 Chris Driscoll /Photo by Bob Ewell |
Men’s Lacrosse Earns Share
of America East Regular-Season Title
Senior midfielder Chris Driscoll had two goals and two assists, as Albany
earned a share of the America East Conference regular-season title with
an 8-6 victory over Vermont April 26 at Centennial Field in Burlington,
Vt.
Albany (8-5, AE 4-1) will be the No. 2 seed in next week’s conference postseason tournament. At press time, the Great Danes, who posted four straight victories to finish the schedule, were scheduled to host Stony Brook April 30 in the semifinal round.
Vermont (5-7, AE 2-3) took a 2-1 lead in the first quarter, when freshman attack Mike Maher converted a pass from Mark Prior. The Great Danes responded with five unanswered goals to take the lead for good.
Michael Solazzo ignited that run with his 28th goal of the season, before Sean Donnellan put his team ahead off a feed from Driscoll. Freshman Chris Martocchia, who had one goal and two assists, scored 27 seconds into the second period for a 4-2 lead. Brendan Russell followed with his second goal of the game, and then Luke Daquino scored on an extra-man opportunity with 3:10 left before halftime.
Vermont trailed 7-3 early in the second half, but then rallied with straight goals. Phil McKnight and R.J. Harrison scored third-quarter goals, before Prior found the net with 13:54 remaining in the contest. Driscoll gave Albany a two-goal edge four minutes later and his team held on the rest of the way.
“We are happy to be back in a situation where we have an opportunity to play for an NCAA tournament berth,” said Albany coach Scott Marr, whose team won last year’s regular-season title before losing the tournament championship final. “Our defensive play was the difference today. Defensemen Rick Malan and Chris Kivlen made big contributions off the bench with some of our starters out due to injuries.”
Albany goalkeeper Kevin Rae made 14 saves, and stopped double-figure shots for the ninth time this season. UVM’s Maher had two goals and one assist, while Michael Gabel, the nation’s leader in save percentage, totaled 12 saves.
Softball Moves into Second
Place in the Conference Standings
Andrea Lindgren fired her sixth shutout of the season in the opener
and totaled four hits and five RBI on the day, as Albany swept an America
East Conference doubleheader from Stony Brook April 27 at Albany Field.
The Great Danes, who have won 12 of their last 14 starts to move into
second place in the conference standings, won the first game, 8-0, and
the second, 8-1.
Lindgren posted her seventh consecutive victory on the mound in the first contest, as she improved her record to 14-3. The junior left-hander allowed two singles, struck out four and walked one in the five-inning affair.
UAlbany (26-6, AE 11-2) snapped a scoreless deadlock with a six-run fourth. Senior catcher Stacy Kowal singled through the right side to drive in the first run, before Jen Nolette (Columbia) delivered an RBI single. Lindgren ended the outburst with a two-run single to right field.
In the nightcap, Stony Brook (19-29, AE 6-8) took a 1-0 lead in its first at-bat on Hayley Durham’s RBI single. The Great Danes scored twice in both the first and second to go ahead. Nolette tripled and scored on Lindgren’s single up the middle. Jess Kostenblatt later lined a single through the left side to give her team the lead. Ashley Rios belted a two-run double into the right-field gap for a 4-1 advantage.
Albany shortstop Maegan Larsen collected four hits, scored a pair of runs and had one RBI in the twinbill. Nolette, a junior left fielder, finished with three hits and five runs. Right-hander Kristin Couris upped her record to 8-1 by scattering four hits and recording five strikeouts.
 Maria Ferrucci /Photo by Bob Ewell |
Maria Ferrucci Ends Career
as School’s All-time Scorer in Lacrosse
Senior attacker Maria Ferrucci had a season-high
six goals and tied the school’s all-time scoring record in leading Albany
to a 19-3 America East Conference victory over Binghamton on April 27
at East Gym Complex in Vestal, N.Y. The Great Danes, who snapped an
eight-game losing streak, finished their season at 3-13 overall and
2-3 in the league.
Ferrucci, who set the career scoring mark with 184 points on 160 goals and 24 assists, converted back-to-back shots midway through the first half for an 8-1 lead. Sophomore midfielder Jenn Rajczak, who had two goals and three assists, set up Ferrucci on both goals and then scored herself 10 seconds later.
The Great Danes, who had not found the win column since March 27 and won on the road for the first time this season, built a 12-1 halftime lead. Senior attack Andrea Esposito, who totaled two goals and one assist in her final game as a collegian, scored with three minutes left in the period.
Freshman Nikki Donohue had three goals, including two
in the opening half, and added one assist. Ferrucci tallied her sixth
goal of the game and 36th of the season to establish the UAlbany scoring
record with 9:12 remaining in the contest. Binghamton’s Kristen Disch
scored twice, as the Bearcats fell to 0-12 overall and 0-5 in the conference.