ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany men's lacrosse program continues its five-game home stand against longtime rival UMass on Tuesday.
 
Game Info
March 7, 2023 vs. UMass (3:00 pm)
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Game Notes | Game Program
 
Leading the Pack

• UAlbany is 1-1 at home this season; UMass is 1-0 on the road
• UMass is UAlbany's longest-tenured non-conference opponent in the Division I era, with 22 games played in the series
• UAlbany is 13-9 lifetime against UMass, including 8-2 at home
• UMass has won three of the last four in the series
• UMass is receiving votes in the latest national Coaches' Poll
• Ten of the 22 meetings in the series have been decided by three goals or fewer, and eight by just one goal, including five straight from 2004-08

Scouting UMass
The Minutemen have fallen to 2-2 after opening the season on a two-game winning streak with victories over Army West Point and UMass Lowell.  Since, UMass has suffered consecutive defeats to Boston University and then-#11 Yale.  UMass joined the inaugural Atlantic 10 league this year after previously playing 13 seasons in the Colonial Athletic Association.  In their final year in the CAA, the Minutemen went 8-6 overall and fell 18-10 to Towson in the CAA semifinals.  Two UMass players, Chris Campbell and Matt Knote, were named to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Team, and the Minutemen were picked to finish third in the league behind Richmond and Saint Joseph's.  UMass returns its second-leading scorer from last season, Gabriel Procyk, and brought in three former America East transfers in Giuseppe Chiovera from NJIT, Campbell from Hartford, and Connor Foley from UMass Lowell.  Additionally, UMass returns 2022 All-CAA First-Team and All-Rookie faceoff specialist Caleb Hammett, who ranked fifth nationally with a .615 faceoff percentage last season.  UAlbany and UMass have played 22 times in the Great Danes' Division I era, more than any of UAlbany's other non-conference opponents.  The Great Danes lead the overall series 13-9, with an 8-2 mark at home, but the teams have alternated wins each of the last three games. 
 
Last Time vs. UMass
March 8, 2022 | UAlbany renewed its longest-running rivalry earlier this week, playing UMass for the 22nd-straight season.  The game, played in Amherst, Mass., saw the 2022 season debut of Corey Yunker, who was sidelined in the first three games of the season with an injury.  Yunker wasted no time acclimating to the game, scoring the first goal of the afternoon just over three minutes after the opening faceoff.  UAlbany took an early 2-0 lead before UMass rolled off the next five scores to take control.  After the Minutemen led 9-5 at the break, UAlbany held UMass to just three goals after halftime but could not quite pull all the way back and ultimately fell 12-9.  Tommy Heller set a career-high in saves for the second-straight game, recording 14 against the Minutemen.  Yunker finished with two goals on the day.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany secured its first victory of 2023, and the 200th of head coach Scott Marr's career, 11-7 over Drexel at home.  UAlbany's defense held the Dragons scoreless in the first quarter and allowed just three shots.  Offensively, the Great Danes put away three goals on 13 shots over the first 15 minutes.  Drexel found their energy in the second to pull the game closer and trail 5-3 at the break.  UAlbany ultimately pulled away, behind four goals from Jack Pucci, to win by four.
 
Around the America East
UMBC has gained control of the America East standings roughly one-quarter of the way through the season and remains unbeaten through four games.  Binghamton and first-year America East program Bryant are tied for second at 3-1, with the Bulldogs rolling off a two-game winning streak.  Merrimack is the only other team with four victories, climbing back into the win column after losing two-straight.  Defending champion Vermont has lost two in a row to fall to 2-3, just have of UAlbany at 1-2.  NJIT recorded its first win of the season, making the Highlanders 1-4, while UMass Lowell is the final remaining winless team in the conference.
 
Tuesday's America East Games

• UMass at UAlbany, 3:00 pm
• Binghamton at Lehigh, 6:00 pm
• Bryant at Fairfield, 7:00 pm
• UMBC at #19 Delaware, 7:00 pm

Upcoming Milestones

• Program – 388 wins
• Scott Marr – 343 games coached
• Camden Hay – 43 career points
• Tommy Heller – 84 career saves
• Graydon Hogg – 96 career points

Milestones Achieved

• Jake Piseno – 50 caused turnovers (2/18/23 vs. #2 Cornell)
• Scott Marr – 200 wins (2/25/23 vs. Drexel)
• Elijah Gash – 50 ground balls (2/25/23 vs. Drexel)

200
Three games into the 2023 season, his 23rd at the helm, UAlbany men's lacrosse head coach Scott Marr claimed his 200th career victory, 11-7 over visiting Drexel, one of the longest-tenured rivals of the Great Danes under Marr.  Marr becomes the 40th head coach in NCAA Division I history to record 200 wins and, at the time of his 200th win, ranked eighth among active Division I coaches.  Marr has averaged more than nine wins per season in his career, and has led UAlbany to nine America East championship titles. 
 
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.  UAlbany's host date is scheduled for May 20, 2023.
 
Picked Second
UAlbany was picked in a tie for second place in the 2023 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll, equaling UMBC's points total, 39, with the Retrievers taking one first-place vote.  Two-time defending conference champion Vermont was picked as the unanimous favorite with 49 points and all seven available first-place votes.  Bryant and Merrimack, newcomers to the America East this season, were picked fourth and sixth, respectively, while the final 2022 America East semifinalist, Binghamton, was picked fifth.
 
