ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany women's lacrosse program marks the mid-way point of its five-game road swing with a trip to New Hampshire this week.
 
Game Info
Wednesday, April 6 at New Hampshire (2:00 pm)
Live Stats | AE.tv | Game Notes
 
Leading the Pack

• UAlbany is 3-2 on the road this season; New Hampshire is 3-3 at home
• UAlbany ranks second in the America East in assists per game and draw controls per game
• Katie Pascale leads the America East in total assists and assists per game, and ranks second in total points and points per game
• New Hampshire ranks seventh in the America East in goals scored
• The Wildcats take shots at the lowest rate in the conference
• UAlbany has won each of the last 14 games in the series, but is 5-5 since 2001 in Durham

Scouting New Hampshire
New Hampshire is 6-4 overall and 1-0 in-conference, and is one of four teams in the America East win an overall winning record.  Since starting the season 0-2, and then 1-3, the Wildcats have won five of six, including four-straight from March 3-16.  Two Wildcats, Mackenzie MacEachern and Delaney Pratt, have each scored 22 goals, while five have scored at least 20 points on the season.  New Hampshire went 4-7 in 2021, including 3-6 against America East opponents, and was picked to finish sixth in the conference's preseason coaches' poll.  UAlbany is 15-11 since 2001 against New Hampshire but has won each of the last 14.
 
Last Time vs. New Hampshire
Two of the last three games against the Wildcats have ended in thrilling fashion, including the most recent meeting during the 2021 season.  UAlbany jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first half, only to see their advantage disappear behind a 10-5 run for the Wildcats.  New Hampshire outscored UAlbany 4-1 over the final 11:30 of regulation to tie the game at 12.  In overtime, the Great Dane defense forced a turnover and pushed up the field in transition.  Katie Pascale found Bryar Hogg diving towards the Wildcat goal to score the game-winner, 13-12.  Hogg finished the game with three goals, and Sarah Falk scored five.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany continued its five-game road swing with a showdown at first-place Vermont last weekend.  The Catamounts were 8-2 on the season so far and held the best overall record in the America East.  UAlbany, who was 23-1 lifetime against the Catamounts, trailed early before locking down the Vermont offense in the fourth quarter to come from behind and claim a 12-10 victory in Burlington and take an inside track to the top seed and home-field advantage for the America East Tournament.  Sarah Falk scored five goals and added one assist, while Kathryn Sancilio, Katie Pascale, and Ava Poupard each scored twice.
 
Around the America East
With victories in their first two conference games, the Great Danes have climbed to the top of the America East standings.  Stony Brook retained their #5 national ranking, but sit second in the conference having played just one game.  UMBC and New Hampshire are each unbeaten through one conference game, ahead of Vermont at 1-2.  The Catamounts fall to second in the conference in overall record with their latest defeat at the hands of the Great Danes.  Binghamton and UMass Lowell remain winless in-conference.
 
Wednesday's America East Games

• UAlbany at New Hampshire, 2:00 pm
• Binghamton at UMBC, 3:00 pm
• UMass Lowell at Bryant, 7:00 pm

Common Opponents

• UConn
  • UAlbany: 3/22 vs. #22 UConn, L, 11-16
  • New Hampshire: 2/27 vs. #25 UConn, L, 10-23 

Upcoming Career Milestones

• Hailey Carroll
  • 92 points
• Sarah Falk
  • 78 points
• Katie Pascale
  • 97 draws

Lockdown
In the first big conference showdown of the season, at 8-2 Vermont, the Catamounts scored to go up 10-7 with 6:21 left in the third quarter.  UAlbany rallied, closing the game by scoring the last five goals, including outscoring Vermont 4-0 for the duration of the fourth quarter.  Sarah Falk, who finished the game with five goals and one assist, and Kathryn Sancilio, each scored twice during the 5-0 run, while the Great Dane defense held Vermont to just two total shots and one shot on goal in the final 15 minutes.
 
100 II
The second Great Danes this year to reach the centennial milestone was sophomore midfielder Katie Pascale.  In the game at Cornell, Pascale recorded her 100th career point.  The milestone came with Pascale's goal with 7:55 remaining in the fourth quarter, her fourth of the game.  She finished with four goals and four assists for eight total points.  In her career, spanning 27 games by the time she scored her 100th point, Pascale averaged 3.74 points per game.
 
