Danes no stranger to looking out for No. 1

ALBANY — Playing the nation’s No. 1-ranked team is a daunting task, but the University at Albany men’s lacrosse team is getting used to it.

The Great Danes (5-6) beat No. 1-ranked Johns Advertisement Hopkins 8-7 to begin the 2007 season, but then fell to top-ranked Cornell in overtime in the NCAA Division I
quarterfinals.

UAlbany also took on the top-ranked and defending national champion Johns Hopkins s to begin the 2008 campaign, but fell 10-5.

The Great Danes will get their seventh chance in school history to topple No. 1 tonight, at 7 p.m., when they take to the field at the Carrier Dome against Syracuse (10-1).

“We’ve certainly played at this level for four or five years now, where we’ve been competing against Hopkins and Syracuse when they’ve been ranked No. 1,” UAlbany coach Scott Marr said. “It’s exciting. There’s nothing better than having the chance to beat the best team in the country and to do in their back yard would be nice.”

The game will air locally on Time Warner Ch. 1 in the Capital District.

UAlbany won’t just be up against the top team in the country, they will be without their leading scorer, Corey Small. The junior attacker from Ontario, who has scored 28 goals on the season, strained a glute muscle in practice this week and Marr said he will most likely not play this evening.

Expected to step up in Smalls’ absence are freshmen Joe Pompo and Derek Kreuzer, both who are from the Syracuse area. “It’s a great opportunity for them to go home to Syracuse and have the opportunity to play in the Dome and play in front of some family members,” Marr said.

Pompo, who went to high school at West Genesee and Kreuzer, who is from Liverpool, aren’t the only players that will be wearing Purple & Gold this evening, but grew up watching the Orange. “We have about 10 kids on our roster from the Syracuse area and they grew up watching the Syracuse lacrosse program,” senior captain Jordan Levine said.

“It’s a great opportunity for them to come back in front of their hometown, their family and friends and give a good effort against Syracuse.”

The Great Danes will also be looking to rebound from a league loss against the University of Maryland-Baltimore County that almost assures UAlbany they will not host the conference tournament at the end of the season.

“Like coach said in the beginning of the season, we have to have a short memory,” junior defenseman Chris Schongar said. “It’s a loss, but we have to put it
behind us, that was last week.” “The loss certainly hurt Saturday night, but there’s nothing we can do about Saturday night, now,” Marr said. “We have to look forward and not only are we playing Syracuse Friday, but we have a conference
game Sunday, here at home.”

A victory Sunday against Vermont would assure the Danes of a spot in the top four and punch the defending America East champions’ ticket into the conference
tournament.

The UAlbany players feel like they have nothing to lose tonight against Syracuse and see themselves and the decided underdog.“They’re the number one team, everything is riding on their shoulders and again we’re the underdogs,” said Schongar, a Clifton Park native and a graduate of Shenendehowa High School.

“I don’t think we could have a better opportunity,” Levine said. “We’re playing in the Dome against the number one team in the country. We just need to play smarter.”

Syracuse has beaten UAlbany all five times the teams have met since 2004, a year in which they beat the Great Danes twice, including in the first round of the NCAA
Tournament and the Orange posted back-to-back 14-13 wins in 2005 and 2006, with the latter coming in overtime.

“It almost feels like we’re due for a win,” Schongar said. “Losing in overtime once, a couple of other close games and last year they beat us by a few, but we’re
just going to go see what happens.”

“I don’t think we need anymore ammo,” Levine said. “They’re number one in the country and we’re 5-6 and we just had a tough loss to UMBC. A win like this
would put us back on track and it would be great for the program to have another win against the number one team in the country.”


By Andrew Santillo, The Record
Andrew Santillo may be reached at asantillo@troyrecord.com