haggyland

I changed mine to read "Greatness Lived Here" weeks ago.

Ohhhh....real talk? This team is a $ienashow and Benson is in a completely unenviable position that he alone put us in. Maybe a little less time picking the low hanging fruit of stadium seats and the women's tennis team and a little more time on personnel management???

Orange and black uniform scheme....pushing UA around...am I missing something?

I seriously don't understand all of the negativity tonight. Five years ago every one of us would have been tickled purple to host (and beat) Oregon State in a one-possession game! Oregon State! Think about that man. That's a team from the Pac-12; not a winless team from one of the worst conferences in D1 football.

Elegant solution: The winning team of this year's game hosts the game the next year. This year's venue can be the only point of negotiation. You are welcome.

They aren't a 1.5 goal favorite. How it reads is if you want to bet UA to win the game straight up you need to put up $140 to win $100. If you want to bet Yale to win the game straight up you only need to put up $100 to win $100. If you like UA to win by more than one goal then you can take the -1.5 number, and you put up $100 to win $150 for the extra risk. (In my opinion a much smarter bet than the money line, because the payback increases significantly for only one more goal in the margin of victory.) If you like Yale to win, or to lose by less than one goal then you can take the +1.5 number, and you put up $200 to win $100. Here for the sake of one goal you are better off taking Yale with the money line, as the payback there is much better to protect yourself only against a one-goal UA win. Just be very wary of the one-goal margin of victory, which these spreads suggest is a very distinct probability. For the over/under, pick either side and put up $120 to win $100, as the amounts are the same. These are the only options to bet on the game, as there are only 2 "lines" for the game, with three options each. The smart money is on UA -1.5. No, wait, the smart money is on not betting, and realizing that college athletics is for entertainment purposes only...which is why the NCAA is a not-for-profit.

Over two hours in the rain and I just wanted to see something done to stop the bleeding in the second half...anything! Among other things, Fields was a ghost, and the team did not respond well to the more desperate pace UNC played at. Haha, Albany just played the defending champs, a very good, storied lacrosse program in the biggest home game in front of the biggest crowd in school history and FOUND A WAY TO WIN and you are complaining about the coach not changing things up in the second half and Fields being a ghost??? Fields hardly had a chance to touch the ball in the second half! Come on man! That was a hell of a game. I've said it before but a friend of mine coaches at a top lax high school in southern NY and I talked to him for about 10 minutes during halftime and 45 minutes after the game ended. He was saying during halftime that UNC would find a way to get back in it, maybe not all the way but they would make a game of it somehow. Said they are just too good of a team to get dominated like this and can easily dominate as well and probably would. After the game he said, "What'd I tell you?! UNC is defending champs and their coach is too good that I knew they'd make a run. It happens a lot in lax. It's probably the best thing to happen to Albany to feel that pressure, both physical and mental and that will really help them going forward in this tourney!" He said UNC used a 10 man ride a number of times, which is hard to do for a long period of time and it worked really well for them forcing some turnovers and Albany had some nervous unforced turnovers during that run but they held on and made the plays to win, that's what matters. I trust this guy's opinion about lacrosse and feel very good about this win. Also, Carcaterra said it somewhere during the week and I paraphrase, "If you see clean and quick faceoff wins by TD early in this game it is going to be a long night for UNC. If he struggles and the UNC wings have time to get into the scrum, UNC may win the faceoff battle at the end of this game. Their wings are just way too strong for Albany to deal with and whether TD can win clean and quick will be huge." Well he seemed right on. UNC won almost every faceoff when the wings got involved and TD won almost every one where it was clean and quick. The team went 25 minutes without a goal after scoring 14 times in the first half. They were outscored 9-1 in the second half. But, I guess since they "found a way to win" after being up by 12 goals there is no need to question anything. A good fan should just see a victory in an NCAA tournament game, played at home in front of a record-setting attendance, against a national powerhouse that is the defending national champion, and be happy. Any opinion to the contrary demands dismissal.

Over two hours in the rain and I just wanted to see something done to stop the bleeding in the second half...anything! Among other things, Fields was a ghost, and the team did not respond well to the more desperate pace UNC played at.

And as a full disclaimer, I agree that Ierlan is a freaking stud.

Yup, that was a really well executed second half. Trying something different would have been such a terrible idea...especially since we have never seen the team choke away a lead before.

Winning the draw or not I think Marr should have put Ornstein out there for a couple of faceoffs. UA hit quicksand and Marr didn't coach them out of it.

NOT going to be at 3PM...was hoping this storm would move up the I-88 corridor a little quicker!

Penn State, who impressed the selection committee enough to get the 7 seed despite never having won a game in the NCAA Tournament, loses to CAA's Towson in the first round, 12-8.

Looks like only 5 seats remaining.

Colorado State forward Amanda Kantzy has transferred to UA. 6'3" and 2 years of eligibility.

Betting lines: UA women a 1.5 goal underdog. UA men a 2.5 goal favorite, and the over/under is the largest in the first round at 27.5.

That quickly devolved from a game they shouldn't have won to a game they shouldn't have lost. Hero ball indeed. Good effort; now make a run in a secondary, tertiary, or quaternary post season tournament to close out the season.

No Cremo... not executing on offense for long stretches... some homer officiating calls... And a tied game at halftime? That works... Get it done.

Dear Nichols: Please share the ball.

Good karma: Hagerty High School just took 3rd place in the national high school cheer championships on ESPN2 before the game.

Have fun and safe travels. I hope your return ride is done with a wide grin on your face!

So if a championship in the first season = C- I hate to see the grade for a "fan" who doesn't even show up for a home championship game Awww, come one, Bob...I was tongue-in-cheek backhandedly admitting I might have been too tough on Coach Mac. Regarding my attendance, I was going to redo my schedule as I hadn't previously missed a championship home game for basketball. This year I have missed more games than in Coach Abe's entire tenure. Watching them switch to up-tempo and throw the ball away so much was too difficult to watch at times after watching years of a more disciplined system. Championship game was 19 assists and 10 turnovers...that might have been the most well executed game they have had all season...I won't count the UMass Lowell game where they just outclassed their opponent. I might warm to Coach Mac when she recruits her own players that play her style but the transition this year was difficult, despite the final result.

I missed the game but followed the first half on the commute and got to watch the second half on-line. Congratulations to the UA women; six in a row is incredible. I now feel more comfortable raising Coach Mac's season grade to a C minus!

Grace Claxton went to the "Last Chance" meet the next day and got her time low enough for NCAA Nationals...that's news, right?

A few statistics that jump off the page for me when I look at the season: Home Record: 11-1 Away Record: 4-10 1-3 in OT games Assists per game: 15.15 apg overall. 18.27 in wins and 10.91 in losses. 18.17 at home and 12.57 away. Turnovers per game: 20.12 topg overall. 19.60 in wins and 20.82 in losses. 19.42 at home and 20.71 away. A/TO ratio: 0.75 overall. 0.93 in wins and 0.52 in losses. 0.94 at home and 0.61 away.