A week after defeating defending NCAA champion Maryland to become the nation’s unanimous No. 1-ranked team, Albany put to rest quickly any notion of a letdown, defeating previously undefeated Vermont 21-5 in both teams’ America East opener Saturday before 2,583 fans at cold and windy Casey Stadium.

With Georgetown losing earlier in the day to Drexel, the Great Danes now stand as the lone unbeaten in Division I men’s lacrosse.

“We talked in the locker room about coming off a big win against Maryland, going one of two ways, being complacent or being ready to play against a good Vermont team,” Albany coach Scott Marr said. “I was proud of my team for getting themselves prepared this week and playing from start to finish.  Very pleased with our effort from top to bottom.”

Tewaaraton finalist Connor Fields put up 10 points with four goals and six assists and Jakob Patterson scored a career-high seven goals in the blowout win, as the Great Danes improved to 6-0. Faceoff specialist TD Ierlan went 19-for-21 to improve to 111-for-135 (82.2 percent) on the season.

Ierlan won the first six faceoffs as Albany jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter, blanking the Catamounts (7-1).  The Great Danes continued to pour it on from there, leading 11-1 at halftime and 19-3 late in the third quarter before turning to their reserves.

Early Roundup: Drexel Hands Georgetown First Loss
Late Roundup: Albany Last of Unbeatens, Irish Outlast Cavs
Kelly Scores 100th Goal as Maryland Returns to Winning Ways

“We didn’t give them any life, give them a chance to get excited on the sideline,” Marr said. “We got out to a five-nothing lead and it quieted down pretty good on their sideline. They had no momentum.”

“They’re No. 1 in the country for a reason. I think they’re truly the best team,” Vermont coach Chris Feifs said. “I’m really happy with the progress we’ve made so far, and we definitely have a ways to go, but the combination of how you handle success – you’re playing the number one team on their home field. It really didn’t feel like we handled that moment well to start the game.”

Pushing the pace against Vermont from the outset, Albany worked the ball inside for two quick goals from brothers Justin and Troy Reh in the opening minutes of the game. Then Fields, Patterson, Kyle McClancy and Tehoka Nanticoke went to work as the offense moved the ball unselfishly and with dizzying speed to find the open man for strikes that exposed a Vermont defense unready for the unpredictability of the Albany attack.

Nanticoke fed Fields for a lefty rip shot for the third goal of the game, and for the fourth, Fields brought the ball around the cage and found Justin Reh for an inside finish. Then Patterson started firing and didn’t stop until he netted seven goals on the day, leading all scorers and continuing to establish himself as one of Albany’s most potent weapons. Demonstrating his range as a scorer, Patterson had catch-and-shoot goals from distance, a driving high-to-low shot into traffic, another drive for a point-blank finish between the goalie’s legs and a rebound and finish off an inside miss before anyone could even react. 

Nanticoke finished with three goals and two assists. His most impressive goal was on an isolation dodge, where he took the ball from the left side and drove, spinning one way and then the other through contact, before bouncing around his defender, charging the goal and finishing close in with a high-to-low shot. It’s a play that demonstrates why he draws so much attention from defenses. But it was his second assist, where he found Fields inside with a stinging pass for a close-range goal, that seems most promising for this Albany team as its stars looked to gel and create opportunities for each other. 

Fields continued to be the catalyst through for Albany, constantly creating for a group still evolving from an array of talented players to a team finding the chemistry necessary to maintain its No. 1 ranking and make a run deep into the postseason. The pieces of the puzzle are all there – a dominant faceoff man in Ierlan, a goalie in JD Colarusso in full command of a veteran defense that knows how to shut down an offense and close out a win, and a coach in Marr who continues to coax winning play through a combination of confidence and humility.

It is confidence in a humble approach that Marr will rely on to carry his team through this season. Asked about his preparation for upcoming matchups in the schedule, he said, “We’re focused on one game at a time. We’re getting ready for Canisius on Tuesday. They’re off to a good start so far. They’ve got a couple good wins under their belt. Look at UMBC basketball last night against Virginia. Any given day. If you’re not prepared, you’re gonna go down. So we’re going to be prepared for that next game.” 

— Garan Santicola

Sexton Seals Notre Dame Win

Virginia appeared poised to end its well-documented streak of ACC futility, but fourth-quarter penalty and turnover woes led to the eighth-ranked Cavaliers’ undoing in a 9-7 loss to fourth-ranked Notre Dame in South Bend.

John Sexton, the All-American long-stick midfielder for the Irish (4-1), caused two turnovers in the final minute to preserve the St. Patrick’s Day victory.

