2014 University of Albany Softball Defeats Stony Brook, Wins Fifth America East Title

Courtesy: UA Sports STONY BROOK, N.Y. – For the first time since the 2011 season, when the members of this year’s senior class were freshmen, the University at Albany softball team have been crowned America East Champions, the fifth title in school history. The Danes (33-11) defeated Stony Brook (34-18) 8-1 for the second straight time when facing elimination to clinch the title. By virtue of winning the America East Tournament, UAlbany has earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament regionals. Brittany MacFawn (19-6), who pitched all 10 innings of the morning game, once again took the mound for UAlbany in the afternoon. MacFawn pitched a complete game, allowing one run on five hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Unlike the morning game, which went scoreless through nine innings, UAlbany broke onto the scoreboard early, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. Vicky McFarland led off the game with a double to center field, and advanced to second on Kelly Costello’s sacrifice bunt in the next at-bat. Maggie Cocks hit a single to right that allowed McFarland to score. Charlise Castro then worked a walk, putting runners on first and second. Elizabeth Snow, the hero in the first game, hit a single to right, loading up the bases. Marlin Solano then hit a sacrifice fly to left, which allowed Cocks to tag up on third and score safely, giving UAlbany a 2-0 lead. The score held until the top of the sixth inning, when UAlbany added four more runs. Cocks led off with a single to left field. Castro hit a double down the left field line, pushing Cocks to third. Snow worked a walk, loading the bases once again. Solano hit a single down the right field line, scoring Cocks and Castro and advancing Snow to third. A pair of pinch runners entered the game, Kayla Bailey for Solano at first and Emily Ostrom for Snow at third. Lauren Alcorn, the next batter, hit a single to right, which allowed Ostrom to score from third and pushed Bailey to third. Jess Tate struck out for UAlbany’s first out of the inning, and Alexa Toole followed by opposing up to second. During McFarland’s at-bat, UAlbany attempted a double-steal. Alcorn was caught in a rundown, but delayed getting tagged long enough for Bailey to score safely from third. UAlbany now led 6-0. McFarland led off the top of the seventh flying out to center. Costello then worked a walk, before getting forced out at second when Cocks hit into a fielder’s choice. With two outs, Castro hit a two-run home run to center, giving UAlbany an 8-0 lead. Stony Brook scored their first and only run in the bottom of the seventh inning, a leadoff home run by the left fielder. The game ended when the Seawolves’ second baseman poetically gounded out to MacFawn on the mound. Cocks hit 2-3 with three runs scored and one RBI. Castro hit 3-3 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBIs. And Solano hit 1-2 with three RBIs. UAlbany will return home and await their next opponent, who will be announced tonight at 10:00 p.m. on ESPNU. The NCAA Regional round will be held from May 16-18 in 16, four-team double elimination tournaments. Sixteen teams will advance to the Super Regional round.

#15 UAlbany Men's Lacrosse Takes Down #1 Loyola 13-6 to Advance to 2014 NCAA Quarter Finals

