ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany men's lacrosse team is officially in the NCAA Tournament. The Great Danes will play one more home game in 2024, hosting Sacred Heart in the Opening Round on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Action from Casey Stadium will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
The winner of Wednesday's game will move on to face top-seeded Notre Dame in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
Game Info
May 8, 2024
NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship – Opening Round
UAlbany vs. Sacred Heart
Tom & Mary Casey Stadium in Albany, N.Y.
7:00 p.m.
ESPN+ | Live Stats | Tickets
 
The More You Know

• Wednesday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the Great Danes and the Pioneers.
• The men's lacrosse program has now won ten America East Championships dating back to 2002. Before this season, the team's most recent championship came in 2018.
• This will be UAlbany's 11^th appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
• This will be Sacred Heart's first ever tournament appearance, winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship to receive the league's automatic bid.  
• This year, the Great Danes captured their 12^th America East Regular Season Championship all-time.

 
Leading the Pack

• Captain Jake Piseno is coming off of a dominating performance in the America East Championship, where he was named the Most Outstanding Player. In the Championship Game alone, Piseno scored two goals while collecting five ground balls and forcing four caused turnovers. The 2024 AE Defensive Player of the Year sits third in the NCAA with 2.5 caused turnovers per game and has more ground balls (74) than anybody in the America East outside of faceoff specialists. He's scored 13 times this year with the long pole, adding five assists.
• Sophomore attack Silas Richmond paces the America East in points with 64 on the year. He's scored 41 goals and added 23 assists for an average of 4.00 points per game. He recorded a season-high eight points in Thursday's Semifinal matchup against Bryant, scoring four goals and adding four assists. He scored another four goals and added an assist in the Championship Game against Vermont.
• Faceoff specialist Regan Endres has been dominant for UAlbany at the X this season. He currently sports a faceoff percentage of .591, now third in the conference overall. When accounting for conference-only games this season however, he paced the league with a .618 percentage and 8.86 ground balls per game. He has won more faceoffs than he has lost in all but three games this year. In Thursday's Semifinal, he led the way for UA at the X by going 20-25 and adding a goal.
• Freshman goalkeeper Landon Whitney has been stellar in net for the Great Danes. He sits third in the America East with an 11.35 GAA, sporting a .485 save percentage while averaging 10.44 saves per game.
• Ryan Doherty (44) and Graydon Hogg (39) sit second and third, respectively, on the team in points. Doherty, the 2024 AE Rookie of the Year, has scored 32 goals and added 12 helpers. Hogg, a First Team All-Conference and All-Academic Team selection, sits with 25 goals and 14 assists.

 
All-Championship Team
Four Great Danes found their way to the America East All-Championship after earning the league's automatic bid. Jake Piseno, Graydon Hogg, Max Neeson, and Silas Richmond all had their names called in postgame celebrations. Piseno was named the Championship's Most Outstanding Player for his extraordinary effort in the Championship Game.
 
All-Conference
UAlbany collected 13 awards on Wednesday afternoon when the America East released its end of year awards. Collecting major awards was Jake Piseno (Defensive Player of the Year), Ryan Doherty (Rookie of the Year), and Head Coach Scott Marr and his staff (Coach of the Year).
 
Piseno was named an All-Conference First Team selection with Teammates Graydon Hogg, Silas Richmond, and Conner Fingar. Making the All-Conference Second Team was Regan Endres and Wil Pepe. Doherty, Jackson Palumb, and Landon Whitney were named to the conference's All-Rookie Team. Hogg represented the Great Danes on the All-Academic Team.
 
Scouting Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart captured its first-ever conference title on Saturday afternoon, taking down Manhattan College 11-5 in the MAAC Championship game. It was the Pioneers' 11^th straight win.  Alex Pazienza was named the tournament's most outstanding player after finishing with 15 saves in the title game to lead the Pios to their first championship. Tucker Spencer led SHU offensively with a career-high six goals and was named to the all-tournament team. Morgan O'Reilly and Carson Spooner also earned a spot on the all-tournament squad.
 
The Pios finished with a 13-4 overall record and went undefeated in conference play at 9-0. In the semifinal game on Thursday, Sacred Heart took down the fifth seed, Siena College, 15-13, followed by an 11-5 championship victory over the third seed, Manhattan College, on Saturday. Senior Alex Pazienza was named the tournament's most outstanding player as he stood on his head in back-to-back games. He made a career-high 19 saves against Siena in the semifinal and then turned away 15 shots, holding the Jaspers scoreless for 43 minutes during the championship game.
 
Last Time Out
The Great Danes fended off a late charge from #2 Vermont on Saturday afternoon, taking home the program's 10^th ever Championship title, 12-11.

• Piseno had an outstanding game with the long pole, scoring two goals and leading the team with five ground balls and four caused turnovers.
• Richmond found the back of the net five times, adding a helper, to lead the team with five points.
• Hogg followed with two goals and two helpers for four points, adding three ground balls and a caused turnover.
• Freshman keeper Landon Whitney made eight saves in net to collect the win.

 
Next: The winner of Wednesday's game will move on to face top-seeded Notre Dame in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.