UAlbany Men’s Lacrosse Holds On For A 14-13 Victory Over Crosstown-Rival Siena

Albany, N.Y. - UAlbany had three players with hat tricks, led by senior Joe Resetarits, who finished with a team-high five points, as the Great Danes defeated crosstown-rival Siena, 14-13, on Tuesday night at John Fallon Field. It was the 15th win over the Saints for UAlbany in the last 16 meetings between the two teams.

Siena, which had won eight straight coming into the game, jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter, as Chris D'Alberti scored first, followed by goals by Chris Roth and Evan Gallina, both assisted by Bryan Neufeld. The Great Danes got on the board at 7:45, with an unassisted shot by Miles Thompson. Resetarits netted his first goal of the game less than a minute later, taking an assist from Thompson to cut the Siena lead to one. Casey Dowd won the ensuing faceoff for the Saints and carried the ball into the offensive end, to put Siena up, 4-2.

However Miles Thompson netted his second goal and Will Stenberg took an assist from Resetarits on a man-up opportunity to tie the game at 4-4 after one. Siena scored the first two goals of the second quarter before UAlbany exploded, scoring the next seven goals. Four of those happened before the half. Will Fuller started the run, cutting the score to 6-5 off an assist from Jack Reynolds. Lyle Thompson netted the next two for the Great Danes, taking an assists from Rocky Bonitatibus on an extra-man opportunity before netting an unassisted goal to put UAlbany on top, 7-6. Mike Miller added one more for UAlbany before the halftime break, taking a long pass from Travis Lyons and finding the back of the net with 36 seconds to play.

Coming out of halftime, UAlbany scored three more to extend the lead to 11-6. Bonitatibus connected with Stenberg on a man-up to start the third quarter. Miles Thompson passed the ball off to brother Lyle at 9:17 to push the Great Dane lead to 10-6, before cousin Ty Thompson got in on the action on an assist from Resetarits with 3:33 left to play. The Saints would end their scoring drought in the final minutes of the third quarter, getting unassisted goals from Dowd and Conor Prunty.

The Great Danes kicked off the fourth quarter with a goal by Resetarits in the first minute. Siena started to mount a comeback with a goal by Chris Roth at 8:34, but UAlbany responded as Resetarits completed his 25th career hat trick on an assist from Lyons. Neufeld got in the goal-scoring column to cut the Saints' deficit to 13-10, before Stenberg netted his third goal of the game on an assist from Ty Thompson. Siena was not done, however, getting three goals in just over a minute of play. Roth scored two, while Colin Clive netted the final goal to pull the Saints within one. Siena picked up two late penalties, however, giving UAlbany control off the ball, and the Great Danes held on in the offensive end for the one-goal win.

The teams played fairly evenly on the stats sheet, with Siena (9-4) holding a 51-40 advantage in shots, including 17-7 in the final period, and a 34-30 advantage in ground balls. Both teams were 17-of-19 on clear attempts, while the Saints won 16-of-29 faceoffs. UAlbany used its special teams effectively, however, as the Great Danes were successful in 3-of-7 extra-man opportunities, while Siena when 0-for-3 with its man-up unit. Freshman goalkeeper Max Huber played all 60 minutes in the net for the Great Danes, making 10 saves. Siena's Tom Morr took the loss, playing 58:56 with 11 saves, before Matt Sharp came in for the final minute of play.

UAlbany (4-9) will return to action on Saturday, hosting Stony Brook in the final regular-season game. The game will have America East Championship implications, as the Great Danes are currently tied with the Seawolves atop the league standings. The game will be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports at 7 p.m.

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information