BALTIMORE – Tasked with taking on the #1 team in the nation on the road, the UAlbany men’s lacrosse team put its strong defensive performance of the year together to shut down 3-seed Loyola 13-6 to move on to the NCAA Quarterfinals. UAlbany (12-5) allowed just six goals, to Loyola (15-2), its lowest goal-mark of the year after giving up seven goals in wins over Stony Brook and Binghamton. Blaze Riorden had 13 saves in the cage did not allow more than two goals in any quarter on Saturday. “When you get to championship play, you need good defense,” said UAlbany head coach Scott Marr. “Blaze [Riorden] was outstanding today, and I am proud of our team for preparing this week and playing well.” “Props to my defense, they forced shots that I could save,” added Riorden. “Everyone was on the same page today, we put together a full 60 minutes of offense and defense.” The Great Danes win their second-ever DI NCAA Tournament game, defeating Loyola 19-10 in Albany in 2007. They will advance to take on the winner of Harvard-Notre Dame in Hempstead, New York on Saturday, May 17. On the offensive end, the Thompson brothers, each Tewaaraton finalists, continued to set records. Lyle Thompson now stands with the DI single season record in points with 122, earning three goals and five assists. Miles Thompson is second on that list with 115 after scoring five goals and two assists. Ty Thompson earned three goals, giving the Thompson trio 18 points in the game. “I was waiting for them to slide, and they did not,” said Lyle Thompson, who dueled with fellow Tewaaraton finalist Joe Fletcher all day. “Fletcher did a great job setting position, and I kept waiting for a mistake, and it did not come, so I had to make my own shot.” “Last year, we were happy to be in the tournament, but this year we feel we are capable of winning it,” said Miles Thompson. “This was our best game of the year because of our defense.” For Loyola, Justin Ward and Pat Laconi each had a pair of goals. Jack Runkel had 11 saves in 54:58 of play in the defeat. After Artie Marrapese won the first faceoff, Lyle Thompson got around Fletcher and scored in the corner to put UAlbany in the lead. That goal gave Lyle Thompson his 115th point, setting a new DI single season record. As Riorden held in the cage with saves to hold on defense, the other way, Miles Thompson beat his defender and scored with 8:31 left in the 1st for a 2-0 UAlbany lead. After some back-and-forth play, Laconi scored for Loyola to put the home team on the board. 45 seconds later, Matthew Bertrams caused a turnover, cleared, passed to Jon Newhouse. Newhouse scored his first goal of the year in transition to put UAlbany up 3-1 with 2:04 left in the 1st, the eventual final period score. UAlbany defended to start the second, with a Loyola post shot and a Matt Garziano caused turnover stopping two Greyhound possessions. After the turnover, Lyle Thompson pulled two defenders to free Miles Thompson, who pocketed the goal point-blank to put UAlbany up by three. Following another Riorden save, UAlbany went quickly and scored again via Lyle Thompson to Miles Thompson with 6:51 left in the 2nd. Following the media timeout, Loyola won the faceoff and scored quickly with Romar Dennis getting the goal, followed by a Nikko Pontrello goal 13 seconds later for Loyola. Marrapese won the next faceoff to stop the Loyola burst. Miles Thompson scored with 2:30 to go in the half, then following a UAlbany caused turnovers, Lyle Thompson with 7.5 seconds left and a defender next to him shoveled a pass into the net, putting the Great Danes into the locker room up 7-3. The Great Danes held off a man-up opportunity in the half’s opening minutes, and a Riorden save stopped the Loyola possession. UAlbany clears and missed on a man-up possession of its own, but at full strength, Miles Thompson passed to Ty Thompson wide open next to the crease. Ty Thompson scored to put UAlbany up 8-3., followed by a Will Stenberg goal from Miles Thompson to make it 9-3. UAlbany’s defense held until 4:02 left in the third quarter, when Laconi scored in transition for Loyola. Following that goal and a UAlbany faceoff win, a lightning delay stopped the game for 30 minutes with 3:16 in the third. After the delay, Justin Ward wrapped around the cage and scored with 2.9 seconds left for Loyola. UAlbany took a 9-5 lead into the fourth quarter. Loyola won the first faceoff in the fourth, but the UAlbany defense held twice with caused turnovers. On offense, Lyle Thompson pulled two defenders again, freeing up Ty Thompson in front of the cage for the score, putting UAlbany up 10-5. UAlbany starting killing the clock with a combination on Riorden saves and holding the ball on offense. Lyle Thompson and Miles Thompson added goals to increase the lead to 12-5 with 4:18 left. Ward scored to stop the 3-0 UAlbany run with 3:50 left to play. The UAlbany defense held the rest of the way, with Ty Thompson scoring another goal to seal the 13-6 victory.

University of Albany Men's Lacrosse: Lyle Thompson, Miles Thompson Named Two of Five Tewaaraton Finalists

Tewaaraton Foundation Press Release WASHINGTON – UAlbany attackmen Lyle Thompson and Miles Thompson have been selected as Tewaaraton Finalists, the Tewaaraton Foundation announced on Thursday. The Thompson brothers are two of five finalists selected for the Tewaaraton committee. The committee is made up of NCAA coaches throughout the country, selecting the top-five players in all divisions of lacrosse for consideration for the Tewaaraton Trophy. Lyle Thompson is named a Tewaaraton finalist for the second year in a row, while Miles Thompson earns the honor for the first time. Lyle Thompson’s finalist selection last season was the first for UAlbany since Frank Resetarits was one of the final five in 2007. In Tewaaraton history, which dates back to 2001, UAlbany has earned four of the five finalists all-time from the America East Conference. This is the fifth year, and first since 2011, that teammates have been finalists for the Tewaaraton Trophy. Previous years of two teammate-finalists include 2011 (Syracuse), 2006 (Virginia), 2003 (Johns Hopkins) and 2002 (Syracuse). The Tewaaraton Trophy will be award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on May 29th at the National Museum of the American Nation. Lyle Thompson is currently the top scorer in Division I, matching the DI single season record with 114 points to become the first player in DI history with back-to-back 100-point seasons. The junior attackman and America East Player of the Year leads the nation with 69 assists, just eight shy of the DI single season record, and adds 45 goals. His 7.13 points per game is nearly a point-and-a-half more than any other non-UAlbany player. This year, he has not scored below four points in a game. Miles Thompson is the top finisher in all of lacrosse, leading DI with 74 goals, the second-highest single season mark in DI history. He is second in DI in points per game with 6.75, adding 34 assists to total 108 points on the year, tied for the fourth highest mark ever in a single DI season. His 4.63 goals per game are nearly one-and-a-half goals more than second-place Matt Gregoire of UMBC. The senior attackman and All-America East First Team player has scored at least four points in 15 of his 16 games. The other three finalists include Duke attackman Jordan Wolf, Loyola defenseman Joe Fletcher and Princeton midfielder Tom Schreiber.

