Albany faces Denver in NCAA tourney quarterfinals

ALBANY, N.Y. » Albany attackman Connor Fields is out of the running for college lacrosse’s highest individual honor, and that’s OK. He’s after something else, something that will leave a much more lasting impression.

The soft-spoken senior, second in scoring in Division I history with 356 points (196 goals, 160 assists), is intent on leading the second-seeded Great Danes (15-2) to their firstever appearance in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s just the next step for us,” Fields said Friday morning after practice. “I think we’ve been growing a lot over the past (few) years. It’s really awesome just to see how much we’ve been improving each year. We’re getting closer and closer. I think we’re ready.”

Only Denver (13-3), which has made the Final Four in five of the last seven years, stands in the way as the quarterfinals loom. The teams meet Saturday at Hofstra University on New York’s Long Island in a doubleheader that also includes thirdseeded Yale (14-3) against No. 6 Loyola of Maryland (13-3).

The other quarterfinals will be played Sunday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, with topseeded Maryland (13-3) against Ivy League champ Cornell (13-4) and fifthseeded Johns Hopkins (124) meeting fourth-seeded Duke (14-3).

Albany beat Richmond 18-9 in the first round last Saturday night to secure its fourth quarterfinal appearance in five years. Fields led the way with seven points off two goals and five assists in just his third full game back since a knee injury nearly two months ago took him out of the running for the Tewaaraton Award, lacrosse’s Heisman Trophy. That performance moved him behind only former Albany star Lyle Thompson (400) in career points.

Fields has been hampered by a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee suffered against UMass-Lowell in late March.

On Friday, he seemed back to his old self, jumping around, playing air guitar with his stick to the beat of the scoreboard music, and joking with his teammates.

“I feel the best I have since the injury,” Fields said. “It just feels great to be back out here with the guys, one last shot at getting to championship weekend. We really want to get over the hump.”