ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany women's lacrosse program hosts two-seed Vermont in the America East title game with an NCAA berth on the line.
 
Game Info
Saturday, May 7 vs. No. 2 Vermont (2:00 pm)
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Game Notes: UAlbany | Vermont
 
Leading the Pack

• UAlbany is 3-5 at home this season; Vermont is 8-2 on the road, and 9-2 away from home
• UAlbany is 3-0 against Vermont in the postseason
• UAlbany defeated Vermont 12-10 in Burlington during the regular season
• Katie Pascale leads the America East in points per game, total assists, and assists per game, and shares the conference lead in total points
• Vermont's Carolyn Carrera and Sophie McLaughlin rank first and second in the America East in ground balls won and ground balls per game
• Carrera leads the conference in caused turnovers and caused turnovers per game
• UAlbany is playing in its 11th-straight America East championship game, and is seeking its first title since 2012, and first NCAA Tournament bid since 2017

Scouting Vermont
Two-seed Vermont dispatched three-seed Binghamton in the final seconds of their semifinal matchup to earn a spot in the 2022 America East title game.  The Catamounts, 2021 America East semifinalist, went 6-6 in 2021, with all six wins coming against conference opponents.  Following their 2021 season, Vermont was picked to finish fourth in the 2022 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.  The Catamounts rank second in the America East in both goals scored and goals allowed, as well as caused turnovers per game.  Vermont's Ava Vasile ranks second in the conference second in goals scored and goals per game.  UAlbany is 24-1 against Vermont in the Division I era, winning each of the last 16 meetings since the lone loss in the 2008 season.  Vermont has never beaten the Great Danes in Albany.
 
Last Time vs. Vermont
UAlbany continued its season-high five-game road swing with a showdown at first-place Vermont.  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.
 
Last Time Out
The UAlbany women's lacrosse team hosted its first America East Tournament game since the 2011 season after securing the postseason's top overall seed.  In the semifinal round, UAlbany faced four-seed UMBC in a rematch of their 13-9 UAlbany victory in Baltimore during the regular season.  UAlbany jumped out to a 5-2 lead after the first quarter, but UMBC rallied with a 6-1 second quarter to lead by two at halftime.  UAlbany regrouped to retake the lead behind a five-goal run to start the third and ultimately win 16-13 to advance to their 11th-straight title game.
 
Around the America East
The 2022 America East semifinals resulted in the top two seeds, UAlbany and Vermont, advancing to the championship game.  UAlbany defeated UMBC 16-13, opening a three goal lead after the first quarter only to see the Retrievers take a two-goal halftime lead.  The Great Danes opened the second half on a five-goal run to retake control and seal the victory.  Vermont dispatched Binghamton in the final seconds of a back-and-forth affair that featured six ties and four lead changes.
 
Saturday's America East Games

• Vermont at UAlbany, 2:00 pm

Common Opponents

• Colgate
  • UAlbany: 2/19 at Colgate, W, 19-2
  • Vermont: 2/12 at Colgate, W, 17-8
• Binghamton
  • UAlbany: 3/26 vs. Binghamton, W, 15-11
  • Vermont: 4/30 vs. Binghamton, L, 10-11; 5/5 vs. Binghamton, W, 13-12
• New Hampshire
  • UAlbany: 4/6 at New Hampshire, W, 20-14
  • Vermont: 4/16 at New Hampshire, W, 14-12
• UMBC
  • UAlbany: 4/16 at UMBC, W, 13-9; 5/5 vs. UMBC, W, 16-13
  • Vermont: 4/9 vs. UMBC, W, 16-8
• UMass Lowell
  • UAlbany: 4/23 vs. UMass Lowell, W, 14-8
  • Vermont: 3/19 at UMass Lowell, W, 18-8
• Stony Brook
  • UAlbany: 4/30 vs. #6 Stony Brook, L, 5-16
  • Vermont: 3/26 at #6 Stony Brook, L, 4-14

UAlbany (6-1) | Vermont (5-2)
 
Upcoming Milestones

• Hailey Carroll
  • 94 points
  • 83 goals
• Sarah Falk
  • 99 points
  • 84 goals

All-Conference
Eight Great Danes earned 2022 America East All-Conference honors, led by Katie Pascale on the First Team and All-Academic team.  Joining Pascale on the First Team was Cailey Haynes and Kathryn Sancilio.  Four players, Sarah Falk, Clare Nothnagle, Ava Poupard, and Aislinn Sweeney, were Second Team honorees.  Finally, Courtney Rowe joined Poupard on the All-Rookie team.
 
