ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany women's lacrosse team returns to action for the first time since March 12, 2020, paying a visit to ACC power Boston College to open the 2021 season.
 
Game Info
Tuesday, February 23 at #13 Boston College (4:00 pm)
Live Stats | ACCNX
 
Leading the Pack

• Four of UAlbany's 12 seniors from 2020 elected to return this season
• UAlbany will play for the first time since March 11, 2020, a span of 349 days
• The Great Danes return five of their top six scorers from the shortened 2020 season, and add back Kendra Harbinger, whose 2020 season was cut short due to injury, but will have to replace leading scorer Sam Tortora
• Georgia Schneidereith led the America East in goals-against average last season, and ranked second in save percentage
• Saturday's game will be played indoors at Boston College's Fish Field House, which opened in 2018

 
Scouting Boston College
The Eagles ranked preseason #13 and briefly jumped to #11 last week, but will arrive at Tuesday's game ranked #13 nationally.  The last time the Great Danes visited Boston College, the Eagles were ranked #1 in the country.  Boston College landed three Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-America selections, in Charlotte North, Cara Urbank, and Rachel Hall.  North was also a Preseason All-ACC selection following a first-year campaign in which she led the Eagles in scoring with 23 goals and 12 assists.  UAlbany is 2-3 lifetime against the Eagles.
 
Last Time vs. Boston College
In 2019, against Boston College, the top-ranked team in the country and two-time national runner-up, UAlbany held tough through the first half, briefly holding an early, 2-1 lead before heading into halftime trailing by just three, 8-5.  The Eagles top-ranked offense kicked into gear in the second half, outscoring the Danes 9-4 to claim a 17-9 victory.  Sam Tortora recorded five assists against the Eagles, helping set up four of her teammates, Hailey Carroll, Madison Conway, Hannah Newman, and Kyla Zapolski score two goals each.  In net, Georgia Schneidereith recorded 12 saves on the afternoon.
 
Last Time Out
The UAlbany women's lacrosse team was the last UAlbany team to see action before the COVID-19 shutdown ended athletics events for the spring 2020 season.  The Great Danes visited crosstown rival Siena, knocking off the Saints 20-10.  The game featured Sam Tortora record her 100th career assist.  Already the program's career record holder, Tortora was the first Great Dane to hit the triple-digit assists mark.
 
Around the America East
Stony Brook opened the 2021 regular season with a trip to Chapel Hill to face off against the top-ranked Tar Heels.  The Seawolves fell to UNC 14-7, and have since been the only team in the America East to begin their season.  With their opener on Tuesday, UAlbany will become the second team in the conference to have started their season.
 
Picked Second
For the ninth-straight season, UAlbany was picked to finish second in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.  The Great Danes pulled in a total of 43 points and one first-place vote, falling six points behind Stony Brook, who was favored unanimously for the ninth-straight season.
 
Mainstays
The UAlbany women's lacrosse team has made nine-straight trips to the America East title game, winning the conference tournament in 2011 and 2012.  For each of the last eight, the Great Danes have met Stony Brook in the final.
 
Schedule Strength
Of the 16 games on UAlbany's 2021 schedule, the Great Danes will play four against team ranked in the national preseason top-20 poll.  Their opener will feature preseason #13 Boston College, and later in the season the Great Danes will welcome preseason #3 Syracuse to John Fallon Field.  Finally, UAlbany will play a home-and-home series with preseason #6 and America East rival Stony Brook.
 
One of Four
Fifth-year goalkeeper Georgia Schneidereith is a quadruplet, with sisters Jamie, Maggie, and Lucy.  All four Schneidereith sisters play Division I lacrosse.  Jamie and Lucy play at Drexel and Maggie plays at Johns Hopkins.  All four returned to their teams this season, and UAlbany will visit Drexel later in the year, marking the first time Georiga will play against her sisters during her college career.
 
Last Third
The 2020 Great Danes' roster featured a collection of 12 seniors with years of America East Tournament experience.  Eight of those seniors, including the program's career assists record-holder Sam Tortora, chose not to exercise their additional year of eligibility granted by the NCAA.  Returning are Jordyn Marr, Madison Conway, Georgia Schneidereith, and Mara Bureau.
 
Double Trouble
Senior Kendra Harbinger joined the women's soccer program for the 2019 season, returning to the sport she played in high school, while remaining a member of the women's lacrosse team.  Harbinger scored two goals and recorded three assists as a starting defender for the Great Danes in her inaugural season, helping the team earn a share of the regular-season title.  Due to the overlap with fall and spring sports in 2021, Harbinger will only play lacrosse this season.
 
Helping Abroad
In January 2020, then-juniors Abby Stack and Ava Katinas spent three weeks volunteering in a hospital in Thailand through the Friends for Asia program.  Working in Chiang Mai, the pair shadowed professionals in the plastic surgery, pediatrics, emergency, and rehabilitation departments.  Both plan to pursue careers as medical professionals.
 
Haudenosaunee International
The UAlbany coaching staff spent two stints with the Haudenosaunee national program in the summer and fall of 2019, first with the U-19 team and next with the senior national squad.  Head coach Katie Rowan Thomson and assistant coaches Taylor Frink and Leah Gallagher served as assistant coaches under Ronnie Davis, the former head coach of Monroe Community College, on the sidelines for Haudenosaunee in the U19 World Championships.  Haudenosaunee placed ninth overall, earning victories over Belgium, Israel, Mexico, and Hong Kong.  Later in the fall, Rowan Thomson and Gallagher once again found themselves on the Haudenosaunee sidelines, this time for the senior national team at the inaugural Pan-American Lacrosse World Qualifiers, presiding over a roster that included Frink on the attack.  Rowan Thomson and her assistants led Haudenosaunee to the gold medal, defeating Columbia, Jamaica, Mexico, and finally Puerto Rico in the championship game.  Frink played in all four games, scoring five goals with seven assists, finishing as the seventh-leading scorer in the tournament.  The World Women's Lacrosse Championships take place in July, 2021.
 
WPLL
For the second season, head coach Katie Rowan Thomson helmed the Pride of the Women's Professional Lacrosse League.  Joining Rowan Thomson on the sidelines was assistant coach Taylor Frink.  Rowan Thomson led the Pride to the WPLL semifinals against the Brave, bringing into the game the league's co-leading team in scoring.  The Pride and the Brave further combined to field three of the four players who shared the lead league in individual scoring.  The Brave defeated the Pride 15-10 to advance to the WPLL championship game against the Flight, ultimately claiming the league championship.
 
PLL in Albany
In its inaugural season, Premier Lacrosse League hosted one of its weekends of competition at Casey Stadium on UAlbany's campus.  The league announced on April 22, 2019 that UAlbany would serve as a host site on August 24-25.  Among the players in the PLL were a eight former Great Danes, including Miles Thompson, Ty Thompson, Connor Fields, Kyle McClancey, and Blaze Riorden.  The first of three games in Albany the Atlas vs. the Chaos, was played in front of a sellout crowd of 6,472 fans, and saw Chaos starts Myles Thompson score twice, Troy Rey, McClancey, and Fields score once, and Riorden record 13 saves.
 
Next: UAlbany hosts St. Bonaventure on Thursday, February 25 at 1:00 pm.