MAHOPAC — Jason LaPietro’s first year serving as head coach of the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake boys’ lacrosse team ended Saturday evening. The long-time assistant on both the varsity football and lacrosse staffs spoke to his squad after the Spartans dropped a 12-6 Class C state quarterfinal decision to Rye with a level of reverence and pride at what his charges did throughout the season in repeating as sectional champions.
“The culture is good. We will keep moving forward and hopefully, we will take a step forward and not back,” LaPietro said.
For the second straight spring, the Spartans recorded a win at the state level. There would not be two this season as the Garnets, champions from Section I, reeled off nine straight goals between the end of the first and third quarters at Mahopac High School to build an 11-1 advantage.
“We were doing some different things in a zone and I think we had them confused a bit early, but they figured stuff out,” LaPietro said. “That was a good job by their coaching staff. I am proud of our guys for still competing at the end.”
Last spring during Tom Schwan’s final season coaching the program, BH-BL advanced to the state semifinals at Bob Ford Field and dropped a 15-8 decision to Manhasset. Several of that team’s top stars graduated. This season, the Spartans took time getting to the championship level again.
“Their roles had to change and it took them a while to figure things out,” LaPietro said.
“It was a lot different than last year,” said BH-BL senior midfielder Colden Swisher, who joined senior teammate Lucas Donahue in leading the offense Saturday with two goals. “We dealt with adversity all throughout the season. We had a lot of ups and downs, but at the end we got it done. I don’t take this for granted. I love these guys just like the (2022) team.”
The Spartans scored the final four goals of the…
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