Women's Lacrosse Finishes 18-1 after NCAA Quarterfinal Loss at Northwestern

Softball's NCAA Bid Ends with Two Losses at Penn State; 12 Track & Field Stars Compete in NCAA East Meet May 26-28

UAlbany's softball team is headed to University Park, Pa., to take part in the NCAA Tournament after winning the America East title.

UAlbany's women's lacrosse team traveled to Evanston, Ill., on Saturday to play second-ranked Northwestern in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. The Great Danes lost 18-4, but their season was one for the record books. The team was the last remaining undefeated team in Division I, and finished the year with a remarkable 18-1 record.

In squaring off against Northwestern, the Great Danes were facing a team that had won 5 of the past 6 NCAA Women's Lacrosse championships. The Wildcats had also won 70 of their last 71 games at home. In the end, the Great Danes equaled the men's lacrosse team of 2007 with their first-ever NCAA quarterfinal appearance to go along with their first America East title.

Read the full account of the conclusion to women's lacrosse's great season from UAlbany Athletics.

Softball

Meanwhile, the softball team traveled to Penn State to compete in the NCAA Tournament's University Park, Pa. Regional. The regional is a double-elimination format. On Friday, May 20, UAlbany dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 12 Oregon. The Great Danes held an early 1-0 lead before losing to one of the top teams in Division I. On Saturday, the Danes lost another tightly contested game to the host Nittany Lions, 6-1. The game was much closer than the score would indicate, with UAlbany entering the seventh inning down only 2-1.

Read a full account of the game at UAlbany Athletics.

On Thursday, UAlbany first baseman Gina Mason, a senior, was named to the 2011 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Northeast Region Team.

The women's lacrosse team meets with Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings before departing for Illinois to face No. 2 Northwestern in the NCAA Tournament.

The softball team earned the trip to the NCAAs after winning the America East Conference Tournament on Saturday, May 14. "We had great pitching all weekend long," said UAlbany head coach Chris Cannata, who has now led the Great Danes to four tournament and regular season titles, and is just four games shy of her 500th career win. "Our pitching was key -- we only allowed one run each game. We got great performances from both Brittany's [MacFawn and Schweiger] and we all came together at the right time."

Men's and Women's Track & Field

The softball and women's lacrosse teams weren't the only clubs to take home championships this spring. On Thursday, it was announced that IC4A men's champions Luke Schoen (pole vault), Wilfredo de Jesus Elias (hammer throw)and Paul Lagno (1,500 meters), and America East women's champions Alli Rogers (400-meter dash) and Rebecca Kelly (400-meter hurdles) are among eight male and four female Great Dane track and field athletes who have qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary Round, to be held at Indiana University on May 26-28.

The men's track and field team won its seventh consecutive America East title on May 8, and then followed it up with a third place finish at the 135th IC4A Championships on May 14-15. The women's track and field team also won the America East crown – its third straight title – and tied for fifth at the 28th ECAC Championships. Head Coach Roberto Vives and his assistants were named Coaching Staff of the Year for both the men and women. Their work isn't over yet, however, as the Great Danes now head to Bloomington, Indiana.

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