CLIMBING THE LADDER
No. 5 Albany lacrosse finally hosts heavyweight with No. 3 Maryland
ALBANY, N.Y. >> Seventeen years into Scott Marr’s tenure, not once has he hosted a game quite like the one set for Wednesday afternoon. It doesn’t matter that UAlbany is among the nation’s elite in college lacrosse — they came in at No. 5 on Monday morning.
It’s been all but impossible for Matt and the Great Danes to get a lacrosse powerhouse to come to New York’s capital. On Wednesday, that finally changes with a 4 p.m. start against No. 3 Maryland.
“I think ( Maryland) coach (John) Tillman is doing the right thing for his team,” said Marr, the UA head coach. “He’s getting them out of Maryland and put them in different situations as far as adversity, and different weather situations. Any time you put your team on the road, you’re challenging them. That’s what he’s trying to do with his team.”
The game was originally scheduled to be played in early March, before snow and freezing temperatures forced a postponement. The Great Danes were out practicing at Casey Stadium on a picturesque 70- degree Monday afternoon. The warmer weather might mean more fans in the stands, but the 4 p.m. weekday start time won’t help attendance.
Since Maryland had al-
ready made the flight out to Albany once this year for a game that never happened, they decided to take the bus to New York this time around. And with the Terrapins scheduled to leave after the game, UA needed to accommodate with an earlier start time.
So even if not everything is going to plan, just having Maryland play at Albany’s home field is a statement in and of itself.
“It just shows how much we’ve grown as a program,” said Connor Fields, the nation’s top goal scorer. “The (2004-2010) was the back-
bone of the team. They were helping this team grow. And we keep growing more and more as a team and as an organization. It means a lot that we get a Top 5 team like that to come in here.”
The game isn’t just important for posterity’s sake, though. With the top eight seeds in the NCAA Tournament hosting a first-round game, a win or a loss could make the difference. Albany doesn’t have a Top 15 win yet this year after starting the season with a one-goal loss to now No. 1 Syracuse.
Showing that the Great
Danes can win a big game will probably what pushes on one side of the bubble or the other. Albany has the best scoring offense in the country, but that’s a reflection of playing teams mostly in the America East.
“I think any win versus a Top 5 team will show everyone how good we are,” Albany goalkeeper JD Colarusso said. “We’re just very excited.”
Maryland comes into the game off a win against then-No. 1 Penn State. Earlier in the season it lost to then-No. 1 Notre Dame, and was upset by Villanova.
Both were one-goal losses.
Albany believes its a better program, winning six games since its first tilt against Maryland was postponed. Last year Albany played at Maryland. Two years before that, they went to Penn State and Johns Hopkins.
Every single year they play at Syracuse. The schedule always sends the Great Danes to play the best teams on its schedule. Finally, someone is coming to play them.
Marr gave Tillman credit for sticking with the game once it was postponed. The
two had agreed long before the postponement that there would be no cancellation because of weather, but Marr noted that not every coach would make that promise.
Winning the game might lock up an NCAA Tournament home game, but just hosting the game shows that Albany is already on the map.
“I think it’s mental,” Marr said. “I think you have to be mentally prepared on both sides of the ball. Understanding what our game plan is, and you have to execute.”