Marr: Fields out for No. 1 UAlbany men's lacrosse against UMBC

PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

Connor Fields will miss a second consecutive game.

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ALBANY — Connor Fields has been ruled out for the University at Albany men’s lacrosse team’s upcoming game at UMBC.

No. 1 UAlbany head coach Scott Marr made that clear Wednesday.

“Connor, we wanted to make sure we held him out,” said Marr, who added that senior attack Justin Reh (upper body) is also likely to miss UAlbany’s game at UMBC. “We kept thinking about it and thinking about it, but all he’s doing right now is strengthening his leg and doing some bike work. We just want to make sure he comes back as close to 100 percent as possible. There’s no reason to rush this.”

Fields, a senior who leads the nation in points per game at 6.4, sprained his right MCL two Saturdays ago. He played in a limited basis in the Great Danes’ ensuing win against Harvard before sitting out last Saturday’s win against Stony Brook, the first time he missed a game during his college career.

Marr said Fields and Reh — who also missed UAlbany’s win against Stony Brook — have not suffered any setbacks this week in their respective rehabilitations, but neither has practiced this week. After comfortably winning this past weekend’s game, Marr said he’s confident his team has enough to keep winning without needing Fields and Reh to return before they are ready in a season the Great Danes expect to continue well into May.

“Big picture,” Marr said, “is America East tournament and playoffs.”

UAlbany does have a bye week after its game against UMBC. Marr said that played into the decision to rest Fields, who could end up with more than three weeks off between games if he returns April 20 when the Great Danes play Binghamton.

Fields and Reh were not made available to local reporters after Wednesday’s practice. If those two seniors cannot play against UMBC, UAlbany freshman Tehoka Nanticoke said the rest of the Great Danes will make sure UAlbany leaves with its perfect record intact.

“We’re going to go out and play Albany lacrosse,” Nanticoke said.

Weather woes

A snowstorm expected in Baltimore County this Saturday could lead to UAlbany (3-0, 10-0) and UMBC (0-2, 2-7) moving their America East matchup to Friday. The game is currently scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday.

Already this season, UAlbany has twice had to shift games because of weather concerns. The Great Danes also moved their games against Cornell and Canisius earlier this season because of snowstorms.

Scouting trip

Marr has seen UMBC in person this year, but did so more as a fan than as a rival coach.

“My son was playing,” Marr said.

So Marr watched his son Kyle Marr and Johns Hopkins top UMBC 13-6 in mid-March, a game played in between UAlbany’s wins against Maryland and Vermont. Kyle Marr, a Shenendehowa graduate, had two goals in that game.

As for Scott Marr, he said he came away from that game with a feel as to how UMBC will defend the Great Danes.

“They’re going to throw a lot of different things at us to try to keep us on our toes,” Marr said.

Reach Michael Kelly at [email protected] or @ByMichaelKelly on Twitter.