UAlbany set to take on Denver in quarterfinals

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. » The No. 2- seed UAlbany men’s lacrosse team is looking for its first-ever trip to Championship Weekend, taking on Denver in the NCAA Quarterfinal Round on Saturday, May 19 at 2:30 p.m.

The game will be played at James M. Shuart Stadium on the campus of Hofstra University.

The winner of this game will advance to the NCAA Semifinals at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, next weekend and play the victor of YaleLoyola, the earlier game of the Hempstead Regional.

This game features a matchup of a pair of regular season champions: UAlbany won the America East while Denver earned the Big East regular season title.

UAlbany is playing in its second straight NCAA Quarterfinal, and fourth in five years, while Denver is also in its second consecutive NCAA Quarterfinal and sixth in the last seven years, including a semifinal appearance last year and winning the 2015 champi- onship.

UAlbany has won its last four games and advanced to this stage after an 18-9 victory vs. Richmond on Saturday, standing 15-2 overall and 5-1 in the America East. Denver upended No. 7-seed Notre Dame 9-7 on Sunday and has won nine of its last 10, coming in at 13-3 overall and 5- 0 in the Big East.

All-time, UAlbany is 0-3 against Denver, with all games coming since 2009. The two last met in the 2013 NCAA First Round in Colorado, with then No. 4-seed Denver defeating UAlbany 19-14 on May 11.

FIVE GREAT DANES NAMED IL MEDIA ALLAMERICANS: Five UAlbany players were named to the Inside Lacrosse Media All-America Team. This was tied for the most amount of midseason AllAmericans in program history in the second year of IL selecting such an honor.

Goalkeeper JD Colarusso was named to the First Team, attack Connor Fields, faceoff specialist TD Ierlan and midfielder Kyle McClancy were placed on the Second Team, while attack Tehoka Nanticoke was Honorable Mention.

BALANCED SCORING ATTACK: UAlbany stands with the highest scoring offense in Division I with 14.59 goals per game, a ¼ goal more than secondplace Cornell.

UAlbany has had the top scoring offense in DI four of the last five seasons, averaging 15.39 goals a game last year.

The team currently has nine players with double digit points and seven players with double digit goals this season. In addition, five players have at least 26 goals.

Connor Fields and Tehoka Nanticoke each are in the top- 41 in DI in all of the following: goals per game, assists per game and points per game.

S ECOND- R A NK E D SCORING DEFENSE IN DIVISION I: UAlbany has the second- ranked scoring defense in Division I, allowing 7.71 goals per game, including 12 out of 17 games where the team has allowed single digit goals. JD Colarusso is #1 in DI with a 7.3 goals allowed average and # 4 with a 59% save rate.

IERLAN EARNS UALBANY GROUND BALL RECORD: As UAlbany’s primary faceoff player, TD Ierlan has earned the pro- gram’s ground ball record. The sophomore stands with 442 career ground balls, passing the DI record set by Jordan Levine, who had 321 ground balls from 2005- 08, on March 28th.

Ierlan currently stands #1 in Division I with an 83.4% faceoff rate, almost 7% more than second place Trevor Baptiste of Denver, and first with 14.12 ground balls per game, almost three more than any other player in DI.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK: Home is where the heart is for UAlbany, drawing on the home state for most of its roster. Of its 50man roster, 35 players hail from New York State.

From the USA, other states represented on UAlbany’s roster include Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Vermont. The team also has four players from Canada.

The team’s diversity is represented on its helmets. Each UAlbany helmet has three flags on the back, representing the United States, Canada and the Iroquois Six Nations.

58 WINS FOR THE UALBANY SENIOR CLASS: The current members of the UAlbany senior class have won 58 games in their time with a record of 58-11. That stands second in Division I, only behind Maryland’s 61.

The winningest class in UAlbany history graduated in 2017, with 58 victories in its four years.

UALBANY NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: UAlbany is playing in its sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament and tenth time in the Division I era, including the ninth time as the America East automatic qualifier.

The Great Danes have earned a spot in the NCAA quarterfinals four times since 2013, including twice with true road victories. UAlbany has five quarterfinal appearances, including its first in 2007.

The team earned its first at-large bid in program history in 2016 and first among America East teams since UMBC did in 2007.

Last year, in front of an NCAA First Round record crowd 6,452, then 8- seed UAlbany defeated North Carolina 15-12 for a trip to the quarterfinals. UAlbany fell to 1- seed and eventual NCAA champion Maryland 18- 9 in Newark, Delaware.

All- time in the NCAA Tournament, UAlbany is 5- 9 overall, including 5- 5 in the first round and 0- 4 in the quarterfinals. Twice, in 2014 to Notre Dame and 2007 to Cornell, the Great Danes fell in the quarterfinals in overtime.

UAlbany is one of six programs, along with Denver, Duke, Maryland, Notre Dame and Syracuse, to earn spots in the NCAA Tournament every year since 2013.

SCOUTING THE DENVER PIONEERS: Denver has been to Championship Weekend five years of its last seven seasons.

The team’s top scorer is sophomore attack Ethan Walker, an Inside Lacrosse Media Honorable Mention All-American, with 47 goals, 22 assists and 25 ground balls. Junior Austin French is on his flank with 60 points off 29 goals and 31 assists. Tewaaraton finalist senior Trevor Baptiste is second in DI with a 76.5% faceoff rate, adding 154 ground balls.

Denver has the top scoring defense in DI with 7.44 goals allowed per game, splitting between two goalkeepers, junior Alex Ready at a 52.4% save rate and a 7.50 GAA and sophomore Josh Matte at a 42.5% save rate and 6.80 GAA. Junior defender Dylan Gaines has 21 caused turnovers.