100 I
Junior goalkeeper Aislinn Sweeney became the first of a handful of Great Danes approaching a big career milestone to reach hers, recording her 100th career save in UAlbany's 2022 America East opener against Binghamton.  Sweeney's sixth of seven saves against the Bearcats gave pushed her into triple digits for her career, reaching the mark in just 18 appearances in goal. 
 
Breakout
In UAlbany's game against #22 UConn, their third time hosting a ranked opponent this season, freshman Courtney Rowe finished the game with a career-high four goals to lead UAlbany in scoring.  Rowe, a midfielder from Rush, N.Y., has appeared in all seven of UAlbany's game this season, and had scored one goal before the UConn game.
 
Hot Start II
For the second time this season, the UAlbany women's lacrosse team shut out its opponent in the first quarter, rolling off a 6-0 run in the first 15 minutes in their game at Canisius.  The Great Danes ultimately opened the game against the Golden Griffins by scoring the first eight goals before Canisius broke through with their first score early in the second quarter.  Sarah Falk and Katie Pascale combined for 15 total points to lead the Great Danes to a 20-15 victory on the road.
 
#21 Retired
Syracuse University announced in August, 2021 that Katie Thomson will have her jersey honored in a ceremony during the 2021-22 academic season.  Thomson is one of four former Orange student-athletes selected for the honor this season, and one of three women, with Felisha Legette-Jack and Anna Goodale.  This group of four, including former men's lacrosse star and current men's lacrosse head coach Gary Gait, who coached Thomson when she played for the Orange, are the first to receive the honor outside the Orange's primary revenue sports.  Further, Thomson, Legette-Jack, and Goodale are the first women to receive the honor in Syracuse history.  The ceremony took place on February 20. 
 
Starting Strong
In the second game of the season, at Colgate, UAlbany opened the game on a three-quarter-long, 17-0 scoring run before defeating the Raiders by a final score of 19-2.  Colgate did not score their first goal until 13:12 remaining in the fourth quarter.  Nine Great Danes scored at least one goal during the 17-0 run.

Last Minute
Trailing #13 Stanford 15-11 with 54 seconds remaining, UAlbany rolled off three goals in 41 seconds to close with one of the Cardinal.  Sarah Falk let UAlbany's rally effort, scoring two of the three goals, after having scored her first goal of the game with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.  Stanford won the ensuing draw control with 13 seconds remaining to stop UAlbany's comeback in its tracks, and held on to win 15-14 despite being outscored by the Great Danes 6-1 in the fourth.
 
PLL Year Four
The Premier Lacrosse League announced on February 8 that the University at Albany would once again serve as a host for one of the league's weekend slates.  Additionally, the league announced that UAlbany would host the 2022 opening weekend, a change from the campus' traditional window of August.
 
Oh, Canada
Following her stint at the Canadian National Team's summer camp in August, Bryar Hogg was extended an invitation to join the official roster for the 2022 World Lacrosse Women's World Cup.  Hogg will compete with Team Canada in Towson, Maryland in June and July with 19 other national team selections.  The Cup will feature a record-high 30 teams, of which Canada is ranked second after winning a silver medal in the 2017 World Cup.
 
Preseason Recognition
2021 America East Rookie of the Year Katie Pascale was named America East Preseason Offensive Player of the Year by Inside Lacrosse.  Pascale led UAlbany in 2021 in points and assists.  She also ranked second in the America East in assists and third in total points, and was named America East Rookie of the Week five times during the season.
 
Picked Third
The Great Danes were picked to finish third by the narrowest of margins in the 2022 America East Preseason Coaches Poll.  UAlbany and UMBC both earned 28 total points, but the Retrievers were able to break the tie by virtue of receiving one first-place vote.  This was the first season since 2010 that UAlbany was picked lower than third in the conference's preseason poll.  Eight-time defending champion Stony Brook was once again picked as the unanimous favorite, receiving 36 total points and all six possible first-place votes.
 
