NCAA Run Ends in Quarterfinals

The men's lacrosse team saw their season come to an end in the NCAA Quarterfinal Eound against top seed Maryland. (Photo by Brian Schneider for UAlbany Athletics)

NEWARK, Del. (May 21, 2017) -- A slow start for the No. 8 UAlbany men's lacrosse team was too much to overcome, as the Great Danes saw their great season come to close on Sunday afternoon in Delaware against the No. 1 Maryland Terrapins.

While UAlbany (15-3) recovered from an early two-goal deficit against Maryland (14-3), the Terrapins rattled off eight straight goals to take control, and the Great Danes could not get closer and fell in front of 9,711 at Delaware Stadium. The final score was 18-9.

“It was a special year for us, starting in September all the way through today,” said UAlbany head coach Scott Marr. “Unfortunately, today just wasn't our day, we were just missing something, but a lot of that had to do with Maryland, they are a very good team.”

This ends the career of the eight-member UAlbany senior class, the winningest class in program history. The class combined for three America East Tournament titles, four NCAA Tournament appearances, three NCAA quarterfinal appearances, the program's first-ever at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament and a combined 55-16 record.

“I've talked all year about my seniors,” said Marr. “We had one bad practice the entire year. That comes from senior leadership. They had our guys prepared for practice every day, prepared for every game that we played. Their enthusiasm, their positive attitude. I cannot say enough about how good they were. For a class that maybe did not have a [superstar] name. With Connor [Fields] being a year behind them, they were an in-between class. Sometimes the classes without a superstar are your best classes, and it's a collective superstar. And that's what they gave us this year. They were very powerful in how they motivated the team every week.”

This year, UAlbany returned to the top of the America East mountain, defeating Binghamton 20-8 in the conference title game. UAlbany earned the right to host an NCAA Tournament First Round game in 10 years, knocking off defending national champion North Carolina 15-12.

Six different players scored goals for UAlbany, led by Connor Fields, who had three goals and one assist. Fields finished the year with 117 points, fourth all-time in NCAA single season points. He stands only behind UAlbany greats Lyle Thompson (128 in 2014, 121 in 2015) and Miles Thompson (119 in 2014).

Adam Osika scored on both of his shots on the cage. Freshman sensation TD Ierlan won 14-of-30 faceoffs with eight ground balls. Ierlan finished the year with 337 faceoffs won, which stands to break the freshman record held by Denver's Trevor Baptiste (310 in 2015) when the season concludes. JD Colarusso got the loss in goal with five saves and 13 goals allowed in 28:56, while Nate Siekierski had five saves and five allowed in 31:04 of play.

UAlbany Softball season comes to close

Shaye Swiatek and the Great Danes played admirably in a loss to 2012 national champions Alabama.

After a four hour and thirty-minute rain delayed start time, the Great Danes fell to Louisiana Tech 8-1 in the first elimination game of the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional on Saturday. The Great Danes finished the season with an overall record of 27-18.

"This weekend, getting an opportunity to play against Alabama in this beautiful stadium, and in the atmosphere with all of their fans was such a great experience for our underclassman," said head coach Chris Cannata. "I couldn't think of a better way to say goodbye to our seniors. They won as freshman, and now they got to play again in the regionals and leave with another championship ring. We will miss them on the field, but more importantly we will miss them as people and I will cherish all of the time that we have spent together during these past four years."

The Great Danes lost their first game in the NCAA Tournament on Friday, falling 5-1 to 2012 national champion Alabama. After finishing fifth in regular season America East play, the Great Danes earned their spot in the NCAAs by winning the America East Championship for the sixth time in program history.

"I'm really so proud of how far this team has come in the last few weeks. We were inconsistent for most of the season in all aspects of the game, and to turn things around and to finally come together as a team was so very rewarding to see as a coach. The way we played in the conference championship, and the way we played this weekend in the NCAA regionals was exactly what we were trying to get out of them all season long," said Cannata.

UAlbany's baseball team has also qualified for the America East Tournament, and will play Wednesday, May 24 at 11 a.m. against Maine in a first round game.

For more news, subscribe to UAlbany's RSS headline feeds