Clark guides Burnt Hills past Ballston Spa

In yesterday’s preview of this Suburban Council lacrosse matchup, we said that Will Clark would be a key factor in this game. He was all that and more, tying his own school record with 8 goals, and guiding the Spartans to a 16-11 win over the Scotties on Friday.

Burnt Hills got off to a fast start, scoring two goals within a 30 second period in the 1st quarter to take an early 2-0 lead. Hans Zimmer answered with one for Ballston, and it was 2-1 Spartans at the end of the first. Burnt Hills got off to a fast start in the 2nd as well, as Will Clark recorded a natural hat trick to start the frame, and push the lead to 5-1. Zac Schuette answered with one for the Scotties, but Clark quickly struck again with his 5th goal at that point to make it 6-2. After Zimmer scored his second goal to cut the lead to 6-3, goals by Riley Holzman and Clark pushed it to 8-3. Schuette scored again just before the half, and Burnt Hills led Ballston 8-4 at halftime.

Scotties head coach Luke Snow gave a good speech at the half, as he attempted to inspire his team to pick up their play in the 2nd half. But the Spartans picked it up quicker, and goals by Alec Lind and Ben Clark made it 10-4, giving the Spartans their largest lead of the game at 6. Then the Scotties started fighting back. Zac Schuette completed his hat trick, and Joe McDonald and Sam Swingruber scored, and Ballston cut the lead down to 10-7. The Spartans would not be deterred by Ballston’s run, and scored three unanswered goals, capped off by a nice passing sequence resulting in Will Clark dishing it to his twin brother Ben, and Burnt Hills led 13-7 after 3 quarters. The Scotties got off to a fast start in the 4th, with goals by Schuette, McDonald, and Alex Yerou cutting Burnt Hills’ lead to 13-10. The bench and the crowd started to awaken, and Ballston showed signs of life early in the quarter. But the Spartans were able to hold them at arm’s length, pushing it to 14-10 before Hans Zimmer scored his 3rd goal to make it 14-11. Burnt Hills would score twice more as time ran down, and took the contest by a final score of 16-11.

For Ballston Spa, they fall to 2-1 (2-1 SC), and will next play at home vs Shen on Monday 4/18. For Burnt Hills, they improve to 4-1 (3-0 SC) and will next play Schenectady at home on Saturday 4/16.

STATS:

BURNT HILLS:

Will Clark: 8 G, 2 A– 10 P

Ben Clark: 3 G, 2 A– 5 P

Riley Holzman: 1 G, 1 A– 2 P

Michael Leveroni: 1 G, 1 A– 2 P

Alec Lind: 1 G, 0 A– 1 P

Mike Levan: 1 G, 0 A– 1 P

Jake Stanko: 1 G, 0 A– 1 P

Dan Biesty: 14 saves, 11 GA, 56 Sv %

BALLSTON SPA:

Hans Zimmer: 3 G, 3 A– 6 P

Zac Schuette: 4 G, 1 A– 5 P

Joe McDonald: 2 G, 0 A– 2 P

Alex Yerou: 1 G, 1 A– 2 P

Luke Richardson: 1 G, 0 A– 1 P

Sam Swingruber: 0 G, 1 A– 1 P

Damian Randall: 9 saves, 16 GA, 36 Sv %