to be the best. It really doesn’t matter to him how he gets there. When he drives, he’s not intimidated by age or size. He’s just a scrappy kid.”

“It feels really good,” Pierce said of his accomplishments to date. “I have all my teammates behind me, and we’re really sen- ior-heavy.”

Despite the loss, Lansingburgh still figures to be one of the top seeds in the Section II tournament, and both coaches had little doubt that their squads would cross paths in the postseason.

“It’s hard enough to beat a team twice,” Smith said. “We’ll have to do our best to prepare, and they’re going to do the same.”

“They’re my pick to win it all for the section,” Larson said of Schuylerville.