AlbanyFan2018

Just keep crushing people, but with class :-)

Just the background announcer and crowd noise.

Stream is SO much better. Thank you UA athletic department. I think we'll be hearing that horn a lot this year.

Didn't want to spread whatever I came down with at the stadium today so have to watch on the stream. Already looks like a much better product and working with Google cast. Let's GO Danes! Anybody else a little surprised that Coach Marr flew down the night before a game?? Probably not a big deal and great that he got to watch his son play. Hope the boys are humble and focused.

I know. Inside Lacrosse can Ty Xanders can keep on doubting the players that the coaching staff is brining on all they want. I saw a lot of back and forth on social media after the Syracuse game and how in the world could Albany get Nanticoke, but this team so much more than just him, but I'll be the first to say having two number one attackmen is an amazing luxury. We had that before, but not with the supporting cast we have now. Denver doesn't scare me as much as Duke. I think Duke right now is clear, cut #1 then Albany, Maryland and Denver.

It does get better for sure. It will be interesting to see game two. The forecast doesn't look horrible so could be a fun one. This is going to sound crazy after scoring 15 against one of the better defensive groups in college lacrosse, but the settled offense wasn't great. I think 4 of Nanticoke's goals were unassisted, and on of Connor's. Man-up wasn't very good either. Imagine what happens when the ball starts humming around and man-up starts clicking? There is still a lot of upside with the offense and if the defense stays on this kind of trajectory, watch out.

Harvard with a bad loss, I think Yale will rebound and be a quality opportunity for a road win as will Maryland. UVM seems much improved, but the rest of the AE hasn't made that leap or seems to have slid. Both UMBC and UMass Lowell seem to be moving in the right direction.

Stone had been nicked up, but don't know to what degree. I didn't know that Zellen wasn't going to play. While I get some insights, I try not to ask too many questions and not much if any information is ever volunteered. I can only assume that Kluck, with Zellen not playing was going to spell Troy at LSM. I love Perla and Fillipkowski at close because they bring some great athleticism and Connor in particular has the size and strength to match up with ACC attackmen. Troy did do a great job of cleaning up 2-3 of the face-off's and I think Kyle got a good one as well. I like Jacob much better as the 4th attackmen coming out of the box taking over Drake's role. Jacob seems much better suited to play in space.

Tehoka did have an amazing coming out party. Hard to do with all of the hype surrounding him. We did have #1 recruits in the past and the only team to ever have co-winners of the Tewaaraton with Miles and Lyle. The difference now is we also have players, quite a few of them who could play for any team in the country. Tehoka is a huge missing piece, but this is more than just Tehoka. I know you were not saying that, but as a dad of a kid on the team, I always get a little ticked with the way Albany gets treated in the press and why I am always pounding the table that UA HAS to do a better job of promoting this program. Beating, no demolishing Syracuse 15-3 would be like the football team taking down a top 10 FBS team. Can you imagine the buzz that would create? Coach Marr does an amazing job, but the real credit goes to Gleason and Thomson. Those are the guys who are out beating the bushes finding the guys that for whatever reason are getting overlooked by the BIG schools. Also credit to Coach Eccles and former player and volunteer coach Tim Cox who did a great job as well. Now off my soap box LOL - Just sped through the game to see what it looked like on TV. I guess what really makes me excited is that the team offense for a lot of the game didn't look anything like it can, and Syracuse has some really stout close defenders. We need to get a few key guys healthy, and continue to work on the offensive chemistry. I really liked the new faces on close D. Much more athletic than in past years. Just stay focused and grounded and it could be a special season.

Wow, what a game! I can't even speak we were yelling so much. I am so proud to be a part of the Dane family!

Can't wait to get to the dome tomorrow. I agree with you steve, Albany is usually in the role of underdog and it will be interesting to see how the players and coaches handle this new sort of pressure.

I didn't get too much more than what has already been said. A few tidbits. Sounded like the coaches wanted to rest some of the front line offensive guys to make sure they are as close to 100% as possible for Syracuse. TD was a force. Team defense was better. Didn't get any color on the man down unit non starters on offense did much more against Princeton than in the Colgate scrimmage.

Had to work today so wasn’t able to make it down. If I hear anything I will post.

Really good observations. It was COLD and the guys were wearing a lot of clothes. I agree with you on the man down. Albany is one of the only teams I have ever seen that pretty much replaces the starters for a new unit on man down. It sure worked last year, but it didn't look good yesterday. The six on six D when the starters played looked solid.

