UAlbany Men's Lacrosse Travels to Canisius for Non-Conference Matchup With the Golden Griffs

THE FACE OFF 1. The Game UAlbany visits Canisius for the fourth game of the 2013 season. The Great Danes are 2-2 after a commanding 15-9 win over #9/13 UMass on Tuesday. Canisius is 0-3 after falling to third-ranked Cornell that same day. 2. Scouting UAlbany The Great Danes, who were chosen first in the America East preseason poll, were receiving votes in both the USILA Coaches’ Poll and the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, released this past Monday, after falling to Drexel, 20-19, last Saturday.           The Great Danes debuted their revamped lineup for 2013 in a 16-15 double overtime win at Syracuse, with the entire Thompson Trio on attack. Sophomore Lyle, who moved up to the front line to join his brother, Miles, and cousin, Ty, was named the first America East Conference Player of the Week for 2013 after scoring two goals and handing out six assists against the Orange. Lyle made up for the absence of Miles - who has missed the last two games with an injury - by scoring five goals and handing out three assists in the win over UMass. Lyle is currently leading the nation in points per game with 7.67 - a full point over second-ranked Rob Pannell from Cornell.         Freshman John Maloney saw his first playing time of the season against the Minutemen, and made good use of it, recording his first collegiate goal, and adding two more for good measure to complete a hat trick. The Great Danes also got single goals from seven other players. UAlbany held a 39-35 advantage in shots, and led, 38-29, in groundballs. Face off specialist Kevin Glueckert helped the Great Danes dominate by winning 15-of-28 in the circle. 3. Scouting Canisius The Golden Griffins enter Saturday’s game with an 0-3 record. Canisius dropped the first two games of the season in Colorado to Air Force and #11 Denver. Freshman Vince Gravino wasted no time making a splash at Canisius, earning MAAC Rookie of the Week accolades after his first weekend of play, posting four points in a pair of games against Air Force and Denver, netting three goals to go along with one assist. Sophomore Tim Edwards, who was named to the Tewaarton Watch List, is also the team’s top returning scorer from last season, recording 32 points, 13 goals and 19 assists during the 2012 campaign. Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Govenettio recorded 10 saves in each of the two games to the start the 2013 season. 4: Tewaarton Watch List The Three Musketeers of the Thompson Trio have all been named to the 2013 Tewaarton Watch List, as announced by the organization on Friday morning. While among a group of teams such as Maryland, North Carolina & Duke with three players on the first watch list, UAlbany’s Thompsons are the only related group of players to make an appearance.