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hree days after this season of enormous expectations had taken its first wrong turn — after Albany had brought its bruised but unbeaten top-ranked team to UMBC on April 6 and limped out of Baltimore tasting a stunning 11-7 loss to the 3-7 Retrievers — the Great Danes wondered how the next week would begin. What type of penance would Scott Marr, Albany’s 18th-year head coach, administer as they entered a much-needed bye week?

The break would provide a much-needed respite for injured starting senior attackmen Connor Fields and Justin Reh, neither of who played in the UMBC game. But the rest of Albany’s players anticipated a tone-setting message from the top guy.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect [that Monday]. Since I’ve been here, this is the first game we’ve lost that we were favored to win,” said sophomore faceoff specialist TD Ierlan, still smarting from Albany’s first regular-season defeat against a conference foe since 2012.

“Coach Marr always keeps the energy loose and light,” Ierlan added. “He gets on us sometimes, but I’ve never had a coach who is so positive. I thought there might be some yelling and screaming when he walked into the film room.”

Fields, the Tewaaraton finalist and Great Danes’ all-time leading goal scorer who missed two games with a sprained knee ligament, shared Ierlan’s curiosity.

“[Marr] could have come into film [study] on Monday and just buried us. Some coaches I played for growing up would have ripped into us in that situation,” Fields said.

Instead, Marr identified what they learned from the loss and reassured them it was not the end of the season — not even close.“He was calm and cool, as always, even joking with us,” Fields said. “We went out and had two awesome days of practice.”

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hat is how Marr, the only head coach in Albany’s Division I history, has operated since the Yorktown, N.Y., native and former attackman at Johns Hopkins entered the coaching profession a quarter-century ago as a Delaware assistant. He has been the same calm, cool, loose guy since he left Maryland after a six-year apprenticeship under former Terrapins coach Dick “Big Man” Edell to take the reins in New York’s state capital in 2000, with a strong appetite for building a consistent winner from scratch.

“We never talk about being No. 1. We don’t talk about the outside noise and the high expectations,” Marr said. “But I want us day-dreaming about winning a [national] championship, like we all did in high school.”

“We want our guys to grow and enjoy playing and playing well,” he added. “I want every practice day and game day to be fun. I want us living in the moment, enjoying it and playing for the opportunity to reveal our character.”

Marr doesn’t do histrionics. He doesn’t see the point in lighting up his players, even when they probably deserve it. His firm, reassuring voice is what the Danes heard, even as their undefeated season disintegrated at UMBC.

It’s the same voice that Fields described back on March 10, when Albany trailed Maryland by four goals in the fourth quarter in College Park.

The Danes calmly rallied for five unanswered scores, as Fields scored the game-winner to lift Albany to an 11-10 win.

“[Marr] never throws his arms up or shows any frustration when we make mistakes. He was so confident when he called a [fourth-quarter] timeout and we were having such a hard time scoring,” Fields said. “His speech was calm, no negativity, just a next-play mentality. That allows us not to grip our sticks too much. It makes us unafraid.”

From the beginning, Marr has put that type of imprint on the program, from the lean years when he sought tough-minded players with a blue-collar streak determined to squeeze every ounce out of their skills, to Albany’s present day as a more talented, polished, blue-collar squad that has been on the cusp of breaking through to its first NCAA championship weekend for a number of years.

From the beginning, Marr, inspired by the legendary Syracuse teams he watched as a kid under Hall of Fame coach Roy Simmons Jr., was dead set on playing an up-tempo style — pushing the ball in transition at every opportunity, turning pressure defense into instant offense, relying on two-way midfielders and using organized chaos as a lethal weapon.

The Albany teams of recent years, augmented by the dazzlingly skilled Native American brothers Lyle and Miles Thompson and led currently by the likes of Fields and Ierlan, has risen to new heights.

Over the previous five seasons, Albany consistently ranked among the nation’s most prolific offenses, ruled the America East with a rare hiccup and produced a 68-21 record and five NCAA tournament appearances. Three of those trips ended in the quarterfinals.

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he 2018 team reeled off 10 straight victories to start the year, including top-10 wins over Syracuse, Maryland and Cornell. The Great Danes ascended to No. 1 and rode in that spot for a month.

Then came the loud hiccup on that Friday night at UMBC, which happened while Fields and Reh witnessed as spectators on the mend. Although Ierlan was superb as the Danes controlled all but two faceoffs, the offense ran into a disciplined UMBC zone defense and a hot goalie in freshman Tommy Lingner. Albany shot poorly and was barely in contention in the fourth quarter.

Marr and his staff, which includes 2007 Albany graduates Merrick Thomson and Liam Gleason — major parts of the school’s first NCAA quarterfinalist team in 2007 — and volunteer assistant and 2016 graduate Derrick Eccles, saw no reason to revamp their approach. They push and prepare the Danes hard all week in practice, and rely on the players’ freedom, creativity and execution on game day.

“As an offensive player, you want to play for an offensive coach who trusts you and makes you feel like you have a say,” said former Albany attackman Luke Daquino, a 2005 graduate who was one of the jewels in Marr’s first recruiting class. Daquino was the America East Player of the Year in 2003 and a three-time first-team all-conference selection.

“We were a run-and-gun team all of the time, and Coach was learning as we were learning,” recalled Daquino, who helped the Danes nail down their first markers with three league titles and NCAA tournament berths.“We would always hang out in his office and talk game plans. He listened a lot and let us do a lot. The coach you met with your parents as a recruit was the exact same guy you worked for on the field. That’s not always the case.”

