The University at Albany is a member of the America East Conference in 16 of 18 varsity sports, while women’s golf is an associate member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), and football, a Division I Football Championship Subdivision program, is an associate member of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). UAlbany will add women’s rowing in 2024-25. UAlbany has earned the Stuart P. Haskell Jr. Commissioner’s Cup, which honors the America East’s top-performing athletics department, seven times overall, including six-straight years from 2013-2018. Visit our official website of UAlbany Athletics.
UAlbany has won 134 conference championships and has made 62 NCAA Tournament appearances since moving to Division I in 1999. Proving to be a perennial power, the Great Danes have won seven or more conference titles nine years in a row from 2010-2019. UAlbany claimed its 100th conference title on May 14, 2017, when softball won the America East Tournament. Through the spring of the 2023-24 school year, UAlbany has 123 America East Tournament titles, six Northeast Conference titles and one CAA season title in football, and four Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles in women’s golf.
The Great Danes captured five America East titles in 2023-24 along with a MAAC title and a CAA Championship. Softball, men’s lacrosse, men’s indoor track & field, and women’s indoor and outdoor track & field all brought home conference championships in the university’s primary league, with softball and men’s lacrosse earning automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament. Women’s golf picked up the program’s fifth MAAC title all-time while football claimed the school’s first-ever CAA title, making a run all the way to the NCAA FCS Semifinals in a historic season after entering the playoffs as the #5 seed in the nation. In men’s lacrosse, long-stick midfielder Jake Piseno garnered national attention after being named the recipient of the USILA’s William C Schmeisser Award given to the top defensive player in Division I men’s lacrosse. Before that, Piseno was selected No. 9 overall in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) draft to the Denver Outlaws, joining a slew of former Great Danes who represent the university on lacrosse’s biggest stage.
UAlbany claimed three America East titles in 2022-23 and saw two teams, field hockey and women’s lacrosse, make appearances in the NCAA Tournament. After defeating Stanford in a shootout in the America East final, the field hockey team upset #4 Michigan in overtime in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Field Hockey staff, led by head coach Phil Sykes, was named Regional Staff of the Year by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association, and Alison Smisdom earned First Team All-America honors and was named Northeast Player of the Year. Women’s lacrosse went unbeaten in America East play and defeated Binghamton to win its first America East title since 2012. The women’s lacrosse team upset #12 Virginia in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Katie Pascale earned All-Region Second Team and All-America Honorable Mention accolades from the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association. Both field hockey and women’s lacrosse were nationally ranked at the end of their respective seasons, with field hockey landing at #16 and women’s lacrosse at #18. Women’s Track & Field continued its streak of conference titles, winning its 14th-straight America East outdoor championship, extending its longest active streak among NCAA Division I program. Louis Gordon, on the men’s track & field team, earned Second Team All-America honors, placing 11th in the long jump at NCAA Outdoor Championships. UAlbany produced additional All-Americans in Jake Piseno from men’s lacrosse, and Reese Poffenbarger and Thomas Greaney from football. Greaney became the 19th Great Dane in history to sign with an NFL team, joining the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent. Elijah Gash, from men’s lacrosse, was also selected 30th overall in the 2023 PLL College Draft. Finally, Gash, Piseno, and Graydon Hogg were selected in. the 2023 NLL Entry Draft for men’s lacrosse.
UAlbany won four America East titles in 2021-22, and claimed their eighth overall Stuart P. Haskell Commissioner’s Cup, its first since the 2017-18 season, and seventh in the last nine years the award has been given. Women’s basketball, on the foundation of a 16-1 record in Broadview Center, claimed its seventh overall championship, and first since the 2016-17 season, and returned to the NCAA Tournament with a First Round matchup against Wichita Region one-seed and eventual Final Four participant Louisville. Track & field claimed the Great Danes’ remaining three titles on the year, with the women winning both indoors and outdoors, and the men claiming the outdoor title. The women won their ninth-straight indoor title and their 13th-straight outdoor title, while the men’s outdoor championship streak grew to 17. Each of the three streaks either retained or took over as the longest active conference championship winning streak in the country among Division I programs. In total, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track & field and cross country account for 62 of UAlbany’s 124 conference championships through the end of the 2021-22 school year.
UAlbany’s nearly 500 student-athletes strive every day to be Great Leaders, Great Champions, and Great Danes.
UAlbany’s indoor and outdoor athletic facilities are among the most comprehensive in the Northeast. In 2012-2013, the University constructed a state-of-the-art 8,500 seat multi-sport complex for football and soccer now known as Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium; a brand-new track and field venue; and a synthetic turf field designed for year-round recreational, intramural and club sport activities. An adjacent surface known as Alumni Turf Field is home to field hockey, in addition to serving as a multi-use recreational field for UAlbany students.
Formally SEFCU Arena, the newly renovated Broadview Center opened in the fall of 2023 and now serves as one of the top basketball facilities in the America East. The renovated arena accommodates 3,800 fans for basketball games and boasts improved sight lines and upgraded amenities, including premium seating, upgraded and spacious chairback seating, new and enhanced ADA seating, and new hospitality areas. Club seating is featured in the northern corners of the concourse and new VIP seating is integrated into the top rows. The south entrance received updated graphics and enhanced GDAC courtside corner access.
In addition, there are lighted tennis courts, racquetball/squash/handball courts, a swimming pool, a dance studio, and a fitness and weight training center. The department of Athletics is located in both the Broadview Center and the Physical Education Building, (518-442-DANE).
For more information, visit our official webpage or call UAlbany Athletics at 518-442-DANE (3263). Follow the Great Danes on X @UAlbanySports, Facebook, and Instagram (UAlbany Athletics).