Yesterday, a girls’ lacrosse game between Niskayuna (N.Y.) and Guilderland (N.Y.) was interrupted in the ninth minute due to police activity near the game site at Schenectady (N.Y.). Niskayuna has been playing its home games at Schenectady because of the construction of a new turf pitch at the school.
But few could have predicted that a suicidal man with a shotgun would have barricaded himself in a home right across the street from the high school, bringing in a police response and a standoff which lasted for about 20 minutes.
The game had been scoreless at the time the game was interrupted.
“The adults did a really good job of giving us enough information to get us off the field but not get caught up in it,” Niskayuna senior midfielder Jackie Reffelt tells The Daily Gazette. “It’s a sad reality we live in, but it’s our reality.”
The Silver Warriors fell behind 5-3 at the interval, but eventually ran out 10-7 winners.
“It feels really good,” senior Emily Bateman tells The Gazette. “We have a really young team, so getting our first win, against Guilderland, under the lights on the turf is really nice.”
Niskayuna and Guilderland have been state championship contenders in the last few seasons, and yesterday’s game was a great early-season test of their abilities.
