Huge weekend for Siena hoops, UAlbany lax
NO. 1 UALBANY HOSTS CORNELL
ALBANY, N.Y. »
The first game for UAlbany men’s lacrosse as the No. 1 team in the country is on Sunday, March 4 as the Great Danes host Cornell at 1:00 p.m. in Tom & Mary Casey Stadium.
UAlbany, from the America East, completes a twogame homestand with this game after defeating Drexel 18-5 last Saturday, entering the weekend at 2-0. Ivy League representative Cornell defeated Hobart 15-8 in its home opener last Saturday for a 1-1 record.
UAlbany has risen to No. 1, in each the USILA Coaches Poll and the Inside Lacrosse Maverik Media Poll for the first time in program history.
UAlbany has won the last three games in the series, including last year’s 17-6 victory in Ithaca on March 5th and a 19-10 victory in the 2015 NCAA Tournament First Round game. UAlbany leads the all-time series 3-2.
Starting 2-0 with dominant wins over Syracuse and Drexel, UAlbany stands at No. 1 in the USILA Coaches Poll and the Inside Lacrosse Maverik Media Poll. It is the first time UAlbany, or any SUNY men’s team, earned a No. 1 ranking in the Division I ranks.
Connor Fields and TD Ierlan were each named to the 2018 Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List.
UAlbany has had a Tewaaraton watch list player the last 11 years. Fields earned a watch list spot for the third time while Ierlan is on for the first time.
The Tewaaraton Trophy is given to the top player in college lacrosse. On the men’s side, UAlbany’s Miles and Lyle Thompson shared the 2014 Tewaaraton Trophy, with Lyle winning it outright in 2015.
Fields is continuing to rise in the UAlbany record books in goals, assists and points.
On a season basis, his 66 goals in 2015 were secondmost in UAlbany history and a freshman NCAA Division I record. His 117 points in 2017 is the fourth-highest single season scoring total in Division I history. The 2017 Tewaaraton finalist and three-time USILA AllAmerican also has three of the top-15 point-scoring seasons in UAlbany history.
Cornell, a three-time NCAA champion, is led by interim head coach Peter Milliman.
Sophomore attack Jeff Teat is first in the country with 8.5 points per game, standing with 17 points off eight goals and nine assists in two games. Junior attack Clarke Petterson stands with six goals and two assists while classmate middie Jake McCulloch has four goals. Sophomore Paul Rasimowicz is the primary at faceoff at 29.4%.
A four-year starter, redshirt senior Christian Knight stands in goal with a 56.9% save rate and an 11.0 goals allowed average. Two-time All-Ivy League defenseman Jake Pulver has three ground balls while senior Kason Tarbell, cousin of UAlbany graduate Ky Tarbell, is as SSDM with five ground balls.
SKIDMORE COLLEGE GAME START TIME CHANGED VS. PLATTSBURGH STATE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Due to the winter storm whic hit the Capital District on Friday, the Skidmore College lacrosse team’s non-conference game vs. Plattsburgh State on Saturday, March 3, has been changed from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
UALBANY PAYS A VISIT TO BUCKNELL
ALBANY, N.Y. » The University at Albany women’s lacrosse team faces Bucknell on the road Saturday in the first ever meeting between the programs. Draw is at noon in Lewisburg, P.A.
The Great Danes will be hoping to carry over some momentum from a strong second half in this past Wednesday’s 12-8 loss to Dartmouth in the homeopener at Casey Stadium.
Behind three second-half goals from freshman midfielder Kendra Harbinger, UAlbany (0-4) rallied from a seven-goal halftime deficit to get within two of the Big Green.
Bucknell (1-3), of the Patriot League, has lost its past three games after winning a 5-4 double-overtime match against Robert Morris in the season-opener. The Bison fell to Wagner, 15-2, this past Saturday.
Freshman midfielder Kendra Harbinger, from Clifton Park, N.Y., has scored a hat trick in each of her past two games and is tied for the team lead with Emma Powlin with eight goals on the season.
She’s also 5-for-6 on freeposition shots and leads the Great Danes with 14 draw controls, including a gamehigh seven against Dartmouth.
Harbinger was named the America East Rookie of the Week on Feb. 19 after scoring twice in her collegiate debut against Yale.
She’s one of 20 underclassmen on the Great Danes’ roster.
Sohomore goalkeeper Erin Leghart made 15 saves against Dartmouth, eclipsing her previous career high of 11, set last season against New Hampshire.
Leghart is coming off a freshman season in which she started 14 games and earned a place on the America East All-Rookie team with an 11-5 record, 10.46 goals-against average and .399 save percentage.
UAlbany has a 51-49 advantage over its opponents in draw controls this season, thanks to three players already having reached double-figures in draw controls: Kendra Harbinger (14), Jordyn Marr (12) and Kyla Zapolski (10).
The Bison, under firstyear head coach Remington Steele, are led by sophomore midfielder Morgan Steinhacker, who has a team-high five goals.
Junior goalkeeper Jamie DeWitt has started all four games and posted a .429 save percentage.
Bucknell, which finished 9-8 (4-5 Patriot League) last season, was picked to finish sixth in the league’s preseason poll.
SIX SIENA PLAYERS NAMED TO MAAC ALLACADEMIC TEAM
ALBANY, N.Y. » Siena Women’s Basketball had six student-athletes named to the 2018 MAAC Women’s Basketball All-Academic Team on Friday. A total of 75 women were named to the team.
To be eligible for the AllAcademic Team, studentathletes must complete at least two semesters at their institution and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher on a 4.0 scale.
Seniors Emmanuella Edoka, Margot Hetzke, Kollyns Scarbrough, junior Karolina Severova and sophomores Anna Lundquist and Maddie Sims were named to the team.
SIENA TO FACE NIAGARA IN MAAC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS
ALBANY, N.Y. » The No. 3 seeded Siena Women’s Basketball will face six-seed Niagara in the Quarterfinals of the MAAC Tournament Saturday at noon at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York.
Niagara swept the regular season series 73-68 at the Times Union Center on Jan. 7 and 65-50 at Niagara on Jan. 15.
Siena is 3-1 against Niagara in the MAAC. Siena hasn’t faced Niagara in the tournament since 2003.