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For college Lacrosse fans across the nation, one thing is for sure, the University at Albany’s Men’s team is the team to beat. The Great Danes have started the season 10-0, defeating Maryland(2) 11-10, Cornell(10) 11-9 and Syracuse(8) 15-3 along the way. Led by senior Connor Fields and freshman Tehoka Nanticoke, UA leads the NCAA in goals per game with 15.4 and is tied with Army for the top spot in goals allowed per game, with 7. With a team that is close to record-breaking dominance on both sides of the ball, a record of 10-0 isn’t surprising. Here is what their opponents are up against.
New to the purple and gold this year is freshman Tehoka Nanticoke. Described by Albany’s head coach as “once-in-a-generation,” Nanticoke’s impact on the field was felt in the first game of the season. In that game, the #1 ranked recruit in the class of 2017 scored five goals against Syracuse on their own turf. A performance no one should scoff at on its own, it helped the underdog Danes rout Syracuse 15-3. Since that first game, Nanticoke has not slowed down. He has scored 50 points this season for an average of five per game. Those numbers put him at #1 for total goals scored and ppg. His performance so far has earned him five America East Rookie of the Week awards as well. Though with all of those numbers, he is only the second highest scorer on the squad. With 58 goals scored through the first nine games, senior Connor Fields leads the team in goals scored and leads the nation with 6.4 points per game, despite having missed their last game with a sprained right MCL.
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Even while missing two of their starting attackmen during their last game against Stony Brook, the Danes still came home with a 13-7 win.“We didn’t really go out and do anything different,” Nanticoke said after the game. “We’ve got three attackmen that can play, and we’re just going to go out and do what we’ve been doing all year.” For that game, UA was missing senior Connor Fields due to his sprained MCL and senior Justin Reh to an upper-body injury. If this game showed one thing, it’s Albany’s depth. They have seven players who have already put up double-digit points on the season.
Also having an outstanding season is sophomore TD Ierlan. The face-off specialist is on pace to obliterate the NCAA single-season record for faceoffs won. Mark Gowers of Towson set the current record of 77.6% in 1994. Ierlan is currently sitting at 83.8% with four games left on the season, going 24-for-24 in their last outing.
Not to be outdone by the offense, redshirt senior goalie JD Colarusso has stopped 64.1% of shots that have come his way this season. Unsurprisingly, with that percentage, he leads the nation in shots saved and has helped Albany stay on top with an average of 7 goals allowed this season.
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With four games left in the regular season, the Danes look to close out the season with their undefeated record intact. Of those four opponents, only Yale(3) is ranked in the top 20. Seeing as they have a nation-leading offense and goalie, it isn’t hard to believe that anything less would be seen as a disappointment.
