While it’s unlikely, it would be fitting for the UAlbany men’s lacrosse team to enter their inaugural game this Saturday to the tune of Carly Simon’s “Anticipation.”
UAlbany, the last of the four local men’s and women’s Division I teams to participate in a regulation game, will be hosting Colgate at 1 p.m. For Colgate, this will be their fourth game, having already secured victories over then-No. 4 Penn State and Hobart, and suffered a loss to then-No. 9 Syracuse.
UAlbany is looking to bounce back from a 6-10 season last year, which saw them shock top-seeded Vermont in the America East Tournament semifinals, only to lose a gut-wrenching 12-11 double-overtime match to Bryant in the championship. They have already played two scrimmages against Siena and Cornell, which were characterized by both coaches as low-scoring games with impressive goaltending. A friend from Ithaca who attended the scrimmages informed me that Cornell outscored UAlbany 14-6.
“They’ll have a lot of experience under their belts,” Marr said of Colgate. “For us, it’ll be the first game for Landon [Whitney] starting in goal, Ryan Doherty on attack, and a few other guys playing.”
Both Whitney and Doherty are freshmen. Whitney, hailing from Peachtree City, Georgia, was the team MVP for Trinity Pawling last year. Doherty, a native of Concord, New Hampshire, scored 38 goals and made 37 assists as a high school senior and was named an All-American.
“They’re certainly very physical, do a big 10-man ride, put a lot of pressure on you when you’re clearing the ball,” Marr said of Colgate. “We have to be smart, willing to run, but willing to be patient at the same time, make the right looks.”
This will also be the first game in a UAlbany uniform for sophomore attackman Kevin Carney, a Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake graduate who transferred after a freshman year at Canisius. There, he scored 16 goals and made eight assists for 24 points, which was the third-highest on the 2-13 Griffins. He was chosen to the All-MAAC Rookie Team.
“It’s awesome,” Carney said of his decision to transfer. “My last high school game was played on this field against Manhasset, so it’s really a full-circle moment here. Really enjoying it.”
“He does a nice job finishing the ball and off the ball,” Marr said of Carney. “Seems like he fits in pretty well with us. He’s right in the mix with four or five attackmen that will play this year, so he’s doing a really nice job.”
ANOTHER PISENO HONOR
On Wednesday, UAlbany graduate student Jake Piseno was named to the 2024 Tewaaraton Award Watch List. The award annually recognizes the nation’s top men’s and women’s collegiate lacrosse players.
Piseno, a long-stick midfielder classified as a defender on the watch list, was one of 50 men’s players named to the initial list, and the only America East representative. He is the first UAlbany player to earn a spot on the list since Tehoka Nanticoke in 2021.
Last season, Piseno was named America East Defensive Player of the Year and an Honorable Mention All-American by Inside Lacrosse, USA Lacrosse Magazine and the USILA. Over the summer, he earned All-World and Best Defender honors at the 2023 World Lacrosse Championship while competing for the Haudenosaunee Nationals. Piseno also has earned Preseason All-America Second Team honors from Inside Lacrosse, USA Lacrosse Magazine and the USILA.
SIENA MISSED PAPE
One of the traceable factors in NJIT’s come-from-behind win over Siena last Saturday was the loss of the Saints’ top faceoff man, graduate student Dylan Pape.
Going against NJIT’s top guy, Billy Kroeger, Pape was 8 of 16 on faceoffs. After Pape was injured going to the goal on a play and didn’t return, Siena’s other four faceoff people went 3 of 17.
When asked, the Siena staff said Pape was day-to-day on his return. The Saints play at Hofstra on Saturday.
FAMILIARITY FOR HUFNAGEL
As the Saints roll into Hofstra’s Hempstead campus, it will be a familiar sight for Saints junior attackman Connor Hufnagel, who transferred to Siena after two seasons playing with the Pride. Hufnagel played just four games over two years there and didn’t score a point. Last week against NJIT, he tallied two goals and one assist.
DUFFY’S RETURN
When No. 18 Army West Point visits Siena for a women’s game Saturday, it will mark the first return to the Capital Region for Black Knights sophomore midfielder Brigid Duffy.
The Queensbury graduate is coming off a spectacular freshman campaign in which she was the top-scoring freshman in the country with 56 goals and became the first All-American in program history.
This fall, she competed with the USA20 National Lacrosse Team and still managed to be an All-Patriot League First Team selection in soccer. She was named a Preseason First Team All-American by USA Lacrosse and was picked No. 25 on Inside Lacrosse’s Top 50 Players for 2024 List. In two games thus far, she has five goals and three assists.
She also played at Queensbury with Siena redshirt junior midfielder Jordan Bentley.
Ualbany men’s teams is ready to dominate the season after a long wait, let’s see those sticks in action! #excited
I’m excited to see the UAlbany men’s team finally start their season! Time to see some impressive stickwork on the field.
Agree: Finally, the UAlbany Men’s Team gets to showcase their skills on the field after a long wait. Can’t wait to see those sticks in action!