Men's Lacrosse

Great Dane Three-Peat, No. 1 UAlbany Downs No. 3 Vermont 14-11

ALBANY, N.Y. – Top seeded UAlbany trailed most of the first three quarters, but scored five straight goals in under six minutes to take the control of the contest as the Great Danes claimed their third straight #AEMLAX Championship, 14-11, at home on Saturday afternoon.
 
Vermont took leads of 6-3 in the second and 8-5 early in the third before five consecutive goals by UAlbany made it a 12-9 contest early in the fourth. The Great Danes didn’t let it get any closer than two, as they became just the third program to win three straight #AEMLAX Championships. UAlbany also accomplished the feat from 2013-15 and 2003-05.
 
UAlbany junior Ryan Doherty was named the Most Outstanding Player after going off for five goals and two assists on Saturday. He had a team-high four goals in the semifinals for 11 total points over the two wins.
 
Doherty was joined on the All-Championship Team by teammates James Reid, Silas Richmond and Brady Smith. Vermont’s Sean McCeney, Jack Combs and Zack Toll were also named to the team, along with UMBC’s Connor Chick & Casey Pung, and Bryant’s Jack McCloskey & JJ Murphy.
 
UAlbany will learn their NCAA Tournament Foe on Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. during the NCAA Selection Show on ESPNU. Opening round action is Wednesday, with First Round action for next weekend.
 
 
No. 1 UAlbany 14, No. 3 Vermont 11
  • Cullen Decker put the Catamounts up 1-0 after some nice passing in the offensive zone with 10:25 left in the period. Max Frattaroli made it 2-0 off a feed from Zack Toll with 7:05 remaining, forcing a UAlbany timeout.
  • The Great Danes responded with the next three goals including tallies by Richmond and Doherty to give UAlbany a 3-2 lead at 10:30 of the second.
  • Vermont answered with three goals over the next four minutes, but could have had more if not for back-to-back Brady Smith point-blank saves with three minutes left.
  • Luke Reiter made it 6-3 at 2:31, though the Great Danes scored twice in the final 2:20 of the period to trail just 6-5 at the half.
  • Sean McCeney and Tristan Whitaker extended the lead to 8-5 in the opening three minutes of the third, but Jackson Palumb and Silas Richmond tallied man-up goals just 24 seconds apart to make it 8-7 with 11 minutes left.
  • UVM added another goal for the 9-7 lead, however, UAlbany scored three times in the final five minutes of the third, including back-to-back goals by Richmond to take a 10-9 lead after three.
  • Doherty grabbed a loose ball and fired a behind-the-back shot seven seconds into the fourth and UAlbany made it 12-9 at 13:48. Vermont pulled within two, but two more Great Dane tallies put the game out of reach.
 
Visit Championship Central for complete streaming and live stats links as well as box scores, highlights and recaps following each round in addition to team information, tournament history and more.
 
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