By Carter Schum | March 3, 2025
On Saturday, the University at Albany men’s lacrosse team dropped a heartbreaker to the UMass Minutemen 10-9.
Jackson Palumb (#14) shaking a UMass defender. Palumb scored two goals in UAlbany’s loss on Saturday.
Photo Credit: Liam Martin / The ASP
“We just made some mental mistakes,” UAlbany head coach Scott Marr said of his team's performance on Saturday.
The Great Danes struck first, as junior Daniel Kesselring found the back of the net up close to put the Great Danes up 1-0 with 11:46 remaining in the first quarter. The Great Danes scored the next two goals of the game courtesy of Silas Richmond and Jackson Palumb.
The Minutemen got on the board with 2:48 left via a precise shot from senior Trace Hogan. UAlbany responded a little more than 90 seconds later as freshman Brendan O’Keefe deposited a feed from Alex Pfeiffer in the back of the net.
The Great Danes scored one more goal in the first period of play, as sophomore Ryan Doherty netted a goal as time expired to give the Great Danes a 5-1 advantage.
The Minutemen found the back of the net first in the second quarter, as sophomore Charles Kirtz would beat Great Dane goalie Brady Smith. The Minutemen dominated possession and the shot counts for a large part of the second quarter, but the Great Dane defense held strong, stopping multiple consecutive UMass possessions from amounting to anything.
UAlbany was rewarded for their defensive prowess, when Pfeiffer used the turf to beat UMass goalie Owen Salanger and increase the Great Dane lead back to 6-2. Palumb was the first Great Dane to score multiple goals, as he would cash in another goal with 38 seconds left to give UAlbany a 7-2 lead which they would carry into halftime.
Despite being pinned in their defensive end for most of the second quarter, the Great Danes led the first half shot count 22-18 and the ground ball count 16-15.
The Minutemen struck first in the third quarter, as junior Aiden Drunsic would beat Smith far side. Drunsic struck again three minutes later as the Great Danes were caught out of position and UMass drew closer at 7-4. UMass scored their third consecutive goal, as freshman Tyler Clayton beat Smith from range to bring the Minutemen closer at 7-5. That proved to be the final goal of the third quarter, and despite being outplayed, the UAlbany defense did not allow any further damage to their lead.
The Minutemen struck once again, as Mathew Cargiulo slotted a shot past Smith from up close to cut the UAlbany lead further 7-6.
UAlbany responded less than a minute later as Richmond got his second of the game to make it 8-6. This did not last long however, as Robbie Granara got this back for the Minutemen to make the score 8-7.
The Minutemen finally drew level with the Great Danes as Kurtz completed the hat trick to make the score 8-8 with 8:08 remaining.
Richmond completed his hat trick for the Great Danes with 6:55 remaining as he snuck one past the UMass defense to make it 9-8 UAlbany. The back and forth continued, as John Krisch leveled the game for the minutemen with 6:00 remaining.
Hogan scored his second of the game with 1:54 remaining to put the Minutemen on top 10-9. This proved to be the decisive goal, as a last-minute Great Dane attack did not amount to any goals and the Minutemen came out on top.
With the loss, UAlbany fell to 1-3, while UMass improved to 4-1.
The Great Danes next game is on Wednesday, March 5, when they take on the Georgetown Hoyas at home before embarking on a three-game road stint.
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