Men’s Lacrosse team earns playoff berth

   The University at Albany men's lacrosse team won its way into the America East postseason on Saturday with a 11-6 win over Binghamton at John Fallon Field in the team's final game of the regular season.

   Jack Reynolds had two goals and Dave Brock added three more as the Danes rebounded from a 15-0 drubbing at the hands of Stony Brook on April 24. The Danes (4-10, 3-2 AE) played excellent throughout Saturday's affair, with goalkeeper John Carroll coming up huge in nets in registering 13 saves on the night.

   With the win Albany will go into the tournament as the No. 3 seed and play UMBC on the road Wednesday.

   The game started out much like the game against Stony Brook, with the Bearcats (4-10, 1-4 AE) taking a 2-0 lead with 6:05 left in the first quarter. But the Great Danes fought back with the resiliency they would show throughout the night.

   Reynolds got his team on the board with a gorgeous spin move off a Bearcat defender and ripped home an across-the-body shot past goaltender Jordan Marra with 4:51 left to play in the quarter. The Danes tied the game up just 53 seconds later when Nate Sullivan picked up a loose ball in front of the crease and wheeled around, firing the ball into the net.

   "I've got to give all the credit in the world to our seniors," said coach Scott Marr, who will look to lead his team to its first conference title since 2007. "Coming off of a shutout, how they handled themselves during the week and how they got the team motivated, the maturity that they showed to lead us to this victory today. They really played a tough, tough game."

   After Sullivan tied the game, the Danes continued their offensive surge by scoring the next five goals, playing dominantly in the process.

   The highlight of the scoring streak was a fast break goal by Brock, who took a pass from Kyle Crotty after Mike Finnegan had made a defensive stop in Albany's end. Brock fired a shot past Marra to give the Danes a 6-2 lead. Kyle Brunk would add another goal off a fast break to send Albany into halftime with a 7-2 lead.

   Coming out of the half, the Bearcats finally showed up to the game. Tyler Perrelle scored with 7:45 remaining in the third to cut the lead to 7-3 on an unassisted goal sent top corner past Carroll. The Bearcats then started to pressure the Danes defense. After scoring one more goal to make it 7-4, Binghamton opened the fourth quarter with a bang, scoring two goals in 40 seconds to cut the lead to 7-6 and force Marr to call a timeout.

   The Danes came out of the timeout looking to hold the fort and increase their lead. They did both, scoring just 50 seconds later on a goal by Luke Cometti to regain the two goal lead. Dwayne Stewart would score again for the Danes with 5:27 left to play after scooping up a loose ball in front of the crease and the Danes would never look back, holding on for the victory.

   "It's awesome. The shutout was pretty bad. It was the low point of our season. So coming out and doing this and getting the (win) feels great and gives us momentum going into the tournament," said defender Mark Kelly, who was spectacular all night, registering six ground balls on the night.

   "We just played a lot better (than against Stony Brook) all over the field," said senior Mark Cometti, who was one of nine seniors who took part in their final home game at Albany. "Every aspect of the game just went better for us tonight and it all adds up to a better game and a victory."

   Carroll played well throughout the game, despite a pressing Binghamton offense that threw up 37 shots on the night.

   "Unbelievable," said Marr of Carroll's play. "He was great. [It was] As good a performance as he's had all year.

   The Danes will take on the Retrievers on the road for the second time this season after losing to them on April 17, 12-7. Their hope is that the victory against Binghamton can give them some momentum going into the tournament.

   "We know what Wednesday's all about," Marr said. "Our seniors have been there. Our seniors played in the quarterfinal game when they were freshmen so it certainly is going to give us a lot of momentum."