By Brian DePasquale
2003 UAlbany Football Schedule Announced
University at Albany Director of Athletics and Recreation Lee McElroy has announced the school’s football schedule for 2003. The Great Danes, the defending Northeast Conference champions, will play a seven-game conference slate, and meet non-conference opponents Northeastern, an NCAA Division I-AA playoff team, Brown from the Ivy League, Towson, and St. Peter’s.

UAlbany begins its fifth Division I-AA campaign Saturday, Sept. 6, with Northeastern. Albany will end its 11-game schedule November 15 at Towson.

The Great Danes will open their home schedule with Brown September 20. UAlbany will be playing an Ivy League school for the first time.

The Great Danes, who also won the 2002 ECAC Division I-AA Classic with a 24-0 victory over previously unbeaten Duquesne, finished with an 8-4 record last year. Head coach Bob Ford will return 15 starters, including eight on offense and seven on defense. Gary Jones, a second-team Associated Press All-America tailback, leads the returnees after rushing for 1,509 yards and scoring 23 touchdowns as a junior.

2003 Albany Football Schedule
September
6 (Sat.), at Northeastern, 12:30 p.m.
13 (Sat.), at Central
Connecticut State*, 6 p.m.
20 (Sat.), Brown, 1 p.m.
27 (Sat.), Sacred Heart*, 1 p.m.

October
4 (Sat.), St. Peter’s (HOF), 1 p.m.
11 (Sat.), at St. Francis, Pa.*, 1 p.m.
18 (Sat.), at Monmouth*, 1 p.m.
25 (Sat.), Stony Brook* (HC), 1 p.m.

November
1 (Sat.), at Wagner*, 1 p.m.
8 (Sat.), Robert Morris*, 1 p.m.
15 (Sat.), at Towson, 12:30 p.m.
*Northeast Conference Opponent All Times Eastern
(HC) - Homecoming/Family Weekend (HOF) - Hall of Fame Day

Lacrosse Team 2003/Photo by Bob Ewell

Men’s Lacrosse Wins America East Championship and Makes NCAA Appearance
Sophomore attack Jason Donegar had five goals, including four in the decisive third quarter, in leading Princeton to a 16-10 victory over UAlbany in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament May 10 before 2,436 fans at Class of ’52 Stadium in Princeton, N.J.

Princeton (11-3) broke a 5-5 halftime tie with five consecutive goals in the third period. Senior midfielder Will MacColl, who had a season-high four goals and added one assist, put his team on top for good when he drove around UAlbany’s Matthew Fiasconaro and scored from the right side with 10:36 left in the quarter.

The Tigers, who have won six national titles and reached the championship final twice since 1992, then scored three more times in the next two minutes. Josh White, who had two goals and two assists, connected from eight yards out on an extra-man opportunity. Donegar then found an open net 16 seconds later after the Great Danes turned the ball over deep in their territory.

Donegar, who has 40 goals for the season, later scored from the top of the crease, before MacColl finished off a drive from the left side for a 10-5 lead with 4:14 remaining in the period. Donegar added two more goals in the final three minutes of the stanza to provide his club with a comfortable 12-6 cushion heading into the final quarter.

“We put a scare in them, but they showed why they have been the final the last three years in that third quarter,” said UAlbany coach Scott Marr, whose program was making its first-ever NCAA appearance after defeating Hartford to capture the America East Conference championship the previous week. “The turning point was that stretch of four goals in two minutes; we played way too much defense and it certainly helped that they won so many faceoffs.”

UAlbany (10-6) gave the fourth-seed Tigers all they could handle in the first half. Princeton took a 4-3 lead on back-to-back goals by Sean Hartofilis and Donegar. But the Great Danes came back when Chris Martocchia, who had three goals and two assists, and Matthew Green scored consecutively to regain the lead. White drew the Tigers even with four seconds to play in the half, as he drove from the right and placed a high shot over UAlbany goalkeeper Kevin Rae.

“I was proud of the way we played,” said America East player of the year Luke Daquino, a sophomore who had two goals and three assists. “Princeton took it to us in the third quarter, but our seniors played their hearts out and went out strong in that final period.”

UAlbany’s Chris Driscoll added a pair of goals, including a spin move that gave the Great Danes a 2-1 lead early in the second stanza. Rae finished with 11 saves, the eleventh time he has reached double figures this season. All-American midfielder Brad Dumont had two goals and one assist for the Tigers, who moved on to face Syracuse in the NCAA quarterfinals.

UAlbany Wins America East Conference Men’s Track & Field Title
Sophomore Jesse Bennett won the 100-meter dash and was a member of the winning 4x100 relay in leading UAlbany to its first-ever America East Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship May 4 at the University of Maine. The Great Danes, who won the conference’s indoor title in February, scored a league-record 230 points.

Bennett, the championship’s Most Outstanding Track Performer, was clocked in 10.97 seconds to win the 100-dash, and was third in the 200-dash in 22.15. Bennett also teamed with Shamere Boland, Rickardo Smith, and Alix Rodriques to post a winning time of 41.70 in the 4x100 relay.

Kristof Molnar repeated as the America East 800-meter champion, and reached the finish line in 1:51.28. Naron Stewart cleared the high jump bar at 6-feet, 8-inches to double up on his conference indoor title in the same event. Roche and Joel Vazquez were winners in the 110-hurdles and 400-hurdles, respectively. Roche, who was second in the long jump on the first day of competition, took the hurdles final in 14.61. Vazquez sprinted 53.35 seconds to beat Maine’s Joel Evans.

UAlbany’s Aggrey Morris won his team’s sixth individual title meet by running 47.82 in the 400-meter dash. Kamar Elliott and Fred Frese, a pair of cornerbacks on the school’s football team, recorded second-place finishes in the triple jump and decathlon, respectively.