ITHACA, N.Y. – No. 9 UAlbany scored the first six goals of the game and never looked back, rolling to a 17-6 victory over Cornell men's lacrosse this afternoon on Schoellkopf Field. With the loss, the Big Red falls to 0-3 for the first time since the 1997 season.
"We're three games into this thing and it's the same song," said
Matt Kerwick, the Richard M. Moran Head Coach of Lacrosse. "We've got to figure this thing out. It has to take place in practice. We've got some good pieces, but we're not even close right now."
After a slow start, Cornell scored five of its six goals in the second half, with
Colton Rupp, Connor Fletcher and
Clarke Petterson finishing with two apiece. Fletcher also added an assist for a team-high three points, while
Jordan Dowiak and
Andrew Keith had one helper apiece
In goal,
Christian Knight made 10 saves and allowed 17 goals in 56:17 before giving way to
Dan Nemirov, who did not face a shot.
UAlbany (3-1) was led by the nation's top scorer, Connor Fields, who finished the game with five goals and three assists, while Jakob Petterson chipped in four goals.
The Great Danes offensive explosion was the direct result of a 15-of-21 performance in the face-off circle by TD Ierlan, who also picked up 12 ground balls.
"We saw a very good opponent today but we can't keep starting games like this," said Kerwick. "We've been down in each game. Even when we're winning face-offs early in games, we haven't capitalized on the offensive side and then our defense is getting put to the task with long possessions."
UAlbany scored the first two goals of the third quarter to stretch its halftime lead to double-digits (11-1) before the Big Red showed a glimpse of its offensive potential by scoring three goals in a span of 1:40. That was as good as it would get, as the Great Danes rattled off five unanswered to thwart any hopes of a Cornell comeback.
The Big Red heads to the West Coast to take on No. 11 Virginia in the fourth annual Pacific Coast Shootout on Saturday, March 11 at 6:00 p.m. (PST) at LeBard Stadium on the campus of Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif.
