#11/10 UAlbany Men's Lacrosse Third Quarter Comeback Falls Short in 10-7 Defeat at #7/6 Maryland
Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
ALBANY, N.Y. – The #11/10 UAlbany men's lacrosse team nearly came back against #7/6 Maryland with a three goal run in the third quarter but fell short in a 10-7 defeat on Wednesday night.
Down 7-3 at the half, UAlbany (3-2) outscored Maryland (4-2) 3-0 in the third to pull within one. Maryland scored the first three goals of the fourth to hold off UAlbany's comeback attempt.
Seth Oakes had a hat trick, including three of UAlbany's first five goals. John Maloney had two goals and three ground balls while Connor Fields had two assists. Blaze Riorden had seven saves in the defeat.
For Maryland, Bryan Cole and Matt Rambo each had two goals and an assist while Austin Henningsen won 16-20 faceoffs for 10 ground balls. Kyle Bernlohr got the win in goal with seven saves.
UAlbany protected against a three minute Maryland possession to open, including Riorden making a save near the pipe. A feed towards Oakes was knocked down, and on the next possession, Tim Rotanz got the catch and threw a hard bounce shot inside the right post for the score just over five minutes in. Dylan Maltz added another on a sprint from behind the cage and a quick shot for a 2-0 lead.
UAlbany held against Maryland's offense, which had 10 shots in the first 10 minutes as Riorden saved three of them. The other way, Fields found a running Oakes, who buried a low shot past Bernlohr's feet for UAlbany first goal. Maryland kept winning the faceoffs and added the goal back off a high shot from Colin Heacock. Each side added another goal before the end of the 1st, with Bennett Drake scooping up a loose ball and hitting a shot close range to the cage, and Cole scoring on a high shot, to make it 4-2 Maryland after one.
The second quarter saw each side struggle with passing as both teams turned the ball over on a pass towards the middle. UAlbany held a long possession but could not get a shot on goal as Rotanz scored for Maryland the other way.
Following a Riorden save, Oakes picked up another goal off a similar ground ball shot from earlier, scoring just inside the post. Maryland continued to control possession as the home team added two more goals in the closing minutes to take a 7-3 lead into the locker room.
Into the third quarter, the possessions started to get longer for both sides. UAlbany picked up a strong possession about midway through the quarter and took aim at the cage. Jake Cullen and Adam Osika each got chances in front of the cage, with Bernlohr saving a trio of shots.
After an exchange, Maloney got a long pass and buried a shot top shelf off a windup. UAlbany continued to fire, with Oakes adding a third goal off a hard shot off the turf and over the goalie's shoulder. The next possession, a Maryland interference call put UAlbany man-up. Passing around, Fields found Sean Eccles for the shot and score, putting UAlbany within one. UAlbany trailed 7-6 going into the fourth quarter.
Maryland snapped its scoring drought early in the 4th as Connor Kelly scored on the catch and shoot from 10 meters out. Maryland forced a turnover on UAlbany next possession, drew a slash and scored with Heacock getting to the middle and scoring on a jump and shot.
UAlbany got a couple of possessions but could not score early. Eli Lasda made a move to get inside his defender and sprinted to the cage for the narrow shot, with Bernlohr saving the ball low. Maryland added another on the shot clock winding down from Rambo to make it 10-6.
UAlbany tried to get back, with Maloney forcing a turnover, clearing himself and shooting with no one coming to him to pull UAlbany within three. But UAlbany did not score again and fell to Maryland 10-7.
The Great Danes will begin America East play this weekend, taking on rival #13/15 Stony Brook on Saturday, March 19th at noon at John Fallon Field.
