ITHACA, N.Y. - Making its third-straight NCAA appearance and seventh overall, Albany's men's lacrosse program will visit eighth-seeded Cornell on Saturday, May 9 for its first-round NCAA contest. The game, which faces off at 12 p.m., will be televised nationally on ESPNU and is also available on WatchESPN apps.Albany (15-2), the seventh ranked team in the nation, earned America East's automatic bid to the tournament with a 22-9 win over #17/16 Stony Brook in the league title game Saturday (Championship Game Recap). Lyle Thompson scored five times in the first half to set the tone for the Great Danes and totaled 15 points in the tournament to earn Most Outstanding Player honors for the second time.The Great Danes will enter the NCAAs having won eight in a row and as the nation's top scoring team, averaging 17.4 goals per game. Thompson, a Tewaraaton Award candidates agains after sharing the award with his brother, Myles, last year, leads the nation averaging 6.3 points per game.Cornell (10-5) has wins over three tournament teams, including Albany, 16-9, in February.Albany is one of three America East programs to win an NCAA first round game since 2007 and the Great Danes have done so twice. The Great Danes beat Loyola twice, inlcuding last year and in 2007 and nearly reached the Final Four each time, falling in overtime in the quarterfinals both times. America East teams have 10 NCAA wins in total.