ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — With Saturday’s America East tournament championship victory, the University at Albany men’s lacrosse team punched its ticket back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018. The Great Danes saw their name drawn in the 17-team field during Sunday night’s selection show on ESPN2.
UAlbany will begin its tournament journey Wednesday and host a play-in game against MAAC champion Sacred Heart. The winner advances to face the top overall seed in the tournament and reigning national champ Notre Dame.
But head coach Scott Marr has his sights set on the Pioneers, and the Pioneers only right now.
“They’re a good team; really good team,” said Marr. “They’re 13-4. They move the ball really well. They got a big finisher (Morgan O’Reilly) inside. He’s probably 6′ 4″; kinda like Silas [Richmond] – maybe a little thicker. And their goaltender (Alex Pazienza) obviously had an outstanding weekend for their tournament. We got our work cut out for us. There’s not many teams in the country that don’t have some weapons on ’em…they certainly have some.”
There was a chance the seniors and graduate student-athletes on the team had played in their final home game Saturday. But this draw offers them one last hurrah at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium.
“The home game is definitely what we wanted,” said graduate long-stick midfielder Jake Piseno. “I think that being in the play-in game was something we were expecting. We were ready for anything, but I think having that home game is something that we definitely are looking forward to; being with our fans and everyone again.”
Opening faceoff Wednesday is set for 7:00 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+.