ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany men's lacrosse team is set to host this year's America East Men's Lacrosse Championship at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium. The Great Danes earned hosting rights by finishing with a 6-1 conference record, taking the regular season title outright.
 
Semifinal action is set for Thursday evening, with #2 Vermont taking on #3 UMBC at 4:00 p.m. and #1 UAlbany hosting #4 Merrimack after at 7:00 p.m. The winners of each game will meet on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in the Championship Game.
 
Semifinal action will air live on ESPN+, Saturday's Championship Game will air on ESPNU.
 
Game Info
May 2, 2024
#1 UAlbany vs. #4 Merrimack
Tom & Mary Casey Stadium in Albany, N.Y.
7:00 p.m.
ESPN+ | Live Stats | Tickets
 
Leading the Pack

• Captain Jake Piseno has been UAlbany's go to man for just about everything this year. The graduate student sits second in the nation with 2.57 caused turnovers per game and has more ground balls (65) than anybody in the America East outside of faceoff specialists. He's scored 10 times this year with the long pole, adding four assists. He is a regular presence on the UAlbany man up unit as well.
• Sophomore attack Silas Richmond paces the America East in points with 51 on the year. He's scored 33 goals and added 18 assists for an average of 3.64 points per game. He has recorded at least one point in every game this season with a high of seven, all goals, coming in mid-March against Virginia.
• Faceoff specialist Regan Endres has been dominant for UAlbany at the X this season. He currently sports a faceoff percentage of .591, third in the conference overall. When accounting for conference-only games however, he paces the league with a .618 percentage and 8.86 ground balls per game. He has won more faceoffs than he has lost in all but two games this year.
• Attackmen Ryan Doherty and Graydon Hogg are coming off performances in which they have won conference honors. Doherty sits second on the team with 26 goals and 37 points, having scored four against Binghamton to earn the conference's Rookie of the Week award. Hogg scored five goals and dished out two assists against Binghamton to earn the conference's Offensive Player of the Week award. He sits third on the team with 22 goals and 34 points.
• Freshman keeper Landon Whitney leads the America East with a 10.50 GAA in conference games this season, being the only keeper with six conference wins. Overall, he sits with an 11.54 GAA and a .477 save percentage.

 
Scouting Merrimack
The Warriors come into Thursday's matchup as the conference's #4 seed with an overall record of 6-8 and an America East mark of 4-3. The team took down Bryant on Saturday afternoon, eliminating the Bulldogs from the playoffs and giving themselves a chance to make to make the Championship. Merrimack's season was able to continue thanks to an 18-10 victory for UAlbany over Binghamton, eliminating the Bearcats and giving the Warriors the final seed in the playoffs.

• The Warriors have struggled on the offensive side of the ball, ranking seventh in the America East in goals per game (10.64), sixth in assists per game (6.00), and seventh points per game (16.64).
• Kasey Mongillo leads the team in goals with 31 on the season. He is followed by Jack Kolbe with 24 and KJ Delane with 17.
• Jack Rooney has dished out 34 assists this year, ranking second in the America East averaging 2.43 per game.
• Connor Stack and Karl Sutter have been the primary faceoff men for the Warriors. Stack has won 74-192 attempts for a FO percentage of .385, Sutter has won 68-186 attempts for a .366 percentage.
• Henry Vogt has been Merrimack's primary keeper this year, starting in 11 games. He sports a 13.94 GAA and a .502 save percentage.

 
History vs. Merrimack
Thursday's matchup will be just the third meeting all time between the Great Danes and the Warriors. Their first meeting came last year, with UAlbany coming away with a 13-11 victory. In that game, Graydon Hogg finished with a hat trick, Jake Piseno recorded two assists and won seven ground balls, and Regan Endres went 8-12 at the X. More recently, on April 21, The Great Danes clinched a berth in the 2024 America East Championship with a 14-8 victory over the Warriors. 11 different UAlbany players found the back in the win, with Graydon Hogg, Perker Emmett, and Alex Pfeiffer leading the way with two goals each.
 
Last Time Out
For the first time since 2018, UAlbany captured the America East Regular Season Championship with an 18-10 victory over Binghamton on Saturday night. The Great Danes won the title outright, alone at the top of the standings with a 6-1 conference record.

• Graydon Hogg led the way with five goals and two assists.
• Ryan Doherty followed with a four-goal performance.
• Ben Wimmer and Daniel Kesselring each scored twice.
• Amos Whitcomb nabbed three points on a goal and two assists.
• Jake Piseno scored his 10th of the year with the long pole, collecting two caused turnovers and four ground balls.
• Regan Endres went 16-29 at the X, scooping seven ground balls and scoring his third goal of the season.
• Landon Whitney made 11 saves in net.

 
Next: With a win, UAlbany will advance to the America East Championship Game on Saturday at 3:00 p.m., facing either #2 Vermont or #3 UMBC. With a loss, the 2024 season will come to a close.