University of Albany Men's Lacrosse Earns Third-Straight Perfect America East Season - UAlbany sports 2015

ALBANY, N.Y. – The #7/7 UAlbany men’s lacrosse team defeated UMBC 20-9 on Saturday to earn its third-consecutive perfect America East season, sixth league regular season title and winningest regular season in DI history. “We talked everyday about playing our standard,” said UAlbany coach Scott Marr, who has been at the helm for all six of UAlbany’s America East regular season titles. “[Our seniors] saw the older guys holding that tradition, and we want to play at that same level and intensity.” The Great Danes are the first men’s lacrosse team to earn three-straight undefeated America East seasons since Hofstra did from 1996-98. At 13-2, it is UAlbany’s best-ever pre-America East Tournament regular season in Division I era, surpassing the 12-2 mark set in 2007. “It is a great accomplishment,” said UAlbany senior captain Tim Cox, who scored two goals and two assists. “We have been fortunate to play well in every conference game the last three years.” UAlbany (13-2, 6-0 AE) dominated UMBC (5-8, 1-5 AE) in almost all facets of the game, leading 15-2 at the half. UAlbany outshot its opponent 53-31, had 44 ground balls to UMBC’s 27 and won 21 of 33 faceoffs. UAlbany also forced turnovers on 11 of UMBC’s 19 clear attempts. It is the seventh time this season, and second in a row, that UAlbany has scored at least 20+ goals. Nine different Great Danes scored goals for UAlbany, led by Connor Fields, who scored five goals and moves into ninth all-time in UAlbany single season history with 49 goals. With three goals, plus an assist, Seth Oakes moved into 13th all-time in UAlbany single season history with 46 goals this year. Lyle Thompson also earned three goals and an assist, moving into fourth all-time in UAlbany single season history with a total of 92 points. Tom Nuckel and Kyle McClancy each had two goals plus Cason Liles won 20 of his 29 faceoffs. On the defensive side, Blaze Riorden earned his 13th victory of the year with five saves and four goals allowed in the first three quarters. JD Colarusso finished the game, saving four fourth quarter shots. For UMBC, Pat Young scored three goals while Max Maxwell had two assists. Ruston Souder got the loss with five saves and 15 goals allowed in the first half. UAlbany, the 1-seed in the America East Tournament, will play 4-seed Hartford on Thursday, April 30th at 7 p.m. at Bob Ford Field. 2-seed Stony Brook takes on 3-seed Vermont in the first semifinal game at 4:30 p.m. the same day, with the title game being on Saturday, May 2nd at 10 a.m. Before the game, UAlbany honored its 14 seniors and redshirt juniors playing their final regular season game at home. 27 seconds into the game, Oakes fired a hard shot for the score. Fields added another minutes later, emerging from around the cage and scoring underneath the crossbar. Pat Lewnes scored off a quick offense from the faceoff, which UAlbany responded with a score off the faceoff from Fields. Then, UAlbany caused a turnover on a UMBC faceoff win, seeing Derrick Eccles find Cox for the run and score. Each side added a goal within 12 seconds of each other to make it 6-2 with 6:13 left in the 1st quarter. From there, UAlbany went on a tear, scoring the next 10 goals into the second half, causing tremendous pressure with the ride. Fields scored the first two goals for UAlbany on the run, netting a low shot and a wide open chance during a 5-on-4. The next minute, Thompson set up the catch and shoot to John Maloney. In the closing minute-and-a-half of the quarter, UAlbany added two more goals with Oakes on the setup from Cox, then Thompson scoring on a rip off the pass from Adam Osika. UAlbany led 10-2 after the first quarter. UAlbany’s close defense and ride continued to hinder UMBC as the offense kept on the attack. In the opening minutes of the second quarter, Thompson faked out the keeper and scored next to the goal circle, followed by Kyle McClancy taking a Fields miss from behind the cage and scoring inside the right post. Thompson added another strong goal, getting double teamed, hit and knocked down, still releasing low and getting the ball through the keeper’s feet. As the reserves came in, UAlbany added two more in the closing minutes of the quarter: Oakes passed to Fields next to the circle for the score, then Eccles again set up Cox for a hard shot and score as the Great Danes led 15-2 at the break. The run was completed at the start of the third quarter as McClancy got a chance straight away and scored during a 5-on-5, giving the Great Danes a 16-2 lead. After a Young goal, Osika scored on off the dodge with 11 minutes left in the quarter. The reserves continued to battle as Eli Lasda got in front of the cage for the high to low goal with 3:49 left in the 3rd, then Nuckel added another off the catch and shoot from Bennett Drake. Young got another goal in a man-up situation as UAlbany took a 19-4 lead into the final period. UAlbany struck first in the fourth quarter off a second Nuckel goal, set up from Jake Cullen. UMBC got its offense going in the final period, scoring the game’s final five goals. UAlbany stood strong to earn the 20-9 victory.