Schedule Strength
Of the 15 games on UAlbany's 2022 schedule, the Great Danes will play five against team ranked in the national preseason top-25 poll.  For the 2022 season opener, UAlbany will host preseason #13 Stanford.  Later in the season, they will host #16 Drexel and #21 UConn.  The annual showdown with Syracuse, preseason #3, closes out a five-game road swing on April 19.  The regular season ends with the rivalry game at home against preseason #6 Stony Brook on April 30.  Beyond the preseason rankings, four of UAlbany's 2022 matchups held top-20 rankings in the final national media poll of 2021, and six of their opponents qualified for the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
 
New Look
Despite returning 2021 leading scorer Katie Pascale and defensive starters Mackenzie Beam and Eliza MacCaull, the Great Danes will feature a new-look offense and defense this season.  Departing from the 2021 squad are four of the five leading scorers, as well as starting goalkeeper Georgia Schneidereith.  The Great Danes will see a class of 10 freshman and one graduate transfer step up to fill the void.
 
Rules Changes
The 2022 season features a handful of rules changes for the women's game.  Most notably, games will no longer be played in two 30-minute halves, but instead will be played in four 15-minute quarters.  Additionally, the shot clock will now reset to 60 seconds after a save or a shot hits the post, and pregame stick checks have been eliminated and coaches will no longer be able to request stick checks during timeouts.
 
Super Sixes
Assistant coach Taylor Frink made her second appearance for the Iroquois National team in October at the World Lacrosse Super Sixes Tournament.  She was one of six Great Dane alumni competing for the Iroquois National team that weekend, with the other five, Lyle Thompson, Ty Thompson, Jakob Patterson, Ron John, and Tehoka Nanticoke, competing on the men's team.
 
International Summer
Continuing the tradition of Great Danes competing abroad, defender Mackenzie Beam and attack Bryar Hogg were invited to participate in the Team Canada national camp in August.  The camp featured 40 players for consideration for roster the 2022 Women's Field Lacrosse World Championships.  Later in the summer, assistant coach Taylor Frink and attack Ivy Santana competed in the Pan American Lacrosse Association Sixes Cup for the Iroquois National team in September.  Frink was making a repeat appearance for the Iroquois Nationals, having competed on the senior women's team in 2019 in the inaugural Pan America Lacrosse World Qualifiers. 
 
10 for 10
The 2021 semifinal victory over Vermont landed UAlbany its 10th-straight appearance in the America East title game.  UAlbany has won two America East titles, claiming back-to-back victories in 2011 and 2012, but has fallen in the finals in each of the last seven seasons to Stony Brook.
 
2021 Coach of the Year
Third-year head coach Katie Thomson was named 2021 America East Coach of the Year, the first such award in her career at UAlbany.  Thomson guided the Great Danes to a 10-6 overall record in 2021, including 7-2 in-conference, while securing the two-seed in this year's America East Tournament.  The team will make its 13th-straight postseason appearance, and earns its 11th top-two seed during that span.  2021 marked Thomson's first victory over a ranked opponent in her career as UAlbany head coach, with the Great Danes defeating #20 Hofstra at home by a score of 18-7.
 
Ranked Victory
In her third season, UAlbany head coach Katie Thomson recorded her first victory over a ranked opponent when her Great Danes dominated #20 Hofstra 18-7 at John Fallon Field on March 9, 2021.  In her first three seasons, Thomson had her team played against nine ranked opponents, including top-ranked Boston College in 2019, as well as multiple games against Thomson's alma mater Syracuse and conference rival Stony Brook. 
 
Mainstays
The UAlbany women's lacrosse team has made 10-straight trips to the America East title game, winning the conference tournament in 2011 and 2012.  For each of the last nine, the Great Danes have met Stony Brook in the final.

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 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, 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.  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 Thomson helmed the Pride of the Women's Professional Lacrosse League.  Joining Thomson on the sidelines was assistant coach Taylor Frink.  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.
 
2023 NCAA Quarterfinals
On October 14, 2020, the NCAA announced among its selections for over 450 championship sites for the 2023-26 seasons that the University at Albany was awarded hosting responsibilities for a quarterfinal bracket in the 2023 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament.  It will be the first time the Great Danes host a quarterfinal, having previously hosted three First Round games, in 2007, 2017, and 2018.
 
PLL Year Three
UAlbany hosted its second weekend of the PLL summer schedule in 2021.  After a successful first year, the Great Danes were awarded hosting privileges for year two, before the format was changed to account for the COVID-19 pandemic.  The league made its triumphant return to Albany in 2021, playing six games over three days in Tom & Mary Casey Stadium.
 
Next: UAlbany visits UMBC on April 16.