No. 20 Men’s Lacrosse Rolls Over Hartford, 24-11

ALBANY, N.Y. – 20th-ranked University at Albany men’s lacrosse used 10 different goal scorers in the rout over Hartford, 24-11, on Sunday, April 7 at John Fallon Field. The Great Danes have won four straight and improve to 2-0 in America East Conference play, while the Hawks fall to 1-1. Eight different Great Dane players had at least two goals. Lyle Thompson paced the offensive strike with a game-high seven points on four goals and three assists. Ty and Miles Thompson combined for seven points on four goals and three assists (Miles- 2g; Ty-2g,3a). UAlbany (8-3, 2-0 America East) picked up right where it left off, scoring the game’s first goal two and half minutes in. Ty Thompson connected with his cousin Miles for an early 1-0 lead with 12:31 remaining. Hartford (4-5, 1-1 America East) tallied the next three of four goals for its first lead of the game, 3-2, with 3:50 left in the first stanza. Following Jack Bobzien’s goal, face-off specialist Adam Yee won the face-off and scored four seconds later. The Hawks wasted little time in the second quarter, scoring 31 seconds in from the stick of Rory Nunamacher for their second and final lead of the game, 4-3. The Great Danes responded with seven straight goals in a five minute and forty-five second stretch to and hold a six-goal lead, 10-4, with 9:18 left in the half. Tim Cox sparked the run, scoring his fourth and fifth goals of the season in a matter of 20 seconds. Hartford retaliated back with the final four of the five goals to cut the deficit to three, 11-8, at the half. The Hawks’ Jared Franze scored two of the four team goals. Both goals were facilitated by teammate Garret Dollard. The third stanza was taken over by Lyle and Ty Thompson. Lyle, who was held pointless against Johns Hopkins, rattled of the first three of the four Great Dane goals of the third quarter. He also was able to find his cousin Ty for two goals. Leading 16-9 through three quarters, the UAlbany defense tightened up for the final 15 minutes. The Great Danes allowed just two goals on seven shots. Seven different UAlbany players found the back of the net in the final stanza. The Great Danes fell one goal short of tying the program’s record for most goals in a game (25), which was set against Hartford on March 26, 2005. UAlbany goalie Blaze Riorden tallied seven saves to record his eighth win of the season. Hartford goalie Frank Piechota recorded 15 saves on 37 chances in the loss. With the win, UAlbany becomes the only undefeated team left in conference play (2-0) and will look to extend its winning streak to five against Vermont on April 13 at Virtue Field. Game is slated for 1 p.m.