SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The #9/8 UAlbany men’s lacrosse team battled #6/4 Syracuse all game and led 6-2 at the half, but fell to the Orange 11-9 in the NCAA First Round in the Carrier Dome on Sunday night.
UAlbany (12-4) outshot 8-seed Syracuse (12-4) 21-12 in the first half to lead 6-2 at the break. After Syracuse rallied to tie the game at seven after three, UAlbany struck first in the fourth off a John Maloney goal to go up 8-7. A following 3-0 run put Syracuse up for good and UAlbany got back to within one with 6:48 left but could not bridge the gap. UAlbany had fallen to Syracuse by nine in its first game of the year, falling by just two in the final contest of the season.
UAlbany’s season comes to end in the program’s fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. The Great Danes finished with 12 wins, the fourth straight year with double digit victories.
“I am extremely proud of the effort that my team put in from September until now,” said UAlbany head coachScott Marr. “These seniors took over a team that had two or three of the best players in the game the previous four years, playing in their shadow, and got us back to this position. We had an opportunity to play for a national championship, and they helped us get the first at-large berth in program history.”
In total, faceoffs stood even at 50 percent for each team as Zach Ornstein of UAlbany and Ben Williams of Syracuse battled all night. UAlbany won the ground ball battle 26-21 while being outshot 39-34.
The UAlbany senior class finishes their careers with 53 victories, the winningest class in program history. This includes three America East Tournament victories, four perfect America East regular season titles and four appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
Maloney led UAlbany with two goals, an assist and three ground balls while Connor Fields and Adam Osikaeach had two goals. Blaze Riorden got the loss with nine saves, including six in the first half, with Eric Dluhyforcing two turnovers and grabbing two ground balls.
“Overall, I can’t stress enough how proud I am of all of these guys, we went out and battled,” said Riorden. “I am just proud to be a Great Dane.”
For Syracuse, Sergio Salcido had two goals and two assists while Tim Barber netted two goals and notched an assist. Evan Molloy picked up the victory in goal with 12 saves.
UAlbany struck first after Ornstein grabbed the first faceoff and UAlbany cleared. Quickly, Eli Lasda passed toKyle McClancy, then to Fields for the quick fire and score into the corner. UAlbany won the next faceoff but turned it over, and the other way, Barber set up Dylan Donohue for the catch and shoot goal, which UAlbany countered the other way. The Great Danes won the faceoff, and on the third attempt, earned a catch and shoot goal from Justin Reh behind the cage to a charging Maloney for the slam dunk, putting UAlbany up 2-1 with 11:12 left in the 1st.
UAlbany held against the next four Syracuse possessions of the quarter, with Riorden blocking a Matt Lane heave to the cage, the ride inducing an offsides on Syracuse, Riorden saving a second chance shot from close range and Dluhy knocking the ball away from Barber and leading the clear. The other way, Osika got inside his defender and shot while getting hit, scoring from 10 meters out for the 3-1 UAlbany lead. UAlbany won the next faceoff but did not get a shot off, ending the first quarter up two.
Riorden saved the opening shot from Syracuse to begin the second, then after a clear, Maloney passed behind the back to Seth Oakes who fired the ball high to low inside the right post for the goal for a three-point UAlbany lead. Riorden saved another close Sergio Salcido shot, then next chance, Oakes picked up his own saved shot, passed off to an open Derrick Eccles for the straight away bullet and score to put UAlbany up 5-1 with 12:40 left in the 2nd.
The UAlbany defense continued to hold strong against the Orange offense, with Osika forcing a turnover and Riorden stopping a pair of possessions, one on a save and another by intercepting the pass from behind the cage. Salcido ended Syracuse’s drought with a run to the cage past a defender to score inside the right post with 5:01 left in the 2nd. Next chance after Syracuse forced a turnover, Fields stole the ball from Molloy, jumping and grabbing the pass mid-air from behind the cage, then running and scoring in the open net. UAlbany held late on another Riorden save off a Barber shot as UAlbany took a 6-2 lead into the locker room.
Syracuse struck first in the third quarter when after three high and wide shots, Nick Mariano had the fourth chance, rushing through a double team near the crease and scoring while falling. Barber added another 43 seconds later on a line drive over the keeper’s shoulder to pull the home team within two. Riorden stopped a potential third goal as Riorden knocked down a Derek DeJoe line drive, then Dluhy rushed for the clear. Lasda found John Glancy straight away for the high bouncing shot and score to get a goal back for UAlbany. Syracuse got the goal back as Jordan Evans threw a ground ball shot into the net to make it 7-5 UAlbany with 9:58 left in the 3rd.
Next possession, Syracuse won the faceoff and got hit with a shot clock. Lane pushes against his defender and got a look on the right side, shooting and scoring with 10 meters out to pull the home team within one. UAlbany made a strong defensive stand on the next possession, holding against four Syracuse shots, including Dluhy blocking a shot with his body. Syracuse threw the ball away, but forced a turnover to get back the ball. Riorden saved Nick Weston’s shot towards the left post as UAlbany went back to offense, seeing Osika’s shot slam the right post. Syracuse got the ball back: Salcido passed off to DeJoe who fired from straight-away and scored on the bouncer to tie the game at 7-7. Glancy got a chance towards the end of the quarter with a close shot near a defender, but Molloy made the save. The two teams went into the fourth tied at seven.
First chance for Syracuse saw a Salcido shot get blocked above the net, and James Burdette picking it up. The other way, Maloney bobbled a pass to him, picked up the ball, got through a double team and scored on a low shot. Syracuse tied it back up next chance with a Barber running shot to make it 8-8. UAlbany won the next faceoff and bounced a shot to the net wide as Syracuse backed up the play. Salcido got the next Orange shot, going around a double and hitting his shot inside the right post to give the home team a 9-8 lead with 9:54 remaining in the 4th.
UAlbany got a chance to tie the game as Fields made a dodge move to get free, but Molloy made the save. Syracuse scored in transition to go up by two. Osika got the goal back with a dodge towards the cage on a cut to make it 10-9 Syracuse. UAlbany won the next faceoff, but lost the ball on a high pass. Syracuse cleared and fired away three times, with an Evans shot hitting to put the home team up 11-9 with 4:12 left to play.
UAlbany got the ball back on a Syracuse turnover with three minutes left and got five shots off, including a Glancy straight away shot that was saved by Molloy. The final chance, a high Lasda shot, was picked up by Brandon Mullins of Syracuse. The Orange drained most of the remainder of the clock as Syracuse took the 11-9 victory.
Syracuse will take on 1-seed Maryland in the NCAA quarterfinal round in Providence, Rhode Island on Saturday, May 21st.
Courtesy: UAlbany Athletic Communications