Score: UAlbany 14, Siena 8
Location: Tom & Mary Casey Stadium in Albany, N.Y.
Records: UAlbany (4-3); Siena (3-4)
Short Story: UAlbany women's lacrosse remains undefeated in the Crosstown Rivalry, knocking off Siena with a big second half to snap a three-game losing streak.
Coach Rowan: “It was a really hard-fought game. We knew Siena was going to come out and play us really tough. I thought in the first half their goalie did a phenomenal job stepping to the ball and making some great saves, but I thought we made some great adjustments at halftime and had a great second half. We just took a deep breath and started seeing the open looks a little bit better, and started taking an extra second on our shooting. We felt like we were getting the looks that we wanted in the first half but we just weren't putting our shots away. In the second half we were seeing the net better and putting those shots away.”
Key Stats
- UAlbany outshot Siena 33-19, including 20-10 in the first half
- UAlbany outscored Siena 8-2 in the second half
- Siena goalkeeper Sammy Horton made 10 saves in the first half
- UAlbany won nine draws in the first half to Siena's three
- Kyla Zapolski scored five goals
- Sam Tortora and Hannah Newman scored three goals each
Recap
The University at Albany women's lacrosse team snapped a three-game losing streak on Saturday with a victory in the Crosstown Rivalry over Siena. After playing the Saints to a first-half stalemate, the Great Dane offense came alive in the second, racking up eight goals to defeat Siena 14-8.
The Great Danes had lost each of their previous three games, at home to #22 Stanford, on the road at #19 Penn State, and on the road at UConn, falling to .500 on the season after opening with three-straight victories.
UAlbany quickly got out to a two-goal lead, with Madison Conway and Hailey Carroll finding the back of the net with 28:10 and 25:51 remaining, respectively. Neither team scored for more than 12 minutes, when Siena finally got on the board with 13:48 to go to cut the lead to 2-1.
Siena tied the game at three with 9:02 remaining in the first, before the Great Danes rolled of two goals over the next two minutes to take a 5-3 lead. Siena scored each of the next three to take a 6-5 lead over UAlbany with 40 seconds to go.
Hannah Newman tied the game at six, scoring the final goal of the half with 19 seconds to go, ending Siena's 3-0 run. The first 30 minutes saw UAlbany outshoot Siena 20-10 overall and win nine draws to Siena's three. Siena goalkeeper Sammy Horton played lights out in the first half, recording 10 saves.
Kyla Zapolski kicked off proceedings in the second with a goal with 26:08 to go to put the Great Danes back on top. Siena scored the next two, taking an 8-7 lead, which would prove to be their last of the game.
The Great Danes ended the second half scoring each of the final seven goals to claim a 14-8 victory. Zapolski finished leading all scorers with five goals, four of which came in the second half. Sam Tortora finished with three goals and one assist, while Newman scored three times. Conway added three assists to go with her one goal on the afternoon, and Kendra Harbinger scored once with two assists.
Overall, UAlbany outshot Siena 33-19 for the game, and outscored the Saints 8-2 in the second half. Siena's goalkeeper, Horton, finished the game with 14 saves
Next: UAlbany begins a four-game road trip starting on Tuesday at #1 Boston College, followed by the America East opener next Saturday at UMass Lowell.
