University of Delaware Men's Lacrosse Falls to Albany 11-9 as Great Danes Use Big Third Quarter to Pull Away
March 5, 2011
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File Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The University of Delaware men’s lacrosse team stayed close in the first half, but Albany pulled away by scoring five straight goals, including the first four of the second half, and held on for an 11-9 win over the Blue Hens Saturday afternoon.
Delaware junior Sean Finegan (at right) recorded his second hat trick of the season and finished with three goals and one assist, Nick Elsmo scored twice and dished out two assists, and Kevin Kaminski contributed two goals, but the Hens could never regain the lead after the opening minutes of the game.
The Blue Hens, who entered the game leading all NCAA Division I teams with four victories, dropped to 4-2 on the season while Albany evened its mark to 1-1 after a season-opening loss to Drexel. The Great Danes avenged a 16-9 setback to Delaware last season in Newark.
Miles Thompson led Albany with three goals, including back-to-back scored midway through the third quarter that upped the lead to 8-3, while Joe Resetarits added two goals and an assist, Ty Thompson and Matt Johnson each scored twice, and Brian Caufield chipped in with two assists.
Delaware opened the scoring on a goal by Elsmo just over three minutes into the contest, but Albany struck back with three straight tallies to take a 3-1 lead. Kaminski scored his first goal of the game for the Hens to snap the streak with 3:26 left, but the Great Danes answered with a goal by Johnson with 1:26 left to take a 4-2 lead into the second quarter.
Finegan opened the second quarter with his first goal just under four minutes into the second quarter to narrow the gap, but Travis Lyons answered with a goal in the final two minutes to send Albany into halftime up 5-3 and the Great Danes opened the second half with four straight goals, including two by Miles Thompson, to take control at 9-3.
Finegan and Elsmo tallied for the Hens just under three minutes apart to close the UA advantage to 9-5 and a goal by Finegan just over a minute into the final stanza narrowed the deficit to 10-7, but Albany got some insurance on a goal by Johnson at the 7:54 mark to push the lead back to four.
Goals by Delaware’s Anthony Ruiz, who scored for the sixth straight game since last season, and by Kaminski in the final six minutes narrowed the gap, but the Hens could never get closer than the final margin.
Delaware outshot Albany 40-30 and had six less turnovers, but Albany won the faceoff battle as Keith Olson won 15 of 24 attempts, including 13 of 21 vs. the Hen’s Dan Cooney, who had entered the game winning 64 percent of his draws.
Delaware will return to action next Saturday, March 12, when the Hens travel to No. 7 ranked Stony Brook.