University of Albany Men's Lacrosse: Miles Thompson Holds Longest Active Goal Scoring Streak in DI Men’s Lacrosse

ALBANY, N.Y. – Having scored at least one goal in each of his last 30 games played, UAlbany attackman Miles Thompson has the longest active goal-scoring streak in Division I. The streak became Thompson’s after the previous leader, Tommy McKee of Air Force, has held without a goal against Fairfield, snapping his streak of 33 games. Thompson’s streak started on May 2, 2012 with a five-goal performance at UMBC. Including that game, Thompson has tallied 123 goals in his 30 games played. In comparison, currently second on the active goal-scoring streak in Matt Springer of Binghamton with a 27-game streak, tallying 73 goals in that time. Thompson continued that streak this weekend with a pair of seven-goal performances against Stony Brook and UMBC. This season, he has scored at least four goals in 11 of UAlbany’s 16 games. In addition, Thompson has scored a point in each of his last 51 games played, the third-longest active streak in DI. He has scored 258 points in that time.

2014 University of Albany Women’s Track Wins Sixth Consecutive America East Title

BURLINGTON, Vt. – The University at Albany women’s outdoor track program won their sixth consecutive America East outdoor title on Sunday, successfully defending last year’s title as well as their most recent indoor title from earlier this year. The women scored 196 points to win the team competition. Vermont placed second as a team, scoring 142.50 points, and Binghamton was third with 130.50 points. After the first day of competition, the UAlbany women were second in the team standings behind Vermont, having scored 38 points. UAlbany placed third through fifth in the shot put. Janice Johnson, fresh of a personal best at Penn Relays, led UAlbany in third with a throw of 42’-6.75”. School record holder Samantha Kosa was fourth with a throw of 42’-0.5”. And Veleisha Walker, who broke her own school record in the javelin the day before, finished fifth, throwing 40’-7”. The Danes scored two athletes in the women’s high jump. Ashley Grant finished seventh, clearing 5’-5”, and Min Pacella was eighth, clearing 5’-3”. Solène Bastien and Pony Sokiri placed second and third respectively in the triple jump. Bastien jumped 39’-1.75” and Sokiri jumped 38’-8.25”. T’Sian Haywood finished fifth, jumping 38’-1.25”. Lauren Lopano placed second in the discus, throwing 136’-8”. Kosa was fourth, recording a mark of 133’-4”, and Walker was fifth, throwing 131’-5”. The track events began with the 4x100 relay. The team of ToniAnn Werner, Jillian Haynes, Michelle Anthony, and Kahlia Taylor finished third in 47.47. Kathryn Fanning placed second in the 1,500 in 4:22.81, a new personal best and school record by two-hundredths of a second. Kamilah Williams placed fourth in the 400, finishing in 57.06 behind a top-three UMBC sweep. Michelle Anthony and Tynelle Taylor-Chase swept the top two spots in the women’s hurdles. Anthony won in 14.08 and Taylor-Chase was second in 14.10. CiCi Simon finished eighth in 14.82. Brianne Bellon finished third in the 800 in 2:11.23, and Dominique Claudio was fifth in 2:13.83. Bellon’s time was her best of the season, and Claudio’s was a new personal best. Haynes placed fifth in the 100, finishing in 12.08. Taylor-Chase followed up her second place in the high hurdles with a victory in the 400 hurdles, finishing in 59.70. She was the only athlete to break 60 in the race. Aderinsola Ajala finished third in 1:01.82. Haynes finished fourth in the 200 in 24.43. Silvia Del Fava won the 5,000 in 16:48.18, defeating the runner-up by more than 18 seconds. Paige Vadnais placed third in the heptathlon, scoring 4,312 points. On the first day of competition, she won the 100 hurdles in 14.93, tied for seventh in the high jump in 4’-11.5”, was 10th in the shot put in 27’-1”, and was fourth in the 200 in 26.58. On the second day, she was sixth in the long jump in 16’-2.5”, seventh in the javelin in 76’-7”, and second in the 800 in 2:23.86. In the relays, the 4x800 team of Breanna Cummings, Claudio, Bellon, and Fanning placed first in 8:59,13. They were the only squad to run under 9:00. The 4x400 team of Ajala, Williams, Ashley Moxam, and Taylor-Chase closed the meet in third place, finishing in 3:53.10. The women enjoy their sixth consecutive championship alongside the men’s team, who won their tenth straight, scoring 208 points. Next on the schedule for UAlbany is the third and final home meet of the year, the UAlbany Last Chance meet, on Saturday, May 10. A week later, the team will head to Princeton University to compete at ECAC Championships, without the seniors, who will be attending their commencement ceremony.

