ALBANY — The scoreboard read 14-3, but the UAlbany men’s lacrosse team knows that the final score is just a societal formality. If you ask the Great Danes how they achieved that score, they would tell you it was by winning a series of 1-and-0’s.
On Thursday night at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium, top-seeded UAlbany won so many 1-and-0’s that fourth-seeded UMBC was left reeling in the America East Tournament semifinal. By halftime, UAlbany had a commanding 7-0 lead.
“Our strategy is to focus on the next play, one at a time,” said Ryan Doherty, the attackman who led the Great Danes in scoring Thursday with four goals. “It’s about making the small plays, the ground ball play, one more pass.”
“In the playoffs, it truly is about one possession at a time,” UAlbany coach Scott Marr said. “We emphasize winning the 1-to-nothing battles. That could be a ground ball, a stop on defense, a score on offense, winning the faceoff, anything. It’s a 1-nothing battle for the entire game. We accumulated those wins, and that’s how we got the final score.”
UMBC (6-7) didn’t manage to score until there were only 6:03 minutes left in the first quarter. They ended the game with a mere 12 shots on goal.
“Our defense was on fire tonight,” said Max Neeson, the America East Defenseman of the Year.
Marr credited sophomore goalie Brady Smith, who made eight saves, as a significant factor in keeping UMBC scoreless for so long.
“Brady has always been a big-game player for us,” Marr said. “The game didn’t have to be 2-to-nothing, 3-to-nothing, it could have been 2 to 2 or 3 to 2. He made some exceptional saves for us early in the game.”
Brendan O’Keefe delivered a season-high three goals and one assist for the Great Danes. Koleton Marquis contributed two goals and an assist. Silas Richmond, in his first game back after missing most of the last two due to an injury, provided three assists.
Marr believes Richmond was eager to play and may have been pressing early, so he’s thrilled that the team performed so well with their best player not scoring, although his three assists were significant contributions.
The Great Danes will face third-seeded Vermont (7-6), who defeated second-seeded Bryant 13-7 in the other semifinal, at 1 p.m. Saturday at Casey Stadium. UAlbany beat Vermont 12-9 at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium on April 11, but Marr knows his team will have a challenging game, especially against Vermont faceoff specialist Walter Zhao, who won 19 of his 22 faceoffs in the first game.
“We need to improve,” Marr said. “We can’t spend the entire game on defense, these guys are good. We need to find a way to secure some balls on faceoffs.”
UAlbany, which is aiming to win a third consecutive America East title for the third time in program history (2003-05, 2013-15), gets the significant advantage of playing at home for the championship.
“The energy from the building alone is palpable,” Marr said. “We’re sleeping in our own beds tonight, we’re going home. We’re not in a hotel, we’re not planning meals, any of that type of stuff. It’s a huge relief not to have to be on the road.”
UMBC 0 0 1 2 — 3
UAlbany 3 4 4 3 — 14
UMBC scoring: Maxwell 1-1, Chick 1-0, Gutierrez 1-0, Ward 0-1. UAlbany scoring: Doherty 4-0, O’Keefe 3-1, Marquis 2-1, Palumb 1-1, Kesselring 1-0, Carney 1-0, Pfeiffer 1-0, Barnard 1-0, Richmond 0-3. Goalies: UMBC, McMahon, 6 saves. UAlbany, Smith, 8 saves; Vine, 1 save.
Disagree – Sloppy performance, not attention to details.