Bethlehem's Eric Halek celebrates a goal - he scored four - in Saturday's 8-6 Section II Class A semifinal victory over Christian Brothers Academy. (Photos by Mike McMahon - The Record).

Competing in Bethlehem High’s first sectional semifinal in boys lacrosse, Erik Halek and his teammates had nothing to lose.

With the Eagles brimming with confidence which grew throughout the game, Halek, a senior attackman who played through an ankle injury, scored four goals as Bethlehem forged an early lead and held off a furious comeback bid to oust Christian Brothers Academy, 8-6 on Saturday in a Class A semifinal at CBA.

By reaching the first sectional final in the history of the program, the third-seeded Eagles (12-6) denied the second-seeded Brothers (13-5) a trip in what would have been their first title game.

"This is the furthest we’ve gone in school history," Halek said. "This is a huge step for our program."

The Eagles advance to face top-seeded Shenendehowa (17-1) in the Class A final on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the University at Albany.

Our Chris Fitz Gerald caught the CBA game, as well as Shen's 12-5 victory over Guilderland. Look for his full story on both games in Sunday's edition of The Record.

CLASS A SEMIFINALS

BETHLEHEM 8, CBA 6

Bethlehem (12-6) 1 2 3 2 - 8
CBA (13-5) 0 2 1 3 - 6
Scoring: Bethlehem - Johnson, 2-0; Halek, 4-0; Wagner, 1-0; Drew, 1-0. CBA - Medici, 1-1; Cassin, 1-1; Bassett, 2-1; Risler, 0-1; Jensen, 1-0; Sherman, 1-1.
Goalie saves: Bethlehem - Ferguson, 13. CBA - Hans, 13.

SHENENDEHOWA 12, GUILDERLAND 5

Guilderland 1 0 2 2 - 5
Shenendehowa 5 3 3 1 - 12
Scoring: Guilderland - Sellie, 2-0; Jones, 1-2; Somers, 1-0; Wood, 1-0; Dyer, 0-2; Stanish, 0-1. Shenendehowa - Connors, 1-0; Jenkins, 3-1; Daly 3-0; Stephens, 2-0; Arnold, 0-1; Coll, 3-2; Powell, 0-1.
Goalie saves: Guilderland - Klim, 13; DePersis, 0. Shenendehowa - Wardwell, 13; Woloss, 1.

CBA's Jack Reilly navigates through the Bethlehem defense during Saturday's Section II Class A playoff game at CBA.

Every Sunday in The Record, we will be featuring a local athlete to give you a glimpse of their lives far away from the playing fields. This week, we featured Christian Brothers Academy senior Jack Reilly, who is headed to Johns Hopkins on a lacrosse scholarship. Here were Reilly's answers to our questions:

Class: Senior/2010
College I will attend: Johns Hopkins.
What’s on TV: Sportscenter, espn2, ESPNU.
What’s in my IPod: A lot of variety; rap, a lot of pre-game warmup songs and rock songs - all different kinds of music.
Favorite Flicks: Remember The Titans.
What’s I’m reading: Inside Lacrosse magazine, ESPN the Magazine.
Love to trade places for a day with: Michael Jordan or Steve Forbes. Someone in his field who is very, very powerful.
Talent I’d most like to have: I’d like to be able to do back flips.
Favorite Meal: Spaghetti and meatballs.
Favorite athletes I watch in different sports: Alfonso Soriano of the Chicago Cubs, even though I’m a Mets fan; Lebron James in basketball and (Landon) Donovan of U.S. soccer.
Favorite place to visit: Probably home. When I’m not out playing sports and traveling a lot with lacrosse and stuff like that, I like to stay at home.
Favorite sports teams: New York Mets, Boston Celtics and the New York Jets.
Favorite physical attribute: Being able to jump into certain situations and do certain things to help the team out.
Favorite subjects: Math and History.
Favorite Restaurant: Mario’s in Niskayuna and Lombardo’s in Albany.
Friday night, there isn’t a game and I’m: Get together with a few friends, get a slice of pizza or go see a movie, but mostly I’d be sleeping. I would be resting up because of all the running and everything I’m doing - I love to sleep.
Heroes: For long time was hero was Tiger Woods before the incident happened. On the field, I’d have to say him. But off the field, I would say Jackie Robinson by far he’s somebody to look up to.
Superstitions: A lot of people ask that, but I can’t say because they’ll be broken. I will say that my dad does cut my hair before every single game and I have to sit in the exact same chair.
My Motto: It’s a motto my mom and I came up with that I have written up on the wall - ‘Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.’

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