LACROSSE: Colgate staves off UAlbany with late fourth quarter goal

ALBANY, N.Y. — In their season opener at Casey Stadium Saturday afternoon, the University at Albany Great Danes clawed back all game but in the end the Colgate Raiders defense held firm as they pulled out a late 11-10 victory. The Raiders improved to 3-1, while the Great Danes dropped to 0-1. That game disparity perhaps proved the difference maker in what was otherwise an even contest.

Early in the first frame, sophomore midfielder Patty Eldredge went the length of the field to fire one past freshman keeper Landon Whitney to stake the Raiders to a 1-0 edge. Shortly thereafter, Hunter Drouin doubled the Raiders advantage, followed a minute later by Ryan Favaro, who made it 3-0.

Yet, the Great Danes would find their sea legs as Ryan Doherty netted his first collegiate goal, ripping one past Colgate keeper Matt LaCombe with 5:50 remaining. Less than a minute later UAlbany crept closer as Chris Crapanzano cashed in with a sneaky top-shelf snipe from the short side. Silas Richmond, who led all scorers on the afternoon with four markers, dunked one home 40 seconds later for the equalizer and it was 3-3 after one quarter.

Great Danes head coach Scott Marr spoke about his squad’s resiliency.

“It was just about getting that first goal. Once we had that first goal we kind of settled in to play and rattled off a couple more to tie it up,” Marr said.

“So once we started getting some confidence in the game and again when you’re playing with some young guys too, being their first game, they do have to settle into it, after seven minutes into the game we really did settle in and played really well,” Marr explained.

With a younger lineup, Marr credited his veterans with helping the team regain its composure, including captain and graduate student long stick midfielder Jake Piseno.

“We have six fifth-year guys on the team and they’ve been through a lot of battles over the years, they kept us going and they were able to keep our poise and Jake was doing a lot of talking in the defensive huddle every time we came off the field,” Marr noted.

During the second stanza, the Raiders were able to regroup and create some space on the scoreboard.

Jack Turner and Rory Connor tallied within two minutes of each other to put Colgate up two.

A man up, UAlbany would respond, as a Richmond laser pulled the Great Danes within one.

Yet, the Raiders went back on another mini-run with markers from Ben Trumble and Drouin to make it 7-4 Colgate.

With four ticks remaining in the second stanza, Richmond, off a feed from Piseno, would again find the twine for the hat trick, making it a 7-5 deficit at halftime for UAlbany.

Opening the scoring in the third quarter for the Great Danes was Alex Pfeiffer with a goal off a feed from Crapanzano.

The Raiders responded on a tally from Michael Minicus.

Yet, the Great Danes answered less than 30 seconds later as Richmond posted his fourth goal of the contest.

Both clubs traded four more goals before the end of the third quarter. Turner and Trumble each tallied their second goal of the contest for Colgate, around a score by Amos Whitcomb, off a fantastic feed from Graydon Hogg for the Great Danes. Jackson Palumb would polish off the third quarter scoring with a goal for UAlbany, cutting the deficit to 10-9 heading into the fourth frame.

As both teams clamped down defensively, the Great Danes were able to square the contest at 10, on Doherty’s second score of the game, assisted by Will Hardy with 7:53 remaining.

The Raiders were not shaken however and despite some late pressure by the Great Danes, were able to cash in off a takeaway, as Rory Connor buried a feed from Griffin Walker for the deciding goal with 1:25 remaining in the fourth quarter.

After the game, Connor noted the shift in he and his teammates in being able to close out close games in the early going this season.

“Super proud just finishing up on the late game. We’ve had a bunch of close games here in my career, it’s like we haven’t been able to finish too much. It was definitely a big emphasis in that last huddle, just finish the game out,” Connor said.

“It was a great play by our defense, they got the ball back in our hands and Griffin Walker put the ball right out in the air and I just did the easy part, they all did the hard part and I just had to finish it off,” Connor continued on the sequence to set up the eventual game-winner.

“We’ve got the same head coach but [a] new offensive coordinator, [a] new defensive coordinator, completely turned this team around, all credit goes to them, they’ve really changed up everything we’re doing and it’s starting to work now. Obviously, the wins in the beginning of the year are huge but it’s just as important to be ready once Patriot League play comes on later in the year,” Connor added on the formula for the team’s early success.

Raiders head coach Matt Karweck heaped praise on the Great Danes for a hard-fought match and was proud of the way his team remained composed late in the game.

“I’ve known Scott Marr for a long time and his teams are a bunch of fighters, they’re great players, they’re great kids and I love what he’s done, I’ve got so much respect for coach Marr and how he’s built his program over the years and the way he is,” Karweck remarked.

“Our ability to respond when they tied it up was important. It showed a great sense of poise for our group and I think a lot of times you can panic in those moments and our huddle was very calm, it was present, we were exactly where our feet are, which is really important as we continue our journey here in 2024,” Karweck explained.

As they head into their next contest on Wednesday against Yale in Albany, Karweck noted the importance of capitalizing on every possession and keeping the momentum building off a 3-1 start.

“When it comes to the momentum, our guys, we play, every play matters and we talk about it all the time at practice and you see it all the way up to the end right there. It’s gonna take every play to win ballgames. That’s how games are won at the Division I level. Our guys have learned that, they’ve taken that to heart and they really did a great job today,” Karweck added.

Meanwhile, the Great Danes will attempt to rebound and record their first win of the season with a 2 p.m. tilt Tuesday at Penn.