UAlbany men's lacrosse falls to No. 1 Notre Dame

The University at Albany men's lacrosse team gave a valiant effort against top-seeded Notre Dame in the First Round of the NCAA Championship, taking a 5-4 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Irish used a strong second half to rally for a 14-9 victory, ending the season for the Great Danes.

SOUTH BEND, IND (NEWS10) -- The University at Albany men's lacrosse team gave a valiant effort against top-seeded Notre Dame in the First Round of the NCAA Championship, taking a 5-4 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Irish used a strong second half to rally for a 14-9 victory, ending the season for the Great Danes.

Key Stat Lines

• Freshman Ryan Doherty led the Great Danes with three goals, adding five ground balls.
• Silas Richmond led the team in points with four, tallying one goal and three assists.
• Graydon Hogg recorded a goal and an assist along with attackman Amos Whitcomb.
• Jake Piseno finished with two ground balls and a caused turnover.
• Freshman goalkeeper Landon Whitney recorded 10 saves.

 
Head Coach Scott Marr: "I'm just so proud of my team, so proud of our entire season. From the day we started in August to this very last second, they never stopped playing hard. For us to get to this level and play the defending National Champions and take them to the brink, they really had to work hard to beat us. So proud of my fifth-year seniors and my seniors for the leadership that they gave us. Truly proud of my staff and everybody who is involved with our program. To get to this point, I feel great about our future and where we are going. This was a great experience for our team. Notre Dame has been first-class the whole way, congratulations to Coach Corrigan and his team. It was a hell of a run for us. It's been one of the best seasons I've had, coaching these young men. Sad to see it end, but so grateful for what they've done for our program."

How it Happened:

• Notre Dame got on the board first with a goal from Devon McLane two minutes into the game.
• The Great Danes tied it up shortly after on a goal from Ben Wimmer, coming from behind the net around the crease for the equalizer.
• The Irish's Jake Taylor scored his 36^th of the season with 4:38 on the clock in the first to make it 2-1.
• It took until the 9:42 mark in the second for the next goal to be scored, a shot from Notre Dame's Reilly Gray to make it 3-1. The Irish scored again a minute later to make it 4-1 courtesy of McLane.
• Parker Emmett made it a 4-2 game with 7:41 remaining in the first half, drawing a Notre Dame targeting penalty in the process to put the Great Danes a man up for three minutes.
• Amos Whitcomb dunked it on bullet a pass from Silas Richmond two minutes later to make it 4-3. The Great Danes wasted no time tying it up shortly after with Daniel Kesselring ripping a shot from the far side to make it 4-4.
• Richmond made a highlight-level play with time winding down in the first half, hitting Ryan Doherty with a behind-the-back pass in the lane to put UAlbany ahead, 5-4.
• The Irish thought they tied it as time expired in the first half, but an official challenge from UAlbany Head Coach Scott Marr reversed the call with the shot not getting off in time. The Great Danes took the 5-4 lead into the half as a result.
• The Irish started the second half with two quick goals to take a 6-5 advantage. The first was scored by Chris Kavanagh, the second was scored by Max Busenkell with an assist from Kavanagh.
• Notre Dame made it three in a row on McLane's third of the game to stretch the lead to 7-5. It became four-straight just after the seven-minute mark on a wide-open goal from Pat Kavanagh.
• Graydon Hogg found the back of the net with 6:07 on the clock to stop the bleeding, but Notre Dame's Jake Taylor pushed the lead back to three goals, 6-9, two minutes later.
• Jordan Faison made it 10-6 for the Irish to start the fourth, McLane scored once more for the game's next goal to push the lead to 11-6.
• Jackson Palumb found the back of the net on a rocket of a shot with 11:07 remaining, making it 11-7.
• The Irish then scored back-to-back goals courtesy of Taylor and Kavanagh to make it 13-7.
• Richmond scored his 46^th of the year with 7:18 remaining to make it 13-8.
• Pat Kavanagh scored his fourth of the game a minute later to push the score to 14-8.
• UAlbany's Doherty completed the hat trick with 3:44 remaining to bring the score to 14-9.

 
Next: With the loss, the 2024 season comes to an end for the Great Danes in a campaign in which the team captured its first regular season title and America East Championship since 2018.