MINE! All-American long pole John Sexton with two strips in the final minute, as @NDlacrosse holds on for 9-7 win over @UVAMensLax in South Bend. pic.twitter.com/XaMGxNRbzA

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) March 18, 2018

Virginia (6-2) has lost 18 straight ACC regular-season games. Dox Aitken scored two goals and assisted Mike D’Amario’s man-up tally in the third quarter to put the Cavaliers ahead 7-6 going into the fourth—after Michael Kraus had single-handedly brought Virginia back from a 4-0 deficit with four unanswered goals.

But Notre Dame’s Mikey Wynne scored twice in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead goal on a beautiful cross-crease feed from Ryder Garnsey off a pick-and-roll with 12:20 remaining.

Even after Brendan Gleason sprinted through two defenders and scored an empty-net insurance goal with 53 seconds left, the Cavaliers had two more chances to score — both erased by Sexton.

Denver Scores Nine Straight to Beat Ohio State

No. 5 Denver used a 9-0 run spanning from 1:16 left in the second quarter to 5:43 in the fourth to pull away from No. 20 Ohio State 12-7 on Saturday at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium — site of the Pioneers’ 24th consecutive home sellout with a crowd of 2,607. Five different players scored two goals apiece for Denver (5-2), faceoff ace Trevor Baptiste (14-for-23) among them. The Pioneers defense caused 11 of the Buckeyes’ 15 turnovers, the most caused turnovers for a Denver team since 2014 against Georgetown. Ohio State (5-3) has lost three of its last four games.

Michigan Perfect at Home

Michigan jumped out to a 6-1 lead and maintained that advantage in a 12-7 win over Marquette. Freshman Kevin Mack scored five goals and added an assist for the Wolverines (5-2), who remained undefeated at home. Mack has 18 points in the last four games.

Hopkins Finishes Strong

Kyle Marr ignited a seven-goal game-ending run for Johns Hopkins by scoring three straight himself in a span of just over four minutes to power the No. 12 Blue Jays past Delaware 14-8 at Homewood Field.

MARR-VELOUS

Kyle Marr with 3G, 2A as @jhumenslacrosse leads @DelawareMLAX 12-8 in 4Q on #ESPN3 pic.twitter.com/agPF8EzUTe

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) March 17, 2018

Johns Hopkins has won four straight games, outscoring opponents by a combined margin of 61-30. But this was hardly a blowout, as the Blue Hens, playing without 2017 leading scorer Andrew Romagnoli and three other players who were dismissed from the team due to a team rules violation, led the Blue Jays 8-7 late in the third quarter. But Hunter Moreland (20-for-25) tipped the possession balance in Johns Hopkins’ favor, Shack Stanwick doled out a career-high five assists and Marr demonstrated his deft finishing touch with three goals and two assists as the Blue Jays pulled away.

Penn Doubles Up Princeton

Tyler Dunn scored five goals for the second straight game and Reed Junkin made 20 saves, as Penn upset No. 17 Princeton 14-7 on the road Saturday in both teams’ Ivy League opener. The Quakers (4-3) have won two straight at Class of 1952 Stadium after losing 13 in a row there from 1990-2014. They pulled away by scoring the first give goals of the fourth quarter. Defenseman Mark Evanchick limited the Tigers’ star attackman Michael Sowers to just three assists, two of which came in man-up situations.

Nike/US Lacrosse
Top 20 Scoreboard

No. 1 Albany 21, No. 19 Vermont 5
No. 2 Duke 10, Towson 8
No. 3 Maryland 13, No. 6 Villanova 11
No. 4 Notre Dame 9,  No. 8 Virginia 7
No. 5 Denver 12, No. 20 Ohio State 7
No. 7 Yale 13, Cornell 11
No. 9 Loyola 15, Navy 9
Drexel 15, No. 10 Georgetown 10
No. 12 Johns Hopkins 14, Delaware 8
No. 14 Lehigh 19, Lafayette 11
No. 15 Army 5, Holy Cross 3
No. 16 Hofstra 12, Providence 8
Penn 14, No. 17 Princeton 7

OTHER SCORES

Air Force 11, VMI 6
Bryant 20, Mount St. Mary's 11
Bucknell 16, Boston University 9
Colgate 18, Canisius 5
Furman 10, Richmond 9
Harvard 10, Brown 8
High Point 15, Bellarmine 7
Hobart 11, Wagner 5
Jacksonville 16, Mercer 8
Michigan 12, Marquette 7
Monmouth 12, Manhattan 8
Penn State 17, Fairfield 13
Quinnipiac 12, Siena 11
Robert Morris 12, Sacred Heart 8
St. John's 12, Dartmouth 5
UMass 17, Hartford 13
UMass-Lowell 14, Binghamton 10