UAlbany lax rises to No. 7 in poll

ALBANY, N.Y. >> Riding an eightgame winning streak, the UAlbany men’s lacrosse team has jumped up one spot to No. 7 in each the USILA Coaches Poll and the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.

UAlbany was at No. 8 in both the coaches and media polls last week.

UAlbany has won eight consecutive games, including road victories over Harvard and Stony Brook last week.

Penn State is the new No. 1 in both polls, with Syracuse at No. 2. Hofstra, Notre Dame and Denver round out the top-5 in both polls.

The Great Danes are also accumulating individual awards for their success. UAlbany’s TD Ier-

lan was selected as the Epoch/US Lacrosse Player of the Week and America East Rookie of the Week.

Ierlan won nearly 84 percent of his faceoffs during the week, starting with 26-for-32 at the X with 18 ground balls at Harvard and finishing with 26-for30 with 20 ground balls at Stony Brook, both careerhighs. He also had a goal in each game, to make a total of two goals, 52 faceoff victories and 38 ground balls.

UAlbany next takes on UMBC on Saturday, April 8 at 1 p.m. at John Fallon Field.

Boys lacrosse

CORCORAN 7, SARATOGA SPRINGS 4 >> Griffen Taylor scored and provided two assists while Dylan Honis, Denzel Jenkins and Matt Shamberger also scored for Saratoga Springs in an opening day defeat to Corcoran. Goalkeeper Griffen Ketchum made six saves and Ryan Flemming made eight saves for the Blue Streaks while Robert Martain had a game-high 17 saves for Corcoran in the win.

NISKAYUNA 26, AVERILL PARK 1 >> Eamon Finnerty had the lone Warriors goal assisted by Oliver Clayton. Matt Kenneally made a game-high 13 saves for Averill Park while Niskayuna’s Max Ronesi and Matt Frankel combined for seven. Lucas Quinn and Mike Doxie scored four goals apiece for the Silver Warrilrs in the rout.

Judo

AREA ATHLETES WIN MEDALS >> Athletes from the Glenville-based Jason Morris Judo Center won a total of 11 medals — including seven gold — at the 30th annual Liberty Bell Judo Classic Saturday.

Burnt Hills High School sophomore, Tyler Michaelson, 15, won double gold in the Cadet (under 18) 60 kilogram division as well as the 60 kilogram senior novice category.

Burnt Hills senior, Ruslan Izerkin, 17, was also a

double medalist. Izerkin brought home a gold in the under 21, 73 kg weight class then picked up a bronze in the men’s elite 73 kg division.

JMJC veteran, Brad Bolen was sharp all day claiming the 73 kg elite men’s category and collected the $750 prize for his efforts.

Nate Keeve, 21, easily took a gold in the 100 kg division while Alexa Silao, 14, continued her rise as she won the women’s elite 48 kg category. Scotia High School freshman, Serenity Presti, 14, fought well again winning a gold in the Cadet (under 18) 70 kg weight class.

The newest member of the JMJC competition team, Nate Torres, 17, was beat in the final but earned a silver medal in the 81 kg, under 21 category. Ari Berliner, 18, won a bronze in the men’s elite 66 kg division. Zach Judy, 23, picked up a bronze in the mens elite 60 kg division to close out the JMJC medal count.

College baseball

MANHATTEN 5, SIENA 4 >> Brendan Bisset delivered a walk- off, two- out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth as Manhattan salvaged the weekend with a 5- 4 win in the series finale over Siena baseball at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, New York. Nonetheless, the Saints still took two of three over their conferenceopening weekend to capture the program’s eighthstraight MAAC series win dating back to last season.

Bisset’s game- winner capped a wild final frame in which Manhattan (6-16, 3-3) was initially denied a walkoff win just one batter earlier. Jose Carerra singled to left, but pinch runner Brendan Valls was gunned down at home plate by a gamesaving throw in by freshman leftfielder Chris Davignon. But Carerra took second on the throw, and came in to score the winning run on Bisset’s single to left.

Junior first baseman Joe Drpich capped a stellar week with three doubles for Siena (9-13-1, 2-1) which saw its six-game unbeaten streak snapped. It was the Saints’ first loss in

two weeks. Drpich hit .429 with seven RBI and five runs scored in a 3-1 week for the Saints, which included a mid-week triumph at Fairleigh Dickinson.

STONEY BROOK 2- 8, UALBANY 1-3 >> The University at Albany baseball team (9-11, 2- 4 AE) wrapped a three- game series with Stony Brook (10-14, 4-2 AE) on Sunday with a doubleheader. The Great Danes won the series opener on Saturday, but ultimately lost the series after dropping both games Sunday, 8-3 in the first game and 7-1 in the second. UAlbany has now lost its first two America East series 2-1.

RIT SWEEPS RPI >> Phil Sammon went 4-for- 8, with a home run and five runs batted in to pace RIT in a doubleheader sweep while RPI senior Sam Lawrence was 2-for-5 with a pair of homers, 3 RBIs and three stolen bases.

College softball

SIENA 3-0, MARIST 1-10 >> Siena softball opened 2017 MAAC conference play on Sunday in Poughkeepsie, NewYork against the Marist Red Foxes. The Saints defeated preseason favorite and defending champion Marist 3-1 in the first game before being blanked 10- 0 in five innings in game two. Junior pitcher Lauren Butts recorded a two-hit complete game for the win in game one. Jess Vollmer had two hits for Siena.

STONY BROOK 5-7, UALBANY 2-5 >> The UAlbany softball team dropped both halves of a doubleheader against Stony Brook Sunday. In both games, UAlbany outhit Stony Brook 17-13 and Elizabeth Snow is in the record book once again. With a powerful double to left-field in the first game of the doubleheader, she now holds the most career doubles in UAlbany history. SAINT ROSE 1- 6, PACE 13- 4 >> Cohoes grad Briana Bown recorded a hit as Saint Rose split a doubleheader with Pace. The Golden Knights (4-11, 3-1 NE10) return to the diamond to face American International today.

Women’s tennis

SIENA 7, MARIST 0 >> The Siena women’s tennis team

has put its name in the record book as the squad took down Marist 7-0 on Sunday. The 14- 0 start for the program is tied for the best start to any Siena team in history.

“All I can say is wow the ladies are on a mission this season and they played great against a good Marist tennis team,” head coach Jeff Osborn said. “We still have four matches to go this season but the ladies are ready to work hard and finish strong. I am so proud of the way they went after the win today which just happened to be in record setting fashion.”

Youth gymnastics

The boys team of Ace Gymnastics in Albany competed at the New York State Men’s Gymnastics Championships at SUNY Brockport March 19.

The boys won several individual medals and all members qualified to compete in the Regional Championships this weekend in New Jersey where they will compete with the top athletes in their division from New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia. Four members of the team also qualified as the Top 10 athletes to represent New York State at the state team Competition at West Point on April 23. The four state team qualifiers are Maddux Jung, 9, of Latham, who won four individual gold medals and first place in the all-around competition; Vincent Momrow, 9, of Ballston Lake won four individual medals and third place in the all-around competition; Ajani Bergen-Jackson, 8, of Schenectady, won four individual gold medals, a silver medal and first place in the all-around; and Nathan Davey, 10, of Clifton Park, won two individual gold medals and third place all-around.

Men’s golf

RPI FINISHES 4TH AT TOURNEY >> The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute golf team shaved 10 strokes off its score to finish in fifth place of The Hershey Cup, a twoday tournament played at the Hershey Country Club East Course.