I caught most of the game, but had to leave before it ended. It was hard to say how long the Colgate front line players were in, but I was talking with a Colgate parent, and Albany definitely pulled the starters much sooner than Colgate. For a first scrimmage the attack looked sharper than one might expect. My only concern and something that will have to be worked out over the next couple of weeks on offense is more production from the midfield. If anyone other than McClancy and S Eccles can be a threat from the midfield than watch out. There is some potential there, but trying to temper expectations that would be my one comment. We have a stable of strong goalies which is going to provide a lot of competition. Starting defense looked pretty good. I still think the entire face off unit, when TD doesn't win it clean needs to take it up a notch.

IL just ran this article again. http://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/is-albany-the-gonzaga-of-college-lacrosse-in-2017/49560

I recall a post or article not too long ago which showed the amount of unrestricted athletic giving, or I think it was athletic giving for schools in New York. West Point, not surprisingly, was way ahead, something like $6mm. I think Albany was just north of $200k. Hard to improve facilities with so little support, and hard to imagine what the heck is going on with Fallon. We had the opportunity to tour a lot of other schools' facilities and no doubt for a top 30 team Albany has some of the worst facilities. It really is becoming an arms race, and one of the reasons I am anxious to see what the program and school does to capitalize on the programs success. Really a testament to what Coach Marr has built on what has to be a pretty shoestring budget.

No idea. I heard some rumblings about upgrading the bleachers, but nothing recently. I am not aware of anyone stepping up to specifically support the lacrosse program either. I just caught Terry Foy's recap on Albany at #2 and how Inside Lacrosse had the Danes #1 right up until they published. As great as the Thompson's were/are this is unchartered waters for the program and it will be fascinating to see how the coaches and players respond. Obviously the coaches have been able to land the occasional top recruit, but you don't get to be a top 5 program with just one or two highly touted players, and the staff doesn't get enough credit for finding the right kind of players and then developing them once they get on campus. Pretty incredible.

and not a result of raising the bar. Anyone know what the "facility maintenance" is? Hopefully, they are enclosing it and turning it into a field house {WISHFUL THINKING probably.} A guy can dream can't he :-)

Schedule is officially out and just saw a tweet that all home games will be played in the football stadium. Raising the bar on the program, awesome! UA'08 you are right the media expectations are the highest I can ever recall and Albany won't be sneaking up on anybody. This will be very interesting to see how the coaches and players embrace this new sort of pressure. I will try to get a debrief over the holiday's.

The Danes come in at #2 in the Inside Lacrosse Pre Season Yearbook, behind Duke. Pre Season All Americans 1st Team - Connor Fields 2nd Team - TD Irelan 3rd Team - Kyle McClancy Honorable Mention - JD Colarruso and Tehoka Nanticoke #2 overall attack unit #5 overall midfield unit #4 overall specialists (FO, SSDM, LSM, G) Article says that the coaches spent a lot of time on the midfield during the fall. Sounds like McClancy and Eagen are 1/2, then the Burgmaster Brothers, Noah Taylor, Ron John, with freshmen Ramirez and Schwab pushing for time. Both of those guys looked really good in the summer tournament and what I saw of them in the fall. No changes on defense with Perla and Filipowski in the mix as well. My one request from the Albany SID is to do a better job of marketing the program. I am sure part of that is Coach Marr's humble approach, but with five pre-season all americans, the #2 ranking, we need to market the program a little more aggressively IMHO.

Josh Dahl was on the recruit list and currently isn't on the roster, and we lost a flip to Michigan sometime ago. This is a solid group, beyond Tehoka, especially at the midfield, and from what I saw this summer 2018, hope all of them signed, has some real studs.

It is hard, but I try not to ask too many questions, because I have a hard time keeping secrets :-) I want to say one pole who was recruited in this class did not stick around. I never did ask what was going on with Stone, but he does seem to be healthy. It is a little frustrating just how quiet things are around the program. I think that is one thing everyone loves about Coach Marr and the other coaches, the humble nature of the program, but I do wonder at times is Albany doing enough when it comes to social media, press, etc., to leverage the current success?

Will be interesting to see if Coach Marr has strengthened the out of conference schedule this year. The AE seems to be moving in the right direction, but is still behind the Patriot League in terms of overall strength.

I too am surprised from the comments I have read from some of the pundits in attendance as well as some I saw with my own two eyes. I don't know what the situation is with Stone Simms. I don't believe I saw him on the sideline at the game I was at, but don't know about at the Baltimore scrimmages. IMO we have some very scrappy, middies, but Osaka had a Big10/ACC body, and it doesn't look like we have someone right now who can fill that void. It does look like a lot of guys are getting runs at close as opposed to the core 4-5 guys which can certainly lead to more breakdowns, especially against Hopkins who had quite a few of their front line guys playing deep into that scrimmage. I think it has to be a bit of a concern. There is going to be a big game where the opposing team figures out TD or shuts down the offense and you have to have a defense that can win a game when the rest of the team isn't firing on all cylinders.