ALBANY, N.Y. – Riding a two-game winning streak, the University at Albany men's lacrosse team returns to Tom & Mary Casey Stadium Thursday to host Syracuse for the first time in the history of the series.
 
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Game Info
Thursday, April 7 vs. Syracuse, Presented by Popeyes (7:00 pm)
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Gameday Program
Game Notes: UAlbany | Syracuse

Leading the Pack

• UAlbany is 2-1 at home this season; Syracuse is 1-3 on the road
• UAlbany ranks second in the America East in assists per game and third in points per game
• Jake Piseno leads the America East in caused turnovers per game
• Syracuse takes shots at the highest rate in the ACC, and leads the ACC in faceoff percentage
• Syracuse's Tucker Dordevic leads the ACC in goals per game and shots per game
• Dordevic ranks second nationally in goals per game
• The previous 19 games in the series were all played at Syracuse
• This is the first game in the series Syracuse will be unranked
• Seven games in the series have been decided by three goals or fewer

Scouting Syracuse
Syracuse is 4-5 on the season so far, including a 1-2 mark against ACC opponents, and is coming off its most lopsided defeat of the season, 22-6 at then #16 Notre Dame.  The Orange had won its previous two outings before visiting the Irish, at Stony Brook, 14-9, and against then #10 Duke, 14-10.  Six of Syracuse's opponents so far this season have been ranked, including #1 Maryland and then #2 Virginia in back-to-back meetings early in the season.  Syracuse is led by Tucker Dordevic, who has scored 33 goals this season to go with 11 assists.  Behind Dordevic, Brendan Curry has scored 21 goals and Owen Seebold has scored 19.  Dordevic was named a Preseason and Midseason All-American, as well as to the Tewaaraton Watch List.  Curry was a Midseason All-American and also a member of the Tewaaraton Watch List.  UAlbany is 2-17 lifetime against the Orange in the program's Division I era, with their last victory coming during the 2018 season when the Great Danes won 15-3.
 
Last Time vs. Syracuse
UAlbany's most recent trip to the Carrier dome saw them visit Syracuse when they were ranked #9 with three weeks remaining in the 2021 regular season.  The Orange defeated UAlbany 13-8 in the 19th game of the series.  Syracuse scored the first two before UAlbany got on the board, and the game was tied at four mid-way through the second before Syracuse closed the first half on a 4-1 run to take control.  Despite the run, the Orange only managed to outscore UAlbany three total goals after the first quarter.  Graydon Hogg and Alex Burgmaster each scored twice for UAlbany, while Liam Donnelley made 14 saves in goal.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany won its second-straight game for the first time this season, and clinched its first victory of the season on the road, in a narrow 13-12 win over UMass Lowell.  The River Hawks jumped out to an early lead, scoring five goals in the first quarter.  UAlbany chipped away at the lead before Amos Whitcomb scored two of his three goals back-to-back to tie the game at eight and give UAlbany a one-point lead.  After the Great Danes pulled away, UMass Lowell closed back within one with one minute remaining in the fourth.  The River Hawks won the ensuing faceoff, but could not connect on any of their four final shots in the final 40 seconds and UAlbany held on to claim the victory.  Corey Yunker finished with a game high five goals and six total points, while Jack VanValkenburg, making his first career start in goal, made 15 saves to record his first career victory.
 
Around the America East
Vermont and Binghamton are tied atop the conference standings at 2-0, with Vermont a narrow edge in overall record at 5-6.  The Catamounts boast the league's longest active winning streak, at three.  Stony Brook remains the only team in the America East with a winning overall record, but is currently fourth at 1-1.  UAlbany is third at 2-1, while UMass Lowell is fifth behind the Seawolves at 1-2.  UMBC and NJIT are both winless in-conference.
 
