2023 Women's Top 30: How Albany Fared vs. Projections

Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead to what’s to come in 2024, our team of staff and contributors decided it was worth taking one last look at 2023.

After all, you have to look at the most recent results before making projections for what’s to come. To do that, we’re taking a journey through the top 30 teams in men’s and women’s lacrosse — what went right, what went wrong and what we should all think of that team’s season.

Was it a success? A failure? A mixture of both? You’ll find out our thoughts over the next month or so.

ALBANY WOMEN’S LACROSSE

Nike/USA Lacrosse Preseason/Final Top 20 Ranking: Unranked/20
2023 record: 13-7 (6-0 America East)

WHAT WENT RIGHT

With Stony Brook gone to the CAA, Albany was left a much clearer picture to winning the America East title. The Great Danes did just that, capturing their first conference crown since 2012 and snapping a nine-game losing streak in the championship game. Katie Pascale continued her torrid season in the tournament, but she and Sarah Falk were not done delivering memories to the Danes. They beat Virginia in the first round of the NCAA tournament to deliver the biggest upset of the early stages of the tournament. They then took Denver, an eventual national semifinalist, to the wire in the second round.

Pascale (92 points), Falk (78), Bryar Hogg (57) and Shonly Wallace (56) were consistent offensive producers.

WHAT WENT WRONG

In the grand scheme of things, very little went wrong. Given Albany’s schedule, it always appeared likely that its only path to the NCAA tournament would be through a conference title. And the Danes achieved that. Lopsided losses to Syracuse and Northwestern indicate how far the program is away from top-tier contention, but a win over Virginia was certainly impressive.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT

The second half against Virginia in the NCAA tournament will go down in Albany history. The Cavaliers led 7-3 at halftime, but Albany outscored UVA 13-7 in the second half for a 16-14 win. It was Albany’s second NCAA tournament win in program history.

VERDICT

Albany was an afterthought for much of the spring, and perhaps that’s unfair given the way the Great Danes punctuated their season. It was an expectation-defying year up in Albany.