University of Albany Men's Lacrosse Upends Stony Brook, 10-7, in Regular Season Finale

Albany, N.Y. – Senior goalkeeper Brett Queener made a season-high 15 saves and scored a second-quarter goal in leading UAlbany to a 10-7 America East Conference victory over Stony Brook in the regular-season finale for both teams on Saturday, April 26 before 1,247 fans at John Fallon Field. The two squads will meet again in six days at the conference postseason tournament.

Stony Brook (7-6, AE 3-2) leaped to 4-0 lead early in the second period. Freshman Jordan McBride had three of his four goals in that outburst. He netted an underhanded shot with 10 seconds elapsed in the contest after teammate Adam Rand won the opening faceoff. Rhys Duch, who had one goal and two assists, moved around a defender from the left side for his team’s second tally. McBride, who has 43 goals on the year, added a pair in man-up situations, including another underhand blast then went low inside the far post.

The Seawolves, who own the nation’s sixth-best scoring offense in Division I, still led 5-2 midway through the second stanza when Bo Tripodi connected off a pass from Timmy Trenkle, who worked around a screen. UAlbany (7-7, AE 4-1) stormed back with three unanswered before the break. Nate Sullivan tallied his league-leading eighth man-up goal of the season, before Jordan Levine hit the top left corner off John Alpizar’s feed. The Great Danes drew even at five apiece with 1:25 left in the quarter. Queener cleared the ball after collecting a ground ball near his crease. The senior netminder then came up field, took a pass from Levine, and sent a shot through the Rob Camposa’s legs from right of the crease with his goalie stick. The scoring play was Queener’s first as a goalkeeper since March 11, 2006.

UAlbany’s defense dominated the third quarter by holding the visitors to four shots. Steve Ammann, one of 11 seniors making their final home appearance, put his team ahead 45 seconds into the half with his second goal by spinning from the right to the middle of the field. Mark Cometti then cut to the top of the crease to finish off Brian Caufield’s pass from behind the cage for a 7-5 advantage with 4:18 remaining.

Tripodi sliced that deficit in half with just 10 seconds gone in the final quarter. He picked up a ground ball that traveled into the UAlbany defensive end following a face-off to start the period and netted his 27th of the season. Joe Pompo helped the Great Danes pull away with a pair of goals 54 seconds apart. Levine, who totaled one goal and a career-high four assists, drove to the right of the crease to find the freshman attack who buried a shot into the top corner from the middle of the zone. Defenseman Craig McDonald then gathered in a Stony Brook turnover to start a transition play that Pompo finished off from the right side.

“Our defense responded after that first quarter,” said UAlbany coach Scott Marr, whose team earned the second seed for next week’s conference championship. “(Defenseman) Craig McDonald and Greg Shondel stepped up their play. We have some momentum; it’s good to be going into the playoffs on a positive note.”

Pompo equaled a career-high with three goals for the second straight game, while Caufield finished with one goal and three assists. Queener, who recorded his first point of the season despite also playing on the extra-man unit, kept his team close early in the contest by stopping 10 shots in the opening two periods. Stony Brook’s Camposa made 10 saves.

“We matched their intensity on defense and we got a sense of what they were trying to do from a strategy standpoint,” said Queener, who has scored three goals as goalkeeper during his collegiate career. “It was just a transition play where I moved the ball. I saw an opening, made a cut, and just tried to get it (the shot) on the cage.”

UAlbany 10, Stony Brook 7

Stony Brook – Scoring: Jordan McBride 4-0, Bo Tripodi 2-0, Rhys Duch 1-2, Ryan Hughes 0-1, Kevin Crowley 0-1, Timmy Trenkle 0-1; Goalkeeper(s): Rob Camposa (60:00, 10 saves, 10 GA).

UAlbany – Scoring: Joe Pompo 3-0, Steve Ammann 2-0, Jordan Levine 1-4, Brian Caufield 1-3, Brett Queener 1-0, Nate Sullivan 1-0, Mark Cometti 1-0, John Alpizar 0-1, Mike Ammann 0-1; Goalkeeper(s): Brett Queener (55:35, 15 saves, 7 GA), Dan McKeon (4:25, 2 saves, 0 GA).