Seniors
Before their regular-season finale against Stony Brook, the Great Danes held a brief ceremony to recognize and honor the members of the 2022 senior class: Teagan Canning, Hailey Carroll, Katherine Chiarella, Kadi Futia, Cailey Haynes, Mallori Kitts, Eliza MacCaull, Clare Nothnagle, Courtney Rafferty, and Ivy Santana.  Additionally, the team made a brief recognition of the two graduate students on the roster: Ally Alliegro and Kathryn Sancilio.  The senior class accumulated a record of 32-24, including 18-4 against America East opponents and appeared in three America East title games.
 
Anniversary Celebration
At halftime of the April 23 game against UMass Lowell, the Great Danes will honor their two America East championship teams from 2011 and 2012.  The 2011 team went unbeaten through the regular season en route to the program's first America East title, and the 2012 team successfully defended that championship.  Members of both teams have been invited to return to campus for the celebration.
 
Home Field
Stony Brook's defeat over Binghamton on April 19 clinched hosting responsibilities for UAlbany for the 2022 America East Tournament.  With two games remaining, the Great Danes are 4-0 against conference opponents and two games clear of their next-closest tournament-eligible competitor, Vermont.  Behind the Catamounts, the remaining four teams, UMBC, Binghamton, New Hampshire, and UMass Lowell, each have one conference victory.  Eight-time defending champion Stony Brook, like UAlbany, is 4-0 in-conference but is not eligible for this season's playoffs.  UAlbany wins hosting rights for the conference tournament for the first time since the 2011 season.
 
High Scoring
UAlbany's game against Syracuse will feature four of the five all-time scoring leaders in Orange history:
 
Katie Thomson, née Rowan - UAlbany Head Coach (#1, 2006-09)
     232 goals, 164 assists, 396 points
Kayla Treanor - Syracuse Head Coach (#2, 2013-16)
     260 goals, 133 assists, 393 points
Alyssa Cometti Murray - ACCNX Analyst (#3, 2011-14)
     226 goals, 136 assists, 362 points
Emily Hawryschuk - Syracuse Attack (#5, active, 2017-pres.)
     258 goals, 64 assists, 322 points
 
Clinched
The Great Danes' victory over UMBC, 13-9, clinched the team's 15th-consecutive berth into the America East Tournament.  UAlbany has won its first four conference games and was the first team to clinch a spot, next to Vermont, who the Great Danes defeated by a score of 12-10 in their head-to-head meeting this season.
 
Top-10
Sophomore midfielder Katie Pascale, following her four goals and two assists at UMBC on April 16, climbed into the three of the program's all-time top-10 categories.  Through the season's first 12 games, she ranks tied for 10th in single-season points (65) and assists (29), and tied for 10th in career assists (58).
 
Offensive Player of the Week
Katie Pascale powered the Great Danes' victory over New Hampshire, scoring five goals and recorded five assists to finish with a career-high 10 points.  The total ties the high-water mark in the conference this season, and ranks in a six-way tie for fifth-highest single-game total in program history, one point shy of the overall record of 11 held by four former players.  Pascale's performance earned her the Great Danes' first America East Player of the Week honor of the season.
 
PLL Training Camp
At halftime of the UAlbany men's game against Syracuse, the Premier Lacrosse League, having already chosen Albany as the 2022 opening-weekend host site, announced that Albany will also host the league's training camp.  Each of the league's eight teams will bring 30 players to camp before cutting down to 25 to start the season.  Four scrimmages will be held on May 31, ahead of the first round of games June 4-5.
 
100 III
For the second time this season individually, Katie Pascale reached the centennial milestone for a career statistic.  This time, she crossed the threshold for draw controls won, recording her 100th with her third in the Great Danes' game at New Hampshire. 
 
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.  The four matchups for opening weekend have been announced:
 
June 4: Redwoods LC vs. Atlas LC, 6:15 pm | Chaos LC vs. Whipsnakes LC, 9:00 pm
June 5: Waterdogs LC vs. Cannons LC, 1:00 pm | Chrome LC vs. Archers LC, 3:45 pm
 
The PLL announced a multi-year partnership with ESPN starting this season.

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: The winner of Saturday's title game earns the America East's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.  The selection show is Sunday, May 8 at 9:00 pm on ESPNU.