MARR, DANES FACE TAR HEELS TEST
More than 5,500 tickets sold to NCAA 1st round matchup in Albany
ALBANY, N.Y. >> There was fear in the belly of Scott Marr on Sunday night, as the hours leading up to the NCAA Tournament selection show faded away.
There was speculation entering the weekend about whether or not his UAlbany team would even make the 17-team field without an America East title. His team put that speculation to rest with the most lopsided conference tournament in its history.
This fear, the one that Marr felt with total sincerity on Sunday night, was that he’d draw Johns Hopkins in the first round. He didn’t want to have to play his son, Kyle, in a do- or-die situation.
“I didn’t want to be in the same bracket,” the elder Marr said. “If someone looking down upon us right now saying, ‘OK, you guys can play in the finals,’ that would be a dream come true. Then one of us would win it. But the predictions of us playing in the first round, that really worried me.”
The challenge Marr has in front of him doesn’t involve facing his kin, yet. The challenge now is a home date with the defending national champion, North Carolina at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The game has already sold more tickets (5,555) as of Wednesday morning than any other first-round lacrosse game in NCAA Tournament history. The record attendance for a first round game is 5,479 for an Army vs. Syracuse contest in 2010.
Marr looks at the draw and sees UNC, then a potential date with top-seeded Maryland. And he sees it as the tougher half of the bracket. But it also provides the Great Danes an opportunity to showcase itself in a way that hasn’t been possible. On Saturday, barring potential rain, every single seat inside Casey Stadium will be filled. A national ESPN audience will be watching.
There have been eight other NCAA Tournaments. There has been the Thompson trio. There has been a rock-solid foundation of a program. But there hasn’t
quite been this type of anticipation in this program’s history.
“It definitely means a lot to see how many people are following and supporting us. We’re just trying to play for everyone,” UAlbany attack Connor Fields said. “Ourselves. Our coaches. We want to give them a good show.”
In the America East tournament last weekend, the Great Danes scored the most goals (39) in tournament history. They scored 20 against a Binghamton team that hadn’t
allowed more than 10 in a game all season. In the first game, midfielder Bennett Drake came out with a dislocated shoulder. In the second game, Fields came out with a bleeding mouth after taking a hit to the head.
They’ll both be good for Saturday’s game. They see it as an important opportunity not just to move on in the Tournament, but to put the UAlbany lacrosse program on the map.
“You always dream of playing in front of big crowds like that,” Drake said. “When I got here, they were just building (Casey Stadium). We weren’t sure we were even going to play in it. It was a thought, but
we never really thought we would get to that point. I’m really proud of what our guys have been able to do on the field, so that people want to come out and support.”
Marr said the impact of hosting an NCAA Tournament game helps with recruiting at the younger stages. Kids in the ninth and 10th grade might see a game like this, and be more inclined to have interest in the Great Danes program.
That’s all a part of building the profile of Albany lacrosse. The Great Danes have accomplished a lot during Marr’s 17-year tenure. But they haven’t played for a national cham-
pionship. He got through the first hurdle of not having to compete against his son.
The next is playing in what Marr says is the toughest bracket this program has ever been dealt.
“You kind of hope (this is) what you can get it to,” Marr said of Albany’s success. “But for it to actually become a reality, so much had to go into it. I’m a big visionary guy, a big dreamer. I try to envision these types of things. This is something that I did envision.
“When I first came here, I said to myself, I wanted to stay here and build a tradition. Didn’t want to go anywhere else.”