Thursday's America East Games

• Syracuse at UAlbany, 7:00 pm

Common Opponents

• Maryland
  • UAlbany: 3/12 at #1 Maryland, L, 6-24
  • #9 Syracuse: 2/20 vs. #1 Maryland, L, 10-14
• Stony Brook
  • UAlbany: 3/26 vs. Stony Brook, W, 12-10
  • Syracuse: 3/19 at Stony Brook, W, 14-9

UAlbany (1-1) | Syracuse (1-1)
 
Players of the Week
Corey Yunker went for five goals and one assist in the Great Danes' game at UMass Lowell, marking the second-straight game in which a UAlbany player recorded five goals.  His efforts earned Offensive Player of the Week recognition from the America East.  Joining Yunker was Amos Whitcomb, whose three goals and one assist against the River Hawks landed him his second America East Rookie of the Week honor of the season.
 
Offensive Player of the Week
Following his six-point performance in victory against Stony Brook, UAlbany junior Graydon Hogg was named America East Offensive Player of the Week.  Hogg scored five goals and recorded one assist against the Seawolves.  Three of his goals came in the fourth quarter, helping stave off a Seawolves' rally to clinch victory for the Great Danes, 12-10.
 
Parting Shots
In their final regular-season meeting as America East opponents, UAlbany hosted rival Stony Brook at Casey Stadium and defeated the Seawolves 12-10.  UAlbany jumped out to a 6-1 halftime lead and withstood a late comeback attempt from Stony Brook.  In the fourth quarter alone, Graydon Hogg scored three of his five goals eight of his 18 faceoffs, stifling the Seawolves' rally.
 
Familiar Foes
The 2022 game against UMass was the latest in the Great Danes longest-running rivalry of their Division I era.  UAlbany and UMass have played every season since 2001, the longest uninterrupted streak among UAlbany opponents.  Since reclassifying to Division I, the only opponents UAlbany has played more frequently are Stony Brook (33), UMBC (26), Vermont (25), and Hartford (24), all America East conference opponents.  Since their first meeting as Division I opponents in 2001, UAlbany is 13-9 against UMass.
 
Approaching 200
Eight games into the 2022 season, his 22nd at the helm, UAlbany men's lacrosse head coach has won 197 career games, leaving him four away from the 200-win milestone.  Marr has averaged more than nine wins per season in his career, and has led UAlbany to nine America East championship titles.  Marr's win total ranks ninth among active Division I head coaches, just behind Penn State's Jeff Tambroni's 204.
 
Rookie of the Week II
Amos Whitcomb had a breakthrough performance for the Great Danes in his young career.  Against Siena, UAlbany's opponent for their 2022 home opener, Whitcomb scored two goals and added three assists for five total points to lead all scorers.  UAlbany earned their first victory of the season, defeating the Saints 11-7.
 
Great Danes on the Sidelines
In Wednesday's game against Siena, seven of the eight coaches on both sidelines come from UAlbany's program, and all eight have ties to the University.  Head Coach Scott Marr employs three UAlbany men's lacrosse alumni on his staff, Merrick Thomson, John Maloney, and Steve Kunz.  On the opposite sideline, Siena head coach Liam Gleason and his three staff members, Tim Cox, Derrick Eccles, and Mike Russell, all earned undergraduate degrees from UAlbany.  Additionally, all seven coaches played for Coach Marr during their undergraduate careers.  Gleason was also an assistant under Marr before accepting his current position at Siena.
 
Rookie of the Week
Jacob Moran claimed the Great Danes' first conference weekly awards of 2022, winning the America East Rookie of the Week honors for Week 3.  Moran scored a team-high four goals at Drexel in the second game of the season, including three in the first half, the first four goals of his career.
 
Family Affair
Saturday's game at Drexel will feature two members of the Marr family on opposing sidelines.  Scott Marr has been head coach of UAlbany for the last 21 years, while his son, Kyle, is a volunteer assistant at Drexel working with the faceoff and goalkeepers.  Both Scott and Kyle played their college careers at Johns Hopkins, but Saturday will be the first time they will meet for a game, since Johns Hopkins and UAlbany did not play while Kyle attended.
 