2014 University of Albany Men’s Track Wins 10th Consecutive America East Outdoor Title

BURLINGTON, Vt. – The University at Albany men’s outdoor track program successfully defended their indoor and outdoor titles at the America East Outdoor Championships on Sunday, and extended their streak of consecutive outdoor titles to 10. The men scored 208 points to claim the team title, comfortably distancing themselves from runner-up UMBC, who scored 165. Binghamton finished third with 124 points. The men concluded the first day of competition leading the team standing with 63 points. Three field events were contested on the second day of competition, with the others having been completed on the first day. Abel Gilet placed third in the discus, with a mark of 155’-1”. Simon Cleary was eighth, throwing 144’-1”. Gilet was seventh in the shot put with a mark of 48’-4.5”. Christopher Stephenson placed fourth in the triple jump, recording a mark of 47’-5”. The track events began with the running of the 4x100 relay. The team of Robert Harris III, Jaymen Teemer, Winston McCormack Jr., and Kareem Morris claimed victory with a time of 41.05. Dylan Lowry then placed fourth in the 1,500, finishing in 3:57.52. The men swept the top three places in the 400. Defending indoor and outdoor champion Taariq Jones won the event in 48.16. Fellow sophomore Jason Tomlinson was second in 48.66. Former champion Jonathan Santana finished third in 48.91. In the 110 hurdles, Matthew Catera, doubling up from the decathlon, placed fourth with a time of 14.78. Rudje Beckford immediately followed Catera in fifth, finishing in 14.95. John DeLallo placed third in the 800 in 1:51.51. The Danes scored four athletes in the 100. Morris placed second in 10.67. Harris III was third in 10.70. Teemer was seventh in 10.89. McCormack Jr. was eighth in 10.96. All four athletes ran on the victorious 4x100 relay. UAlbany finished second and third in the 400 hurdles. Jeremiah Obeng-Agyapong was second in 52.84, and Larry Ramirez followed in third in 53.38. Like the 100, UAlbany scored four athletes in the 200. The same group as the 100 placed third through sixth in the finals. Morris led the way in third in 21.38. Teemer was fourth in 21.66. Harris III was fifth in 21.86. And McCormack Jr. was sixth in 22.06. Catera won the decathlon, scoring 6,573 points. Along the way, he won the 100 in 11.18, was second in the long jump in 20’-7”, fourth in the shot put in 38’-2.25”, fourth in the high jump in 5’-10”, and first in the 400 in 51.26. On the second day, Catera was first in the 110 hurdles in 14.87, third in the discus in 110’-4”, second in the pole vault in 14’-7.25”, fourth in the javelin in 135’-3”, and fifth in the 1,500 in 5:01.45. Donald DiBari finished seventh overall, scoring 5,361 points, and Stefan Buechele was eighth with 5,176 points. In the relays, the 4x800 team of Daryl Subran, Raymond Farinella, Lowry, and DeLallo placed fourth in 7:41.04. The 4x400 team of Obeng-Agyapong, Ramirez, Tomlinson, and Jones concluded the meet with a victory, finishing in 3:16.23. The men enjoy their 10th consecutive championship alongside the women’s team, who won their sixth straight, scoring 196 points. Next on the schedule for UAlbany is the third and final home meet of the year, the UAlbany Last Chance meet, on Saturday, May 10. A week later, the team will head to Princeton University to compete at IC4A Championships, without the seniors, who will be attending their commencement ceremony.

