Ualbany pulls away from Siena
Danes rally with 7 straight goals late; Zapolski scores five
When Abby Rehfuss was hired to coach the Siena women’s lacrosse program two years ago, one of her first priorities was to get the University at Albany back on the schedule.
The Saints and the Great Danes hadn’t played since 2012.
“I think it’s good for the local community. I think it’s good for the Capital Region,” said Rehfuss, a Shaker High graduate. “I think that we are sitting here, two great lacrosse programs down the road from each other, and I think it makes sense to play. We’re not afraid of them and I can’t speak for how they feel about us.”
It’s safe to say Ualbany isn’t frightened of Siena. The Great Danes defeated the Saints 14-8 at Casey Stadium on Saturday afternoon in their first meeting in seven years to run their all-time record against Siena to 16-0.
But the Great Danes have good reason to respect the Saints, who led 8-7 before the Great Danes erupted for seven unanswered goals in the final 22:27.
“It was definitely a fun, competitive game,” Rehfuss said. “I know the girls from both sides were definitely looking forward to today. Obviously, I wish we had a better outcome, but we’re eager to get them back at Siena next year.”
Kyla Zapolski had five goals and Sam Tortora added three goals and an assist for Ualbany (4-3), which snapped a three-game losing streak.
The Great Danes had lost consecutive games to No. 22 Stanford, No. 19 Penn State and Uconn before getting back on track while getting reacquainted with their crosstown rival.
“I thought it was pretty cool,” Zapolski said. “It’s cool being able to play someone who’s really close to you. We knew that they were going to be a challenge. We didn’t want to come out underestimating them, so we knew it was important to stay calm, stay relaxed and move the ball and shoot around the goalie.”
Rehfuss and first-year Ualbany head coach Katie Rowan have a longstanding competitive relationship. They played each other in high school when Rowan was at Bethlehem, and then again in college when Rehfuss suited up for Loyola and Rowan starred for Syracuse.
Rowan pointed out that the Siena game was scheduled before Ualbany hired her, but she was glad to play it.
“It was a great addition to have them right here in the Capital Region and get that game on the schedule,” she said. “She’s doing a great job with the Siena program and it’s really great to have her in the area as another native to the Albany area.”
Siena (3-4), which had its three-game winning streak snapped, stayed close early because of excellent goalkeeping from senior Sammy Horton (14 saves.).
Horton stopped Ualbany on four free-position shots in the opening 15 minutes.
The score was tied at 6 at halftime. Siena still led 8-7 with 24:51 to play after Julia Pelcher and Kaitlyn Dowsett scored back-to-back goals in a 59-second span.
But Zapolski tied the score with 22:27 left, and it remained knotted for more than nine minutes until Tortora tallied a free-position goal to give Ualbany the lead for good at 9-8 with 13:07 to play.
“I thought the first half, their goalie did a phenomenal job of really stepping to the ball and making some great saves,” Rowan said. “I thought we made some great adjustments at halftime and had a great second half.”
Rehfuss, who is also a personal-injury attorney, said her defense got tired late in the match.
“Albany did a good job of being deliberate on their offensive possessions, and when they started to go on that run, they were really just wearing us down deep into the shot clock,” she said. “I thought our defense did pretty well today, but when you’re playing defense for the majority of the game, it makes it kind of difficult.”