https://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/UAlbany-lacrosse-alumni-enjoy-mind-blowing-12941068.php
UAlbany lacrosse alumni enjoy "mind-blowing" journey to NCAA semifinals
Former players planning to be in Foxborough to watch Great Danes face Yale
Updated 3:42 pm, Thursday, May 24, 2018
Albany
Lyle Thompson, the greatest of all the Great Danes in men’s lacrosse, is coming along with older brother Miles. So are former University at Albany players from across generations.
They’re going to Foxborough, Mass. to see their alma mater reach a destination that some thought unreachable, championship weekend at Gillette Stadium.
The second-seeded Great Danes are in the NCAA semifinals for the first time and will meet No. 3 Yale on Saturday at noon in Gillette Stadium.
“It’s exciting times, man,’’ Cort Kim of Guilderland said. “Exciting times. It’s more surreal. I still can’t believe we’re playing on championship weekend. It’s bizarre. It really is. It’s hard to believe that we’re there. But at the same time, with what Scotty (head coach Scott Marr) has been building there, it doesn’t surprise me.”
Kim and his twin brother, Blake, starred for the Great Danes during their Division III days from 1989-92. They’re both in the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame. Living in California, they were boarding a flight to Boston on Thursday morning.
They’ll get a chance to meet up with their former teammates in Lot 22 outside Gillette Stadium, where the UAlbany alumni tent will be set up. There were about 230 people registered for the tent as of mid-week and the nearly the entire 1992 and 1993 teams are expected to attend this weekend.
“I think the full-circle stuff, like being able to reconnect with the alumni and guys I played with, there are so many engaged alumni right now and that’s what’s really cool,’’ Cort Kim said. “I think that’s contributed to this surreal feeling. It’s mind-blowing that we’re on this stage.”
Lyle Thompson, the NCAA Division I career scoring leader with 400 points, sat in his living room and watched UAlbany’s 15-13 victory over Denver last Saturday. With that victory, the Great Danes finally got past the quarterfinals, the barrier that had stopped the program four times previously, including with Thompson in 2014 and 2015.
“Anyone who’s been a part of the Albany family is obviously excited and it still sort of feels like it’s us,’’ Thompson said. “Everyone who’s been a part of the program is part of what’s made this team who it is today. Like I’ve said before, everyone said this is the year we think Albany has all the key ingredients to win a national championship and we finally got through the quarterfinals, which was a crazy fun game to watch.”
Thompson hasn’t had much of an opportunity to attend games this season because he plays for the Georgia Swarm of the indoor National Lacrosse League. But their season is over and he’s taking time before he joins the Chesapeake Bayhawks of the outdoor Major League Lacrosse.
He’ll be in attendance with his brother, Miles, with whom he shared the Tewaaraton Award for the sport’s outstanding player in 2014. Lyle Thompson repeated on his own in 2015 after Miles graduated.
Lyle Thompson said he’ll meet up with Marr and the team while he’s out there.
The UAlbany alumni can often be heard as well as seen, especially the ones who have played for Marr since he got Great Danes job in 2001. They’re the ones leading the popular “All-bah-nee” chant that echoed through Hofstra’s stadium all during the Denver match.
“It’s outstanding,’’ Marr said. “It’s such an energy boost, especially when we get scored on and you start hearing the chant right away. They just keep giving us momentum. All the guys who played for me have the same mentality. We’ve been preaching that since I’ve been here.”
UAlbany has bridged the gap between its different eras by holding a fall lacrosse tournament in Lake Placid where alumni participate in varied age groups. The Great Danes also celebrated the program’s 50th anniversary at the Binghamton match on April 20th, which drew many former players.
Cort and Blake Kim returned for that one at Casey Stadium, which stands on what used to be their grass home field.
“We packed 400 people in there for the Capital Cup against Union,’’ Cort Kim recalled with a laugh. “And that energy was great. But the energy when we were back for the Binghamton game, holy cow. … It was unthinkable to imagine we would be playing on the biggest stage.”
Colarusso named top goalie: UAlbany goaltender J.D. Colarusso was named winner of the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's Ensign C. Markland Kelly, Jr. Award as the nation's most outstanding goaltender.
Colarusso, a redshirt senior, was one of six Great Danes to be named as All-America selections by the USILA. He and Connor Fields were named to the first team, TD Ierlan and Kyle McClancy were named to the second team, Troy Reh was placed on the third team and Tehoka Nanticoke was an honorable mention.
