Men's lacrosse score: No. 4 Yale 10, UAlbany 5

Location: Tom & Mary Casey Stadium in Albany, N.Y.

Records: UAlbany 5-7; Yale 9-2

Short story: A six-goal run to start the game propelled Yale to a 10-5 victory over the University at Albany men's lacrosse team in a non-conference matchup Friday, April 19, at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium.

Key stats

• Jakob Patterson tallied a pair of goals for UAlbany, including a highlight-reel score that beat the buzzer at the end of the first half. Jack Burgmaster, Kyle Casey and Steve Ramirez also scored.

• UAlbany outshot Yale, 45-44, and the defense bothered the Bulldogs into 20 turnovers.

• UAlbany defenseman Matt Perla picked up four ground balls and caused three turnovers.

Recap

Yale built a 6-0 lead in the first half and then held off the University at Albany men's lacrosse team in a 10-5 win Friday, April 19, at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium.

The Great Danes caused 12 turnovers in the game and held the Bulldogs scoreless for the first 14 minutes of play. But Yale, the defending national champions, never led by fewer than three goals after the 9:44 mark of the second quarter.

The game concluded one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in the nation for UAlbany, which now has played four teams currently in the Top 10 and five ranked opponents overall.

The two teams were meeting for the first time since the 2018 national semifinals, a game Yale won, 20-11, in Foxboro, Mass.

“To play that much defense and hold them to 10 goals was outstanding,” said Scott Marr, UAlbany's head coach. “Nate (Siekierski), from him on out, everybody played outstanding defense. We were a tough team. We made them work for their goals. I was very proud of what we did on the defensive end.”

UAlbany threatened to make a run in the third quarter, pulling within 6-3 thanks to two outstanding plays from junior attack Jakob Patterson.

First, Patterson beat the halftime buzzer to make the score 6-2. On a play that started with just 3.5 seconds remaining, Tehoka Nanticoke curled from the corner and whipped a pass to Patterson, who buried a behind-the-back shot as time expired.

Patterson then cut Yale's lead to three less than two minutes into the second half when he charged to the net, momentarily lost the ball, then re-corralled it and fired a shot past the Bulldogs' goalkeeper.

But Yale, of the Ivy League, ran off the next three goals to increase its lead to 9-3.

Kyle Casey and Jack Burgmaster closed out the scoring for UAlbany, both getting goals on a man-up opportunity in the closing minutes.

Steve Ramirez also scored for the Great Danes, and Siekierski stopped eight shots in net.

“I'm proud of our effort for sure,” Marr said. “If we can bring that kind of intensity and sharpness to the game, we're going to be fine.”

Up next

UAlbany returns to America East play and closes out the regular season Friday, April 26, at Stony Brook. The opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m.