#11/10 UAlbany Men's Lacrosse Uses 10-1 Run in Decisive 16-10 Victory vs. #13/15 Stony Brook to Open League Play
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ALBANY, N.Y. – The #11/10 UAlbany men's lacrosse team began America East play with an important 16-10 win over rival #13/15 Stony Brook off a 10-1 run in the second half.
“We got off to a great start, then their goalie made some saves and got them back in the game,” said UAlbany coach Scott Marr. “The start of that third quarter had them with four straight goals, but we just worked through it, and they pulled out of it and made some nice plays.”
With the victory, UAlbany (4-2, 1-0 AE) increased its conference winning streak, dating back the last three seasons, to 17, the longest active streak in Division I. Down 8-6 to Stony Brook (5-2, 0-1 AE) in the third quarter, UAlbany, with Blaze Riorden locking down the defensive side with 16 saves in the game, scored 10 of the next 11 goals to surge past the Seawolves and seize the victory.
“Lacrosse is a game of runs, we started off 5-1, then they came out flying, and we knew we had to weather the storm,” said Riorden. “We did that, we buckled down defensively and Zach Ornstein buckled down on the X.”
Connor Fields earned four goals and two assists for six points, while Seth Oakes netted three goals. Riorden finished with 16 saves in the victory, adding five ground balls, while Troy Reh caused three turnovers and scooped two ground balls.
For Stony Brook, Matt Schultz finished with three goals while Alex Corpolongo had two. Brandon Maciejewski, who played in goal the second half for Stony Brook, got the loss with four saves and 10 goals allowed. Zach Oliveri played the first half in goal, saving six shots in 12 chances.
UAlbany's quick offense strikes saw Fields, on a low shot off a run and Oakes, on a high-to-low throw, net the ball in the opening couple of minutes. Minutes later, Justin Reh set up a catch and shoot goal for Eli Lasda for the early 3-0 UAlbany lead.
As each side had penalties, the teams took advantage of the man-up scenarios. After SBU scored man-up, Derrick Eccles sprinted off a won faceoff and buried a shot on the run. Oakes added another off a man-up spot to put UAlbany ahead by four. Schultz scored on a man-up situation to make it 4-2 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, Fields found John Maloney for the rip and score to put UAlbany up by four. Jay Lindsay scored for Stony Brook off the next faceoff to bring it back to a three-point deficit. A long scoring lull ensued as Riorden held in the cage for UAlbany. Stony Brook added a late goal in the second as UAlbany led 6-4 at the half.
Stony Brook's offense won faceoffs and quickly peppered the goal to begin the third, including a goal right off the draw and a score off a rebounded shot. The Seawolves scored four in a row to build an 8-6 lead.
UAlbany responded back with quick offense of its own. Drawing a man-up scenario, Maloney recovered on the ball on the ride and buries the ball on a laser shot. UAlbany won the next faceoff and quickly saw Fields with the low shot and score to tie the game. The next possession, UAlbany again got a man-up play. Maloney got into the middle for the shot and score, giving UAlbany a 9-8 advantage. Minutes later, Oakes got around a defender and scored on the shoulder shot to put UAlbany up by two. The two sides added another goal each, Kevin McNally for UAlbany and Lindsey for SBU, to make it 11-9 after three.
The home team won key faceoffs to open the 4th. Kyle McClancy picked up a ground ball near the goal circle to preserve the possession, then Fields hit his mark to score. Not less than a minute later after another won faceoff, Adam Osika scored close range to build the advantage to four. After Riorden made a low save on a hard, long range shot from SBU, UAlbany cleared and saw Bennett Drake throw a ball to the ground for the bounce shot and score to make it 14-9.
UAlbany continued the attack as Lasda added another from Fields and Jack Burgmaster faked out the goalie for a goal next to the circle. Riorden and Co. on defense held Stony Brook to one goal the final 7:30 to earn the 16-10 victory.
UAlbany's first conference road game will be on Saturday, March 26th as the Great Danes take on Hartford at 1 p.m.
