by Men’s Lacrosse Score: UAlbany 19, UMass 8
Location: Amherst, Mass. – Garber Field
Records: UAlbany (4-0), UMass (1-4)
Short Story: The #1 UAlbany men’s lacrosse team rode a 12-point day from Connor Fields to defeat UMass 19-8 on Tuesday afternoon, giving the Great Danes a 4-0 start.
Key Stats:
- UAlbany: Connor Fields set a new career-high with 12 points off five goals and seven assists, while Tehoka Nanticoke notched eight points off five goals and three assists. Davis Diamond earned his first two collegiate goals, adding an assist for three points. JD Colarusso had the win in goal with nine saves and four goals allowed in 45 minutes, with Nate Siekierski finishing the game with three saves and four goals allowed in the fourth quarter.
- UMass: Jeff Trainor had a team-best two goals while Kevin Tobin finished with a goal and two assists. Hampton Brannon had the loss in goal, allowing 13 goals and saving eight shots in the first half.
- Fields’s 12-point day is tied for second all-time in UAlbany program history. Miles Thompson had 14 points against Stony Brook on April 27, 2013.
- Fields crossed the 300-point threshold in this game, the second Great Dane, along with Lyle Thompson, to accomplish that feat. Fields has 308 career points.
- UAlbany outshot UMass 53-30, including 34-10 in the first half. UAlbany also won the faceoff battle 20-30, with TD Ierlan going 17-for-23 at the X.
- 10 different Great Danes scored goals today.
Key Situations:
- 15:00-8:37 1st quarter: UAlbany scores on three of its first four offensive possessions, including a goal and assist each from Connor Fields and Tehoka Nanticoke, to lead 3-0.
- 11:05-3:35 2nd quarter: UAlbany goes on a 7-0 run to begin the second, including three goals in a span of 34 seconds, to lead 12-2.
- 8:41-0:46 3rd quarter: UAlbany nets six straight goals to begin the third, two by Fields, to build the advantage to 18-4.
Quote: “We came out today and played loose and with energy, and we had some fun. We got the game going to our pace. It was a good grind [vs. Cornell] and we got through it, and then we came out today and had a lot of fun.”- UAlbany head coach Scott Marr
Recap: The #1 UAlbany men’s lacrosse team improve to 4-0 on the season with a dominant 19-8 victory over UMass.
UAlbany had a long first possession, avoiding a turnover in the corner, leading to Sean Eccles torching a shot inside the left post. UAlbany held on defense after a won UMass faceoff with a caused turnover. Tehoka Nanticoke bounced a pass off the turf to Connor Fields, who scored from 15 meters out, then the reserve as Fields found Nanticoke next to a trio of defenders for a turn and shoot for a goal. UMass got its first goal with 5:47 left in the 1st.
Nanticoke again found Fields with a pass through the UMass zone to Fields for a blazing shot and a goal. Alex Burgmaster added a goal on the run just past a defender down the center to the cage. UMass had another catch and shoot goal before the end of the quarter as UAlbany led 5-2 after one.
After some back and forth to begin the second quarter, UAlbany rolled off three goals in 34 seconds: a great pass from Fields to Nanticoke to the close shot, Nanticoke running with a faceguard towards the cage and a score on a bounce shot, then TD Ierlan going back and forth with Fields, leading to Ierlan scoring on a bouncing shot.
UAlbany continued the offensive attack with a catch and shoot from Fields to Justin Reh, a quick restart goal from Nanticoke going from behind to in front of the cage, then Fields throwing across the defense toZach Wolfe for the wind up and score. Another goal caused off the ride from a caused turnover from Reh to Nanticoke to Fields for a point blank score completed a 7-0 run. After two quick UMass goals to break the run, Davis Diamond scored his first career goal with 10 seconds left in the half to give UAlbany a 13-4 lead at the break.
Into the third, each defense held for the first six minutes. Nanticoke added another goal on the catch and shoot from Fields, then Fields added two goals off muscling through a defender on the doorstep, then turning around and sniping a shot into the corner. Diamond added a second goal as the reserves started to take over. Noah Taylor ended the quarter with a hidden ball trick goal to complete a 6-0 run for UAlbany to lead 18-4 after three.
After UMass scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter, Ashton Bradley scored his first career goal with eight minutes to go. UMass added two more late goals, but UAlbany’s lead held. The Great Danes won 19-8.
#1 UAlbany now gets set for a showdown for the ages, heading to College Park to challenge #2 Maryland on Saturday, March 10th at 12 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
