ALBANY, N.Y. – The second half of America East play will begin on Saturday, April 8th as the UAlbany men's lacrosse team hosts UMBC at John Fallon Field at 1 p.m.
Tickets for the game are $7 for adults and $5 for kids 12 & under. Parking in the SEFCU lot is $10. The game will be broadcast online for free on AmericaEast.tv.
UAlbany has won its last eight games dating back to February, coming off a 19-11 road win over Stony Brook. The Great Danes are tied for first place in the America East at 3-0 and 8-1 overall. UMBC defeated UMass Lowell 10-6 on Saturday to stay undefeated in America East play at 2-0, standing 4-5 overall. UAlbany, UMBC and Binghamton are the remaining teams with undefeated America East records.
Following UAlbany's pair of road victories last week over Harvard and Stony Brook, UAlbany went up to #7 in the USILA Coaches Poll and to #7 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. UMBC is not ranked in either poll.
UAlbany has won the last seven meetings against UMBC, the last a 15-14 overtime thriller in Baltimore last season, to lead the overall series 11-10. The series includes UAlbany victories over UMBC in the 2013 and 2014 America East title games.
UALBANY PREDICTED TO FINISH FIRST IN AMERICA EAST IN '17: For the fifth season in a row, UAlbany has been predicted to finish first in the America East in the preseason coaches poll. It is the fourth season in the last five that UAlbany was a unanimous pick to finish first. UAlbany is undefeated in America East regular season play since the start of 2013. The rest of the poll is filled out by, in order, Hartford, Vermont, Stony Brook, UMBC, UMass Lowell and Binghamton.
FIELDS - TOP SCORER IN DIVISION I: Through the first couple weeks of the season, Connor Fields stands as the top scorer of Division I, averaging 7.22 points per game. He currently totals 65 points off 35 goals and 30 assists. He is first in goals per game and third in assists per game.
Bennett Drake is 46th in DI with 2.22 goals per game, totaling 20, while Justin Reh has 3.22 points per game on 22 goals and 29 assists.
UALBANY - LONGEST CONFERENCE WINNING STREAK IN DI: With four consecutive undefeated regular seasons, UAlbany has the longest active winning streak in conference games with 25, dating back the last five years.
UAlbany is the only DI team to go undefeated in league play in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Three schools, UAlbany and Denver, had undefeated conference regular seasons each of the past three years.
UAlbany formerly had a streak of 28 victories against America East opponents until May 5, 2016 after a 11-10 overtime defeat to Hartford in the America East Tournament semifinal round. Active Conference Winning Streak (games as of 4/6/17)1 - UAlbany, 25 (America East 2013-17)2 - Denver, 17 (Big East 2014-16)
NEW STARTERS DOMINATING: UAlbany players entering starting roles for the first game are ranking among the top in Division I. A first-year starting goalkeeper, JD Colarusso is eighth in DI with a 58.2% save rate, allowing just 9.03 goals per game and holding an 8-1 record.
Freshman faceoff man TD Ierlan is second in DI on the X at 71.8%, winning at least 70% in seven games, and first with 12.33 ground balls per game. At attack, freshman Jakob Patterson has 19 goals, including a pair of four-goal games.
100-POINT WATCH: UAlbany comes into 2017 with just one 100-point scorer, but a number of others are approaching that mark. UAlbany lost a pair of 100-point scorers in 2016.--Connor Fields, Jr. A: 226 (145 G, 81 A) --Bennett Drake, Sr. A/M: 91 (65 G, 26 A)--Justin Reh, Jr. A: 89 (44 G, 45 A)--Kyle McClancy, Jr. M: 57 (32 G, 25 A)
SCOUTING THE UMBC RETRIEVERS: UMBC is under the helm of first-year head coach Ryan Moran.
The team's leading scorer is senior attack Max Maxwell with 31 points off 14 goals and 17 assists, adding 12 ground balls. Each freshman attack Ryan Frawley and junior midfielder Max Haldeman have 10 goals. Freshman Jake Brothers has taken nearly faceoff for UMBC, winning 48.5%.
Standing every minute in the cage for UMBC is senior Ruston Souder, who has a 50.9% save rate and a 9.22 goals allowed average. Junior LSM Billy O'Hara has a team-best 16 caused turnovers, adding 33 ground balls.
