ALBANY, N.Y. – For the first time since 2018, UAlbany is the America East men’s lacrosse champion! The Great Danes used a 6-0 run bridging the second and third quarters to thwart second-seeded Vermont in the America East men’s lacrosse title game on Saturday afternoon at UAlbany’s Casey Stadium.
It was all Vermont early, but UAlbany withstood the run and came all the way back to grab a 9-6 lead at 3:33 of the third. The Catamounts responded with four of the next five goals to tie the contest 10-10 with 9:01 remaining. Two more Great Dane goals and a last-second defensive stop provided the 12-11 final margin.
Jake Piseno was all over the field for UAlbany on the way to being named the Most Outstanding Player. Piseno had two goals, four caused turnovers and five ground balls.
The Great Danes will learn their NCAA draw during the selection show on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. on ESPNU. #AEMLAX teams have combined to win 16 games all time, including UAlbany advancing to Championship Weekend in 2018.
Piseno got the scoring started, getting the Great Danes on the board with his 11th score of the season with a long pole goal just 3:59 into the contest.
Vermont (8-8) responded with the next four goals, including a pair by Griffin Fenech. He gave the Catamounts a 4-1 lead just 59 seconds into the second quarter.
The two teams traded the next four scores as UAlbany cut the deficit to 4-3 on a pair of goals by first-team All-America East selection Silas Richmond before the Catamounts grew the lead back to three with a pair of scores, including a long-range missile from Harrison Josloff with 6:30 left in the first half.
UAlbany (9-7) closed the half on a mini 3-0 run in the last 4:35 of the stanza to tie the game 6-6 going into halftime. Goals by Ryan Doherty, Richmond and a last-second steal and score by Graydon Hogg capped an exciting first half and evened the score.
The Great Danes scored the first three of the second half as well for a 9-6 advantage. However, Vermont answered with two goals in the third for trim the deficit to just 9-8. After a UAlbany score early in the fourth, the Catamounts went off for two more goals, tying the score 10-10 on a Jack Combs pole goal at 9:01.
UAlbany scored twice for a 12-10 lead and appearing to be cruising to victory in the final seconds before a UVM score with 14 seconds remaining. The Catamounts won the ensuing face-off but turned the ball over before they could attempt a game-tying shot.
In addition to Piseno, Hogg, Max Neeson and Richmond were named to the All-Championship team from UAlbany. Combs, Henry Dodge and Griffin French were selected from UVM. Merrimack’s Jack Rooney and Kasey Mongillo, along with UMBC’s Kyle Hoff and Brian Tregoning rounded out the team.
Ezra Zabukovic was recognized as the America East Elite 18 award for having the highest GPA among student-athletes competing in the championship. The senior carries a 3.77 GPA as a business administration major.
Recap the tournament by visiting Championship Central for box scores, highlights and recaps from each game.
ABOUT AMERICA EAST
Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference and its social media channels, @AmericaEast.
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