A 10-goal third quarter led the Niskayuna boys' lacrosse team to a 21-8 win over Shenendehowa in a heated Suburban Council matchup at Shenendehowa High School on Thursday night.
The Plainsmen put up more of a fight than they did in the last meeting between the teams on April 4, when it lost 14-2.
Though Shenendehowa scored four times as many goals as it did the last time the two teams met, the Plainsmen just couldn't keep up with Silver Warriors' offensive stars like senior Griffin King and sophomore Brock Behrman.
"Niskayuna did a really good job of winning ground balls, gaining possession and kind of being able to figure out some different things we tried to throw at them," Shenendehowa coach Jason Gifford said. "At the end of the day, possession is what really hurt us tonight."
The Plainsmen didn't gain their first possession until senior goalie Jacob Aragones saved a Silver Warriors shot with 7:40 to go in the first.
When they did have possession, Plainsmen senior and leading goal scorer Eric Makhatadze scored four goals in Thursday nights loss. Two of those goals came in the first quarter, showing Shenendehowa wasn't going down without a fight.
"They're going to score on you, they're going to put pressure on you," Niskayuna coach Mike Vorgang said.
The Silver Warriors' first goal came from King within the first 40 seconds of the game. There was about a five-minute goal drought until Behrman scored with about six minutes left in the quarter, his first of two on the night.
Niskayuna senior Gabe Nish scored three goals, including a long bouncing shot late in the first quarter, which really showed off the Silver Warriors' offensive grit.
The Silver Warriors took a 5-3 lead over the Plainsmen after the first quarter but a six-goal second quarter gave Niskayuna a...