New Addition
Joey Carino was a late addition to the men's lacrosse roster this season.  Carino was recruited to UAlbany to play quarterback, where he appeared in 17 games over three seasons, passing for three touchdowns and running for three more.  Carino, who played both football and lacrosse at Archbishop Stepinac in White Plains, N.Y., originally committed to Syracuse to play lacrosse before switching to UAlbany football.  Carino will play in UAlbany's defensive midfield.
 
Schedule Strength
Once again, UAlbany men's lacrosse boasts one of the toughest schedules in the country.  Four of the Great Danes' 14 opponents hold top-10 preseason rankings: #2 Maryland, #4 Cornell, #7 Yale, and #10 Penn.  Three others, Syracuse, Vermont, and UMass, received votes in the preseason media poll.  The Great Danes will host both the 2022 national champion Maryland and the 2022 national runner-up Cornell, and will further host 2022 quarterfinalists Yale and Penn.  Including Vermont, UAlbany has five 2022 NCAA Tournament teams on its schedule.
 
Homecoming
For the first time in program history, the 2023 UAlbany men's lacrosse schedule features a record 10 regular-season home games, all of which will be played at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium.  Following their season opener on the road, the Great Danes will play their next five games at home.  Additionally, UAlbany will play four-straight home games leading up to their regular-season finale.  UAlbany has never exceeded eight regular-season home games, but has hosted 10 games at home twice, in 2007 and 2018, including postseason games.  UAlbany went 10-0 each of those seasons at home.  Including the 2023 NCAA quarterfinal round, Casey Stadium is scheduled to host a minimum of 12 Division I men's lacrosse games this season.
 
Team USA
Two former Great Danes, goalkeeper Blaze Riorden and faceoff specialist TD Ierlan, were selected to the 23-member United States Senior National Team roster for the 2023 World Championships in San Diego.  Riorden and Ierlan are the only two players in UAlbany history to have been named America East Defensive Player of the Year.  The 2023 World Championships, which will feature 30 nations, begin June 21 and run through July 1.
 
Extended
On December 12, 2022, the UAlbany Department of Athletics announced that men's lacrosse head coach Scott Marr agreed to a contract extension through the 2026 season.  Marr, enters his 23rd season in 2023, took over as head coach of the Great Danes' men's lacrosse program in 2001.  Since then, he has accumulated 199 victories, including nine America East championships, and appeared in 10 NCAA Tournaments, while winning America East Coach of the Year six times.  In 2018, Marr led the Great Danes to the program's first-ever berth into the Final Four.  That same season, UAlbany earned its first-ever #1 ranking in the national media poll, marking the first time in history a Division I-affiliated State University of New York program was ranked #1 in any sport.
 
Lyle Thompson
One of the most prolific players in the history of the sport, Lyle Thompson was named to the Upstate Lacrosse Foundation Hall of Fame with the Class of 2022.  He won the Tewaaraton Award in back-to-back seasons in 2014 and 2015.  The Great Danes' all-time leading scorer, Thompson holds the NCAA single-season points record, and ranks second in NCAA history with 400 career points and 225 career assists.  During his career at UAlbany, Thompson led the Great Danes to three America East titles and 46 total victories, while making two NCAA quarterfinal appearances.
 
U21 World Championship
Associate Head Coach Merrick Thomson led six active members of the UAlbany men's lacrosse program at the 2022 World Lacrosse Men's U21 World Championship in Ireland over the summer.  Thomson was a member of Canada's staff, overseeing Graydon Hogg.  The Haudenosaunee team saw four Great Danes, Jake Piseno, Keelan Seneca, Jack VanValkenburgh, and Amos Whitcomb, among members of its roster.  Canada won the Silver medal and Haudenosaunee the Bronze.
 
World Games
Former Great Danes Lyle Thompson, Ron John, and Tehoka Nanticoke competed for the Haudenosaunee Men's National Team at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama.  Lacrosse at the World Games was played with the sixes format, and featured a field of eight teams.  Additionally, former UAlbany women's player Ivy Santana competed on the Haudenosaunee Women's National Team.
 
New Look
The 2023 season will feature a new-look America East men's lacrosse conference.  Stony Brook departed for the Colonial Athletic Association and Hartford has started its reclassification to Division III.  The America East brought in Bryant as a full member, and Merrimack has a two-year deal to play men's lacrosse in the America East as an associate member.
 
PLL Year Five
The Premier Lacrosse League will once again return to the campus of the University at Albany for their fifth season in 2023.  For the second-straight year, UAlbany will host the league's training camp and opening weekend games.  Four games will be held at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium between June 2 and 4.
 
PLL Year Four
UAlbany once again hosted a weekend during the Premier Lacrosse League's fourth season.  In previous years, UAlbany hosted its weekend towards the middle or end of the summer, but in 2022, UAlbany's spot was moved to opening weekend in addition to the League's training camp.  Five Great Danes appeared in three of the league's four games of opening weekend.  The Whipsnakes defeated the Chaos 9-8 in a rematch of the 2022 final, The Atlas beat the Redwoods 17-11, the Cannons beat the Waterdogs 16-10, and the Chrome defeated the Archer 11-10.  Former Great Danes turned heads during year four once again, with Blaze Riorden and Troy Reh making the league for a third-straight season with Chaos LC.  Previously, Riorden, Reh, and Lyle Thompson were named to the PLL All-Star Game.  Finally, Thompson was named Attackman of the Year, and repeated as Humanitarian of the Year.
 
Next: UAlbany hosts #4 Maryland on March 11.