Danes drop hard-fought home battle with No. 12 Penn

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Despite jumping out to a five-goal advantage midway through the second quarter, and leading for the majority of the game, the University at Albany men's lacrosse team could not hang on against the University of Pennsylvania, the No. 12 ranked team in the nation, at home Wednesday night, falling to the Quakers 14-11.

Key Stats

• Peter Salit scored four goals and recorded one assist
• Jake Piseno recorded one assist, won eight ground balls, and caused four turnovers
• Alex Pfeiffer scored twice
• TJ Sheehan scored once with two assists
• Penn won 20 of 29 faceoffs, but committed 23 turnovers to UAlbany's 13

Head Coach Scott Marr: "We had a solid effort, really from start to finish.  The game comes down to the last couple of minutes, and I thought we played real well offensively in the first half.  They made some adjustments at halftime, but we have to find a way to close out some of these games that we've played against some really good teams.  We're looking forward to Saturday's game against Binghamton and getting a win and hopefully being the three-seed heading into the tournament next week."

 
How it Happened

• The University at Albany men's lacrosse team, fresh off of clinching their spot in the America East Tournament for the 11th straight season with their victory over Merrimack on Sunday, hosted their 10th and final home game of the year, welcoming #12 Penn to Tom & Mary Casey Stadium for the second consecutive season, and just the second-ever meeting in history between the two programs.  Penn made its debut trip to Albany in 2022 as the #13 team in the country for the series' inaugural meeting, and came away with a 19-11 victory.
• TJ Sheehan set up Peter Salit for the first of Salit's four goals on the afternoon with 13:44 left in the first quarter to give UAlbany an early lead.  Penn's Sam Handley, who finished with six goals and one assist, scored just 33 seconds later to tie the game at one.  Salit went for four goals and one assist for the second-straight game.
• After Penn tied the game at one, UAlbany rolled off each of the next three goals to take a 4-1 lead with 7:51 left in the first quarter.  Penn scored to cut the lead to three just over 50 seconds later, before Salit scored his second goal with 2:10 remaining to keep UAlbany's advantage at three.
• Penn scored with 11 seconds left in the first quarter, but UAlbany responded with three-straight goals to start the second, from Alex Pfeiffer, Salit, and Parker Winkky, to lead 8-3 with 8:27 left before halftime.
• Handley broke UAlbany's run with 4:51 left in the half, his first of back-to-back goals, and three scores in the final five minutes as part of a 5-0 Penn run to end the half and head into halftime tied at eight.
• Penn held the advantage at the faceoff through the first 30 minutes, winning 13 of 18 over UAlbany, but the Quakers had committed 11 turnovers in the first half compared to just four for the Great Danes.  UAlbany also held a narrow edge of 16-12 in ground balls.
• Elijah Gash scored 13 seconds into the second half off a broken play with a setup from Jake Piseno to put UAlbany back on top.  The Great Danes and Quakers alternated the first four goals of the third quarter, leading into a two-goal run from Penn to close the third with their first lead of the game, 11-10.
• Declan Palandjian scored to tie the game at 11 with 13:06 left in the fourth, but Penn scored the final three goals of the game to clinch a 14-11 victory.  The Quakers finished with a 20-9 advantage in faceoffs, but committed 10 more turnovers than the Great Danes. 

Next: UAlbany closes the 2023 regular season at Binghamton on April 29 with the three-seed in the America East Tournament on the line.