ALBANY — The 2017 season ended Sunday for the UAlbany men’s lacrosse team in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.
The 18-9 loss to top-seeded Maryland at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Del., left the Great Danes one win shy of reaching their program’s first-ever final four. All-time, UAlbany is 0-4 in NCAA tournament quarterfinal games.
Here are 10 notable numbers to remember from the Great Danes’ season, which ended with a 15-3 record:
6,472
The number of fans who turned out for UAlbany’s NCAA tournament first-round win against North Carolina at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium. That attendance figure set a record for an NCAA tournament first-round game since the tournament expanded in 2003.
117
Points produced for junior attackman Connor Fields. The Tewaaraton Award finalist paired 55 goals with 62 assists to record the fourth-most prolific individual scoring season in NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse history.
70.8
Percentage of faceoffs freshman TD Ierlan won. Ierlan finished his season ranked second in the country in faceoff winning percentage to Denver junior Trevor Baptiste, who brings a 75.7 winning percentage into next Saturday’s national semifinals.
25
Record-setting margin of victory in the America East tournament. UAlbany topped Stony Brook 19-6 and Binghamton 20-8 to win its eighth conference title and break its own tournament margin-of-victory record of plus-22 from 2015. In the America East tournament, UAlbany also set team records for goals (39) and faceoff winning percentage (77.9 percent).
8
The seed awarded to UAlbany for the national tournament. That granted the Great Danes their first home NCAA tournament game since 2007.
7
Great Danes who produced at least 20 goals. Fields, junior attackman Justin Reh (39), senior midfielder Bennett Drake (35), junior midfielder Kyle McClancy (29), sophomore midfielder Sean Eccles (23), freshman attackman Jakob Patterson (23) and senior midfielder Adam Osika (22) all hit that benchmark.
6.5
Fields’ point-per-game average. Heading into next weekend’s games, Fields leads the country in that statistic by 0.96 — larger than the margin between the No. 2 and No. 12 ranked players.
4
The highest spot UAlbany took in both the coaches and media polls. The Great Danes’ program record is a No. 2 ranking, achieved in 2007.
3
Quarters in which UAlbany did not score. The Great Danes produced scoreless periods against Syracuse, UMBC and North Carolina.
1
National per-game rank for UAlbany in scoring offense (15.39), assists (9.50), man-down defense (82.9 percent), points (24.89), scoring margin (5.89) and winning percentage (83.3).
Reach Gazette Sportswriter Michael Kelly at 395-3109, [email protected] or @ByMichaelKelly on Twitter.
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