UAlbany Men’s Lacrosse Secures AE Tournament Berth with 17-7 Victory over Stony Brook
ALBANY, N.Y. – Led by a strong defensive effort and a career-high eight assists from Lyle Thompson, the UAlbany men’s lacrosse team crushed Stony Brook 17-7 to secure a berth in the America East Tournament.
UAlbany (6-5, 3-0 AE) outscored Stony Brook (5-8, 1-2 AE) in every quarter and finished with 32 total points. The defense had its top performance of the year with seven goals allowed.
“”I give a lot of credit to Liam Gleason for his defense for an outstanding performance tonight,” said UAlbany head coach Scott Marr. “We put together 60 minutes and controlled the game, playing very unselfishly.”
“We had been given shut-off plays for their top guys and we executed the gameplan well,” said Doug Eich, captain of the UAlbany defense.
On the offensive end, Lyle Thompson added four ground balls to his eight assists. Miles Thompson put up seven points off five goals and two assists. Ryan Feuerstein had a goal and four assists, Ty Thompson scored four goals while Matt Garziano scored three goals off the bench. In goal, Blaze Riorden got the win
“”We proved that our defense is strong, it was getting stops and getting us the ball,” said Miles Thompson. “We came together today.”
For the Seawolves, Challen Rogers scored two goals and four assists, while Matt Schultz had a pair of goals. UAlbany held Stony Brook’s leading goal-scorer Brody Eastwood to no points.
With the win, UAlbany has secured a place in the America East Tournament and stays tied for first place in the league with Binghamton.
Stony Brook got off to a fast start with the game’s first two goals in the opening 3:25. The defense held each other in check until with 5:22 left in the 1st, Garziano was set up by Lyle Thompson for the score. Miles Thompson evened the score two minutes later from Feuerstein. Matthew Bertrams and Will Stenberg earned goals in the final two minutes of the period to give UAlbany a 4-2 lead.
The offense kept going into the second quarter, with Bennett Drake scoring quickly off another setup from Lyle Thompson. Garziano added a second goal less than two minutes later, then Ty Thompson scored two goals in a row to complete an 8-0 UAlbany run for an 8-2 lead. After Stony Brook scored a pair more to get within four, Miles Thompson added a catch and shoot for the score, putting the eventual halftime score at 9-4.
The Great Danes continued the offensive attack through the Thompsons, as Ty Thompson scored 1:01 into the second half, followed by Miles Thompson adding two more. Feuerstein got scored with 9:44 left in the quarter to finish a 5-0 run by the home team. Each side exchanged a goal as UAlbany led 14-5 after three.
The UAlbany defense allowed just two more goals the rest of the way as John Maloney, Garziano and Miles Thompson scored for UAlbany in the final period to secure a 17-7 victory.
UAlbany will head back to the state of Maryland next weekend, taking on UMBC at 3:30 p.m.
