Score: UAlbany 17, Vermont 7
 
Location: Virtue Field in Burlington, Vt.
 
Records: UAlbany (3-7, 2-0) | Vermont (6-4, 1-1)
 
Short Story: Women's lacrosse jumps out to a 6-0 first-quarter lead and never looks back, defeating Vermont on the road 17-7.
 
Key Stats

• Katie Pascale scored twice with four assists, seven draws, four ground balls, and two caused turnovers
• Grace McCauley scored five goals
• Mikaela Mooney scored one goal with four assists
• Bryar Hogg scored three goals with one assist
• Kloey Roos scored three goals
• Haley Phalines won a career-high 12 draws
• UAlbany won 15 of the first 16 draws, and 23 of 27 overall

Head Coach Katie Thomson: "What a complete team win and full group effort.  We are so proud of how our team came out of the gate at the beginning, winning draws, making defensive stops, and finishing our shots, and carrying the momentum through the whole 60 minutes.  Our team was focused and did a great job executing the game plan."
 
How it Happened

• On Sunday afternoon, after two delays due to a winter storm hitting the Northeast, the University at Albany women's lacrosse team finally took to the field for their second America East game of the season against Vermont in a rematch of the 2022 America East title game that saw the Catamounts upset the Great Danes.
• Sunday's game arrived with two pieces of intrigue.  Katie Pascale had climbed into a tie for fifth place in career scoring among America East players.  The individual whose 284 points she matched was none other than Vermont head coach Sarah Dalton Graddock, who scored 284 points in her career from 2006-09 at Boston University while the Terriers were still a member of the America East.  Additionally, Pascale's 47 points on the 2024 season were tied for the conference lead with Vermont's Ava Vasile.  Vasile's 38 goals lead the conference, as do Pascale's 21 assists.  Further, Vasile was the only other active player besides Pascale holding a spot within the America East's top-15 in a statistical category to start the 2024 season, ranking 11th all-time in draw controls.
• Both defenses locked down from the opening draw, with neither team scoring for nearly the first seven minutes.  UAlbany finally broke through on their offensive end when Mikaela Mooney found Kloey Roos for the opening score with 8:13 on the clock.
• Pascale moved into sole possession of fifth place in conference history in career scoring, surpassing Dalton Graddock with 7:20 remaining in the first quarter with a goal off a free-position attempt for her 285th career point.  Less than 50 seconds later, Pascale set up Grace McCauely for the Great Danes' third goal in less than two minutes.
• Pascale connected with Hogg twice in 25 seconds to put UAlbany up 5-0 with 3:28 left in the first quarter, and Paisley Cook, connecting with fellow freshman Mikaela Mooney, scored to give the Great Danes a 6-0 lead after one.
• The Great Danes' scoring run lasted nearly four minutes into the second quarter, by which time the team had taken an 8-0 lead, before Vermont scored for the first time with 11:10 on the clock.  UAlbany's defense hadn't allowed Vermont more than one shot taken for nearly the first 18 minutes of the game, with the Catamounts' second coming in a sequence just before their first goal.
• Vermont had a chance to piece together a scoring run of their own, when Vasile drew a free-position attempt straight on with 8:55 remaining.  UAlbany goalkeeper Grace Cincebox, who had seen just two shots on goal to this point in the game, denied Vasile's attempt, and denied the Catamounts any momentum.
• Roos ended a nearly eight-minute scoring drought for the Great Danes with her second-straight goal to compete the first-half hat trick and put UAlbany back up by eight, 9-1, with 4:58 left before halftime.
• After Mooney put UAlbany up 10-1, Vermont scored with 41 seconds on the clock to close back within eight.  The Great Danes took the same 10-2 lead into halftime.  UAlbany had won 13 of 14 draws in the first half.
• Vermont scored a second-straight goal to open the third quarter, and the teams traded the second-half's first six scores before UAlbany, leading 12-5 went on a three-goal run lasting 65 seconds to go up 15-5 and initiate the running clock.  Vermont scored with just under two minutes remaining in the quarter to close back within single digits.
• Pascale and McCauley each scored in the first four-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter to give UAlbany an 11-goal lead.  Vermont scored one final time, bringing the final score to 17-7 in favor of the Great Danes.
• Pascale finished the game leading all scorers with six points on two goals and four assists.  Her league-leading counterpart, Vasile, scored one point on one goal.
• Two other Great Danes, McCauley and Mooney, each notched five total points, while Hogg finished with four and Roos with three.  Haley Phalines had yet another career day in the circle, finishing with 12 of UAlbany's 23 draws.

Next: UAlbany host Bryant on March 30.