Captains
The Great Danes selected three players to serve the team as captains in 2022: seniors Corey Yunker, Zane Sands, and Tanner Hay.  Hay and Sands are defenders and Yunker is UAlbany's top returning scorer from 2021.
 
Picked Third
After making a return appearance in the America East title game in 2021, the UAlbany men's lacrosse team was picked to finish third in the 2022 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.  UAlbany was picked just behind Stony Brook, and just ahead of UMBC, with just two points separating the three teams in the poll.  Defending champion Vermont was the unanimous favorite, earning 36 points and all possible first-place votes.  UMBC, defending regular-season champions, secured the last remaining first place vote and 25 overall points.  In between, Stony Brook landed 27 points and UAlbany earned 26.
 
Schedule Strength
Not one to shy away from a tough schedule, Coach Marr's 22nd year features yet another gauntlet of top-ranked opponents.  Seven of UAlbany's games feature matchups against teams ranked in the preseason top-20.  The Great Danes open the season at preseason #15 Cornell, before a second-straight road game against preseason #18 Drexel.  A trip to preseason #2 and 2021 national runner-up Maryland follows, before UAlbany hosts preseason #12 Syracuse for the first time in program history.  The game against the Orange precedes a home game against preseason #17 Vermont in a rematch of the 2021 America East title game.  Finally, UAlbany closes the season against two ranked Ivy League opponents, at preseason #7 Yale and then at home against preseason #11 Penn, the latter of which is the first-ever meeting between the programs.
 
Coaching Tree
Coach Marr's extensive coaching tree expanded once more in 2021, when Robert Morris hired Craig McDonald '08 as their head men's lacrosse coach.  McDonald was a four-year member of Marr's program, appearing in 61 games while scoring three goals and recording three assists with 148 ground balls.  He was part of the 2007 team that went 15-3 and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals.
 
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.
 
First Times
2022 will feature a series of firsts for the UAlbany men's lacrosse program.  Most prominently, the annual matchup against Syracuse will be played in Albany for the first time after playing the first 19 games in the series in Syracuse.  Syracuse was originally scheduled to visit UAlbany in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down collegiate sports.  The game was rescheduled to this season, with new Syracuse head coach Gary Gait honoring the agreement originally made under former head coach John Desko.  Additionally, UAlbany will play Ivy League opponent Penn for the first time in program history this season, in the regular-season finale at Casey Stadium.
 
Peer Vote
As voted by its players, the Premier Lacrosse League counted down the top-50 players in the league following the 2021 season.  Goalkeeper Blaze Riorden, 2021 MVP and league champion with the Chaos, was voted as the best player in the PLL following his spectacular 2021 season.  And in his first year in the league following the MLL merger, Lyle Thompson was picked third, giving the Great Danes two players in the top-three.
 
PLL Champions
Two former Great Danes, Blaze Riorden and Troy Reh, were crowned 2021 Premier Lacrosse League champions when the Chaos defeated the Whipsnakes.  The game was a rematch of the 2020 title game where the Whipsnakes came out on top.  Riorden led the Chaos to their redemptive title behind an MVP and Goalkeeper of the Year season, while also earning MVP honors for the championship game.
 
Humanitarian Efforts
Lyle Thompson, in his first year in the Premier Lacrosse League following the merger with Major League Lacrosse, was named winner of the 2021 Welles Crowther Humanitarian Award, recognizing his efforts in raising awareness about atrocities committed against Indigenous youth in residential schools in Canada.  Thompson's efforts were also featured in an issue of Sports Illustrated.
 
Super Sixes
Five UAlbany men's lacrosse alumni competed for the Iroquois National Senior Men's Team in October at the World Lacrosse Super Sixes Tournament.  The five Great Danes on the roster were Lyle Thompson, Ty Thompson, Jakob Patterson, Ron John, and Tehoka Nanticoke.  Also competing that weekend was UAlbany women's lacrosse assistant coach Taylor Frink with the Iroquois National Senior Women's Team.
 
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 Saturday, April 9.