University of Albany Men’s Lacrosse Repeats as America East Champions with 20-11 Victory over UMBC

(Photo courtesy of the America East) Box Score | Box Score (PDF) STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Last season, UAlbany defeated UMBC by nine to secure the America East title. In 2014, the Great Danes did it again. UAlbany took down UMBC 20-11 in Stony Brook to earn its second-consecutive America East title and sixth in school history. “We are thrilled to be champions again, what an unbelievable effort from our team, from our faceoff guy and then our defense, and then our offense took over in the second half,” said UAlbany coach Scott Marr, who has been at the helm for all six of the school’s America East titles. With the victory, UAlbany (11-5) has earned an automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament starting next week. The selection show will be tomorrow on ESPNU at 9 p.m. Lyle Thompson, named to the AE All-Tournament Team earned eight points in the game, off three goals and five assists, to total 114 for the season, tying the NCAA Division I single season points record set by Steve Marohl of UMBC in 1992. “It is not a thought in my head, but it is an honor to have my name in the history books,” said Thompson. “But it is more important for us to get the win today as a team.” Miles Thompson earned America East Tournament MVP, scoring seven goals and two assists today, after earning 18 goals and four assists in the tournament. His 18 goals and 22 total points are new conference tournament records. The duo also set a new NCAA Division I first, becoming the first pair of teammates to each score over 100 points in the same season. Lyle Thompson has 114 points, while Miles Thompson currently has 106. “One of our goals was to win the America East championship, but a bigger goal is to win the NCAA,” said Miles Thompson. “We have been working on this all year, and we are excited to go back to the NCAA,” added Ty Thompson, who had four goals today. In addition, Doug Eich and Blaze Riorden also were named to the AE All-Tournament Team. Eich, after earning the game-winning goal yesterday, caused two turnovers and had an assist. Riorden earned the victory in the cage with 10 saves. For UMBC (8-7), Pat Young led the team with three goals and an assist. Matt Gregoire had a hat trick. The loss went to Connor Gordon, who had four saves and allowed 13 goals in 38:37 of play. UMBC controlled the faceoff-X early, with Young finding the net on a hard shot over Riorden’s shoulder. UAlbany countered quickly, forcing turnovers after lost faceoffs to keep control. Lyle Thompson emerged from behind the cage after a ground ball to score, then Miles Thompson added another after getting knocked to the ground by a double team and scoring on his back. That goal gave Miles Thompson his 100th point of the year. After another turnover off the faceoff, Tim Cox burst away from his defender and scored straight away. Nate Lewnes stopped the run with a man-up goal, then UAlbany countered with two rocket shot goals from Ryan Feuerstein and Miles Thompson, leading 5-2 after the first quarter. Déjà vu in the second quarter as UMBC got the faceoff and Young scored again in the period’s opening minute. About six minutes later, Gregoire added one after a teammate drew a double team, as UMBC pulled within one. With 6:25 left in the period, Lyle Thompson scored after using a hard stutter step to shake off a defender behind the cage, emerging and scoring. On a man-up chance, Miles Thompson passed to Ty Thompson right next to the goal for the catch and shoot score. As UAlbany tried for the last shot, UMBC forced a turnover and tried to clear. Eich picked up a pass at midfield, threw to Ty Thompson, who fired from long range and scored just as the clock hit zero to put UAlbany into the locker room up 8-4. UAlbany struck first in the third quarter as Matt Garziano placed a pass perfectly to Miles Thompson next to the goal circle for the score. UMBC kept control of the faceoff and scored two-straight from Ty Kashur and Young. UAlbany countered by peppering the cage for six-straight goals: Miles Thompson, Feuerstein, Cox, Lyle Thompson twice then Miles Thompson scored in succession to build the lead to 15-6. A Joseph Impallaria goal off the faceoff for UMBC stopped the UAlbany run. The Great Danes put the lead back to nine with a Thompson trio connection: Miles Thompson forced the turnover, passed to Lyle Thompson, who passed to Ty Thompson for the score, making it 16-7 at the end of the third. UAlbany did not let up in the fourth quarter, starting the period on a 4-0 run. Garziano scored on a pass from Miles Thompson, then the latter scored from Lyle Thompson. After Ty Thompson scored from the pass from Bennett Drake, Miles Thompson delivered the 20th goal on a behind-the-back shot from Lyle Thompson. Lyle Thompson earned his 114th point with 10:23 left in the fourth quarter to tie the NCAA Division I single season points record. UMBC finished the game on a 4-0 run, but UAlbany held for the 20-11 victory.