“I’m in my 30s now and I still feel so connected to [Marr] and his program,” said former midfielder Jordan Levine, a 2008 graduate and career ground balls leader in Albany history and the seventh-year head coach at Division II Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

“We had a big game before Albany played Maryland on March 10, and I got a text that morning from Coach Marr saying, ‘Good luck today. Love you, man.’ He does that kind of stuff all of the time,” Levine added. “He’s still the same, humble, salt-of-the-earth guy who was the first head coach to pay a house visit to my parents. He chatted with my parents and made them feel comfortable over coffee and donuts. As great of a coach as he is with Xs and Os, his best asset is how he relates to people.”

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yle Thompson, who followed his older brother, Miles and cousin, Ty from Onondaga (N.Y) Nation to Albany a year later in 2011 and is arguably the greatest collegiate attackman ever, echoed Levine’s assessment of Marr.

Thompson, who holds career NCAA Division I records in points (400) and assists (225), said he didn’t even know Albany had a lacrosse program before the other Thompsons appeared on Marr’s radar. Lyle was sold on Albany’s style of play and the personality of its head coach.

When he was a freshman in 2012, Lyle and his wife, Amanda, had the first of their four children, a daughter named Layielle. Lyle said he would never forget how accommodating Marr was, as he encouraged the family to travel together on road games. If Lyle had to miss practice due to a parental matter, Marr, a married father of two daughters and a son (Johns Hopkins junior attackman Kyle), had no problem with it.

“As far as what a father is — someone who is there for you at crucial times, gives you advice without telling you what to do — he is a second father to me,” Thompson said. “He held me together. He’s one of my best friends. How many college coaches could you say that about?”

 

Marr said he would never think about the Thompsons’ contributions to the program without feeling a sense of awe. Miles began the current season as the program’s leading goal scorer and second-leading points scorer, before Fields passed him in both columns this year. Ty is ranked in the top 10 in school history in both categories.

Lyle is the only two-time Tewaaraton winner. He and Miles shared the trophy in 2014 — and gave it back to the school.

“The Thompsons changed this entire program,” said Marr, reflecting on the three NCAA tournament berths, two postseason wins and huge positive press they brought to the Danes. “There isn’t a recruiting conversation that happens without kids mentioning them. That trophy is a centerpiece of the conversation.

“The Thompsons — think of Miles catching and shooting with his back to the goal or Lyle’s wraparound shot — will never be irrelevant.”

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arr, who has gone 173-112 at Albany, traces the arc of program history through the characters that have revealed their character.

There is the fiery Daquino, jumping into the middle of a timeout huddle in the 2002 America East tournament semifinals (“A freshman!” Marr said) after Quinnipiac had scored the game’s first three goals. Using some unprintable language at a high volume, Daquino woke up his teammates and spurred on Albany to a 12-5 rout.

The Danes lost in the conference final to Stony Brook, but rebounded to win the next three titles. Although Albany was handled easily in NCAA tournament openers by Princeton, Syracuse and Virginia, Marr had attracted transfers such as Gleason and goalie Brett Queener and recruits such as attackmen Frank Resetarits and Thomson, the Canadian who held the career goals scored record until the Thompsons came along.

That nucleus would have a huge hand in Albany’s breakthrough 2007 season, a year that began with its first-ever win over Johns Hopkins — the eventual NCAA champion. It would lead to Albany’s first-ever NCAA tournament victory, a 19-10 blowout win at home over Loyola.

The season ended in excruciating fashion in the quarterfinals, a 12-11 overtime loss to Cornell. Levine forced OT with a goal in the closing seconds of regulation. But the Big Red broke the Danes’ hearts seconds into the extra period, after which a distraught Queener snapped his stick in half, tore off his gloves and pads and collapsed on the field, where he laid out on his back. After Johns Hopkins players convinced Queener to make way for their warm-up, he literally bled in the locker room after slamming his head into a wall.

The Danes went into a tailspin of sorts over the next five seasons, as injuries to such key players as Joe Resetarits and Brian Caulfield, disciplinary issues and tougher competition played roles. Albany never broke .500 from 2008-2012, came up short in four conference tournaments and won only 15 games in from 2010-12.

“We were living with Murphy’s Law,” Marr recalled. “Caulfield got hurt every year. Joe broke his foot [during an 0-6 start in 2010] and was lost for the season. We lost our entire starting midfield by the time we played Syracuse [on March 15, 2011, an 18-13 loss] and we couldn’t get going after that. Sometimes, you have to reach a low point before you’re successful.”

That turned after the Thompsons arrived, although losing to Notre Dame in back-to-back quarterfinals (2014 and 2015) and last year to Maryland in the same round have added to the pain.

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he 2018 team opened the season in style. Five years after beating Syracuse for the first time, the Great Danes crushed the Orange in the Carrier Dome 15-3. They continue to rank in the top five in numerous offensive and defensive categories, while Ierlan has passed Denver’s Trevor Baptiste statistically as the premier faceoff men in the game.

And the Danes, still a New York-based roster but with a coast-to-coast diversity highlighted by Native Americans and Canadians, continue to enjoy a freedom that is equally striking and refreshing.

If you’re watching an Albany game, don’t be surprised if the players take over a timeout huddle, as Marr walks away, leaving Fields to call the play coming out of the break — as Lyle Thompson did at times.

If you’re looking through the Albany media guide, you can’t miss the players showing off their hair growth and beards with wild variations, tattoos included.

“No disrespect to teams that travel in suits and have no facial hair, but that’s just not us,” Gleason said. “But we do things the right way.”

Marr, who has grown his hair long this season as a fun show of solidarity with his players, is certain he came to the right place nearly two decades ago.

“The chance to go back to New York and build my own Division I program after nine years as an assistant, I was all over that,” said Marr, who is in the second year of a five-year contract extension. “I thought it was the perfect place to start. And I don’t plan to be anywhere else.”