Two Thompsons Tally Ten to Lead #12 UAlbany to a 21-11 Win Over Vermont

BURLINGTON, VT. -- Lyle and Ty Thompson combined for ten goals - scoring five each - to lead #12 UAlbany to a 21-11 win over Vermont in America East Conference men's lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon at Virtue Field. The Great Danes, winners of five straight contests, improve to 9-3 on the season and move to 3-0, remaining the lone defeated team in league play. Vermont drops to 3-9 overall, and 0-3 in conference play.

"Playing on the road is never easy, especially in conference," said Coach Marr on winning six straight on the road. "I thought we lacked energy to start but we slowly gained momentum and played to our standard in the second half. Kevin McNally really sparked our second half by winning a majority of face-offs. Another solid win."

The teams played an evenly matched first half. UAlbany got on the board first, scoring back-to-back goals to open up play, with Lyle netting an unassisted shot less than a minute into the game. Ty followed with his first of the day, a man-up score with an assist to Ryan Feuerstein at 9:34. Vermont responded with the next two tallies, but freshman John Maloney took an assist from Ty Thompson at 3:43 to give the Great Danes a 3-2 lead after one quarter.

The Catamounts got two goals from Graham Horvath to start the second period, taking a 4-3 lead with just under 11 minutes to play in the first half, but the Great Danes responded with consecutive goals from Lyle Thompson and Tim Cox to regain a one-goal advantage. Vermont would have the last word in the quarter, however, getting a score from Blake Pendleton to send the teams to the halftime break tied at 5-5.

After Vermont scored a man-up goal to start the third period, the Great Danes took over, scoring three straight to build up an 8-6 lead. UAlbany used a goal by Matt Garziano with an assist to Will Fuller, along with two straight from Lyle Thompson to take the two-goal advantage. Vermont's Drew Philie ended the rally at 9:59, but Ty Thompson struck again less than a minute later to start another four-goal stretch for the Great Danes. Lyle Thompson, who moved into fifth on the single-season points chart, and Dwayne Stewart each scored, before Garziano netted his second of the quarter while the Great Danes were a man-down, giving UAlbany a 12-7 lead after three.

The Catamounts struck again within the first minute of play in the fourth, but the Great Danes - the highest-scoring team in the country - rattled off eight straight goals to take a 20-8 advantage. The rally started with two goals by Ty Thompson, before Stewart netted his second of the day. Thompson, who extended his goal-scoring streak to 24 straight games, added a man-up goal at 10:40, before Doug Eich scored a man-down tally at 9:13. Another extra-man opportunity gave Maloney his second of the day, while Jimmy Haugen and Mic DeBellis added scores to end the run. Philie was once again the streak-breaker, with an unassisted shot at 6:15, but Will Stenberg took a helper from DeBellis for UAlbany's final goal of the game. The Catamounts added two more scores against UAlbany backup goalkeeper Ryan Ricciardelli, but the Great Danes held on for the 10-goal victory.

UAlbany outshot Vermont, 42-39, and held a 39-33 advantage in ground balls. The Great Danes won 21-of-34 faceoffs, led by freshman Kevin McNally, two had 16 victories in the circle. Starting goalkeeper Blaze Riorden played just over 57 minutes in the net, making 11 saves, before being relieved by Ricciardelli. Vermont's Justin Rosenberg made five saves between the pipes for the Catamounts.

The Great Danes, who have scored 20 or more goals in each of their first three conference games, will return to action on Friday, April 19, hosting UMBC in the final home game of the 2013 season at 7 p.m.