UAlbany Men's Lacrosse Improves to 3-0 in America East Play with 16-9 Win at UMass Lowell
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LOWELL, Mass. – The UAlbany men's lacrosse team used a 15-3 start to defeat UMass Lowell 16-9 on the road and hold first place at 3-0 in the America East.
UAlbany (7-2, 3-0 AE) earned its 19th consecutive America East victory, holding UMass Lowell (2-9, 0-3 AE) to one goal in each of the first three quarters. 10 different Great Danes earned goals in the game.
Connor Fields led the UAlbany scoring with five points off four goals and an assist, while Justin Reh had a goal and three assists. Each Seth Oakes, John Maloney and Sean Eccles had two goals and an assist. Maloney passed the 100-point mark in his collegiate career with his performance today. Blaze Riorden earned the victory in goal, saving seven shots and allowing three goals in 45 minutes of play.
For UMass Lowell, Blaine McMahon and Martin Winter each had two goals. Grant Lardieri got the loss with 14 goals allowed and seven saves in the opening 40:29 of play.
“It was a great win, we played a bit sloppy at the beginning, but we really started picking up in the second half and closer to where we should have been,”said UAlbany junior attack Bennett Drake.
“It was a good team victory overall, starting from the defense to the middies and the attackmen. We are happy to be [undefeated] in conference, as our #1 goal is to be first in the conference,” said UAlbany senior defender Josh Babcock.
UAlbany struck quickly just 17 seconds in as Zach Ornstein picked up the faceoff, passed to Oakes for the fire and score. UAlbany got looks in the cage as Lardieri made saves. After Maloney forced a turnover on defense, he received a pass from Eli Lasda behind the cage and hit the line drive shot. After McMahon hit a shot for UMass Lowell, UAlbany got the goal back on a counterattack as Kevin McNally made a shot while behind his own player but close to the cage, giving UAlbany a 3-1 advantage five minutes in.
UAlbany held for long stretches on defense as UMass Lowell fired away shot after shot, missing high and wide on most attempts. UAlbany kept its attack up on counters as Justin Zelen received a pass from Reh for the score, then in the closing seconds of the quarter. Oakes avoided a double team with a behind the back pass to Kyle McClancy for the high fire and goal. UAlbany led 5-1 after one.
UAlbany quickly scored into the second quarter as during a man-up situation, the UML defense collapsed towards the cage, freeing Eccles, who fired a left-handed laser into the net. UML scored on the next chance as Ryan Morrison got a pass right next to the cage near the right post and scored point blank. Each side had man-up chances, but the other's defense held.
UAlbany drew another man-up chance with about seven minutes left in the first half. Fields fed Maloney, who, while pushed, did a turnaround jump and threw the ball into the net for the goal. UML got chances with 4:30 left as three players combined for four shots in a row, all missing well wide. UML did the same in the latter part of the quarter as UAlbany kept defending, with McClancy forcing a turnover and ending the threat. UAlbany led 7-2 at the half.
After holding on another long UML possession, UAlbany drew a man-up scenario. Sean Eccles passed to a wide open Drake in front of the cage, who faked out the keeper for the shot and score above the goalie's helmet for a score 2:30 in. UML got a goal the other way as Sean Tyrrell hit a jumping shot inside the corner.
Minutes later, UAlbany rolled off four goals in the span of 62 seconds, started by Fields scoring while pushed. Ornstein won the next faceoff, passed to Oakes for the rip and goal in seven seconds. UAlbany won the next faceoff as Fields scored another and drew a penalty on a late hit. The next possession, Reh found a cutting Jake Cullen for the close range goal. UAlbany hit another transition goal with 5:14 left in the 3rd as Harry Erickson crossed the clearing line, passed to Fields for the sidearm shot and score. 22 seconds later, Jack Burgmaster intercepted a clearing pass, threw the ball back to Reh for the score in front of the cage. UAlbany added one more in the quarter as Maloney found an open Fields as the Great Danes led 15-3 after three.
UAlbany sent in its reserves in the fourth quarter to get new personnel some playing time. Early on in the period, shots from UAlbany drew iron, sending the ball the other way. The River Hawks got possessions and put together five straight goals in nine minutes, including a pair from Winter, to pull within seven at 15-8 with 4:24 left to play. Sean Eccles added another man-up goal with 2:28 remaining to put the lead back at eight. Brandon Luitwieler scored the final goal for UML as UAlbany took the 16-9 victory over the River Hawks.
UAlbany will continue America East play next weekend, hosting Vermont on Saturday, April 9th at 7 p.m. at John Fallon Field.
