Danes lament ‘sluggish’ start
Another slow start doomed the University at Albany men’s lacrosse team to its second America East loss on Saturday.
The Great Danes fell behind 6-1 and never recovered in a 16-10 loss to Stony Brook at Lavalle Stadium.
“I wish I knew,” said Ualbany head coach Scott Marr by phone, asked about the sluggish start. “We definitely were slow. Guys before the game just talked about getting the energy up and, again, very similar to the Vermont game, we just felt really sluggish. I don’t know. I wish I could explain it.”
Ualbany (4-2 overall, 2-2 league) lost 14-12 to Vermont on March 13 in a match the Great Danes trailed 10-4 at halftime.
Against Stony Brook, Marr pulled starting goalkeeper Liam Donnelly in favor of Will Ramos after Stony Brook’s sixth goal with 5:22 left in the first quarter.
“I think defensively we had a couple of opportunities to slide in the beginning on the first two goals, and we didn’t,” Marr said. “Then I think (Donnelly) gave up two goals from outside. It was more of just trying to spark the team. Will’s been playing well in practice the whole season, too, so I thought maybe if we just give Will a shot, he could make some saves, and he did. Will made three or four saves in that second quarter and we got ourselves back in the game.”
Ualbany got within 6-5 on three consecutive goals by Tehoka Nanticoke, back from a one-game America East suspension for his role in an altercation against Binghamton.
But Stony Brook responded with back-to-back goals by Devin O’leary and Matt Anderson for an 8-5 lead. Ualbany would never get closer than two goals again.
The Great Danes pulled within 12-10 on Logan Tucker’s score with 5:51 to play. That was their final goal and Stony Brook ran off four straight to end the game.
“We just don’t close out the game, don’t give ourselves a chance to get within 1,” Marr said.
Nanticoke and Tucker finished with four goals each and Alex Burgmaster and Graydon Hogg had one apiece. Jakob Patterson was held without a goal but had four assists.
The Great Danes were limited to their fewest goals of the season.
“Their kid (Stony Brook goalkeeper Anthony Palma) had 12 saves,” Marr said. “I didn’t think we shot great and, again, our top group struggled a little bit. Our first midfielder had one goal and Kyle Casey got stuffed a couple of times and didn’t put the ball in the goal. We had our opportunities, I think.”
Stony Brook (5-3, 3-1) beat Ualbany for the second straight time after losing 10 in a row to the Great Danes.
The bad start was more perplexing coming off Ualbany’s impressive 13-12 win over 13th-ranked Umass on Tuesday.
Ualbany was without starting sophomore defenseman Elijah Gash, out because of COVID -19 protocols. Great Danes attack Camden Hay didn’t play because of injury.
The Great Danes play against Umass Lowell next Saturday at John Fallon Field.
“Top priority this week is really, honestly, is to try to get healthy,” Marr said.