Great Danes reflect on strong showing at World Lacrosse Championship
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The history of the University at Albany men's lacrosse program is rich with name like Lyle Thompson, Connor Fields and Blaze Riorden. But if there's one takeaway from the program's representation at the World Lacrosse Men's Championship, it's that the future of Great Danes lacrosse is in good hands.
"Playing against the best-of-the-best, and maybe doing well...maybe learning from my mistakes is something that I can't let slip by."
That's a quote from UAlbany senior long-stick midfielder Jake Piseno just days before beginning pool play at the Championship with Team Haudenosaunee.
Fast forward to last Saturday night...
The above image is of Piseno at the conclusion of the Championship. He's holding plaques for his World Team selection and "Best Defender" honor. "Best Defender"...of the entire tournament. Piseno is 22 years old.
Oh, and that thing hanging around his neck? It's a bronze medal.
"Hearing my name called for the World Team…I was like, "Wow," said Piseno. "I dropped my bag, and everyone was like, "Go, Jake!" and all that stuff. And I was just smiling and looking around at the huge stadium, like, "Wow, this is amazing." I get right back to my teammates, and I hear my name called again. I thought, "Holy cow. This is crazy." I tried to just embrace the moment."
And having a front-row seat to Piseno's breakout performance was his head coach at UAlbany, Scott Marr, who was an assistant on Team Haudenosaunee.
"The approach he took, the maturity he took...going into the games, and wanting to learn, and wanting to be kinda "Eyes wide open, and ears wide open" to learn and watch other great players play," said Marr. "He went and literally dominated the field, and every statistical category for a defenseman you could have…he had the most numbers. I mean, he earned that award."
Piseno wasn't the only Great Dane to earn a major award. Riorden took home "Best Goalkeeper," solidifying his spot atop the list of the game's premier figures in the cage.
"This just goes to show he's the best goalie in the world," said Marr. "He made saves that other goalies just aren't making today. His confidence in the goal…you could see it go through his defense. When he's in the net, they're just so confident in front of him. And if there were any doubters out there - which I don't think there were too many - he proved 'em all wrong."
Riorden and Piseno were two of 11 UAlbany players and coaches to earn medals at the World Championship. The program's all-time leading point scorer, Lyle Thompson, led a group of six Danes on Haudenosaunee that included Piseno, Ron John, Jakob Patterson, current UAlbany goalkeeper Jack VanValkenburgh, and Tehoka Nanticoke, who missed the tournament because of an injury. That squad, along with Marr on the sideline, garnered the bronze medal.
Connor Fields, the program's second all-time leading scorer, was a part of Team Canada, which took home the silver. UAlbany associate head coach Merrick Thomson was on the Candian coaching staff as well.
And Team USA, the recipients of the gold medal, featured Riorden and TD Ierlan.
On top of that, Will Ramos and Steve Ramirez guided Puerto Rico to its' first top-10 finish at the championship, while Eli and Riley Lasda came in at 21st with Team Latvia.
All told, it was a statement showing in San Diego for UAlbany men's lacrosse.
"I think people are recognizing the type of player that we have go through our program, and the level we do play at," said Marr. "We've probably contributed more to the game of lacrosse than most smaller schools out there. It's hard to say how proud I really am because it's just…amazing to see, you know, the impact that they've had."
Piseno said he will certainly enjoy some well-deserved down time at home after a frenetic past couple of weeks, but it won't be long before he's back out on the turf on UAlbany, using his experience from San Diego to fuel his final year as a Great Dane.
"I was playing against the best in the world," said Piseno. "For me to have my name in the same conversations as them…it's been really crazy. But, I'm in the mindset right now that I can't really get complacent. I can't stop working, and I think the confidence is gonna boil over to the college game. I'm really excited for this next year with UAlbany."