cwdickens

The weather forecast for Saturday from NWS: Saturday A chance of showers, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 66. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. I will be taking my rain gear with me, just in case.

Please note the time change to the afternoon, not certain for the change as the ValleyCats are on the road. May 18 (Thu) 2:00 PM AE vs NJIT Joseph L. Bruno Stadium Watch Live Live Stats History

In all due respect, have you taken the time to Coach Jon Mueller this season? I have and I know Jon is very concerned about the performance of his team. Jon stated he was surprised how poorly at times the defense was and the pitching never was really there. He did not make excesses using the inability to recruit quality students-athletes due to our on-campus facilities. Jon vowed to work hard at recruiting the players needed to make the team more successful next year. This has been a common theme from Coach Killings and the assistant football coaches that I have talked to. Dumping on a team and their coach is becoming all too common place on the blog when a team's record speaks for itself.

The Times-Union is reporting 1900 passes sold for the quarterfinal at Casey Stadium. Not shocked, as I believe Michigan, Duke and Virgina fans are likely making arrangements to arrive Friday. However, the lack of Cornell and/or Syracuse might impact reaching a sell-out. I am expecting about 7,000 fans in the stands as the current weather forecast calls for the rain to hold off until Saturday evening. COLLEGE LACROSSE UAlbany set for NCAAs Some top teams headed to Casey Stadium for shot at national semis By Mark Singelais Larry French / NCAA Photos via Getty Images Virginia lacrosse attack Xander Dickson, left, who leads the Cavaliers with 58 goals, will be at UAlbany's Casey Stadium on Saturday vs. Georgetown. The local college lacrosse programs are all done playing this season, but Capital Region fans can still enjoy the best the sport has to offer on Saturday at the University at Albany’s Casey Stadium. For the first time, the Division I NCAA Tournament men’s quarterfinals are coming to the area. In a doubleheader, No. 2 seed Virginia will take on No. 7 Georgetown at noon Saturday, followed by No. 1 Duke vs. unseeded Michigan at 2:30 p.m. Both matches are on ESPNU. The winner of each game will advance to the Final Four on May 27 and 29 at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field. “You’re going to see some of the best lacrosse in the country right here in our backyard,” UAlbany men’s lacrosse coach Scott Marr said. “It’s a great opportunity, again, for our community to get out and support not only the game, but to support the university as well and show what great fans we have. It should be an unbelievable treat for young kids in this area to watch.” There were 1,900 tickets sold as of noon Monday, according to UAlbany deputy athletic director Vic Cegles. Casey Stadium capacity is 8,500. Ticket prices range from $14 to $30 and are available online at https:// www.ticketreturn.com/prod2new/team.asp?SponsorID=16631. The two other quarterfinals — Penn State vs. Army and Johns Hopkins vs. Notre Dame — are being played Sunday at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. The Albany quarterfinals will feature three of the five finalists for the Tewaaraton Award, given to the best player in college lacrosse: Georgetown graduate attack Tucker Dordevic, Duke junior attack Brennan O’Neill and Virginia senior attack Connor Shellenberger. Dordevic, who has 63 goals and 13 assists, transferred to Georgetown after four seasons at Syracuse. He played at Casey Stadium last year when the Orange lost 14-12 to UAlbany. O’Neill has 45 goals and 39 assists for Duke, which is seeking the program’s fourth national championship. Shellenberger, who has 21 goals and 47 assists this season, helped Virginia win the 2021 national championship, the program’s seventh. Duke and Michigan survived their first-round games on Sunday to get to Saturday’s quarterfinal. Duke held off Delaware 12-11 and Michigan outlasted No. 8 Cornell 15-14 in overtime. “They were both great games,” Marr said. “That’s playoffs, though, and each year the competition just gets better and tighter and it’s just more and more teams that are capable of winning and it’s great, the growth of the sport. It’s unreal and, again, for Albany to be in the mix right now as far as hosting the tournament, it shows where our facility is and where our area is and what it has to offer.” Also in the first round, Virginia dominated Richmond 17-8 and Georgetown eliminated Yale 19-17 to reach their quarterfinal at Casey Stadium. Saturday’s games offer local connections. Duke goalie William Helm, a graduate student, is a Loudonville native who attended The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut and played four years at Division III St. Lawrence before transferring to Duke for his final season. He averages 10 saves per game for the Blue Devils. Michigan coach Kevin Conry began his coaching career as a Siena assistant from 2004 to 2006 and received his master’s degree from UAlbany. Now in his sixth season with the Wolverines, he guided Michigan to its first NCAA Tournament appearance this year. Fans of the National Lacrosse League’s Albany FireWolves can also take an interest in Saturday’s action. Duke senior attack Dyson Williams, who leads his team with 54 goals, is the favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick this summer. The FireWolves own that pick by virtue of having the NLL’s worst record this season. NCAA quarterfinals ■› When: Saturday, noon (Virginia vs. Georgetown), 2:30 p.m. (Duke vs. Michigan) ■› Where: Casey Stadium, Albany ■› TV: ESPNU ▶› msingelais@- timesunion.com A 518-454-5509 A @MarkSingelais

UMBC Takes Doubleheader from Baseball

Just in case, anyone does not know, the matchups are: Duke (#1 seed) and Michigan (unseeded) Virgina (#2 seed) and Georgetown (#7 seed) I suspect the teams will fly into Albany International Airport via charters on Thursday afternoon with practices on Friday. Per Spectrum weather, a 20% chance of rain and/or showers. This season, UAlbany have watched games in 20-degree weather and downpours, we can handle this forecast.

I noticed our former AE menace, Stony Brook, lost their second-round match.

A GREAT TEAM with many fine seniors... thanks for the memories!!! No reason to be down in the dumps...

The Lacrosse World will someday, call this "The Albany Curse", if you played UAlbany and won in 2023 plus made the NCAA MLAX Tournament, your team lost in the 1st round.

John Hopkins 22 - Bryant 8, after re-checking Bryant schedule, the Bulldogs' season was no preparation for today's game and the score proves that. Further, lends no help to the conference, in general, towards recruiting better players for lacrosse.

Sadly, Bryant is doing nothing to show that America East Lacrosse is on the road back. John Hopkins has scored ten straight goals and lead at the half 12-3. No upset here... So far, teams that UAlbany played in their OOC schedule have lost, Yale and Maryland. Cornell will play later today.

Wishing a happy and peaceful Mother's Day to all those moms that are part of Great Dane Nation including administrators, coaches and support services and their spouses. In particular, to the moms and primary care givers who allowed and shared their children with us as student-athletes. Thank you, for allowing them to be part of our lives, if only for a short period of time.

Perhaps, because I have seen Jonathan Beagle and Marcus Jackson couple times recently, at Baseball (Bruno Stadium) and at WLAX send-off ... spoken to Jonathan twice and Marcus once, they give off a completely different vibe, that "we are sticking around for now" and we care about our other student athlete's vibe plus Beagle and Jackson are working out daily, Sometimes, you can judge a book by its cover. You might be wrong, or you might be right on spot. Let's see where Ketner ends up. I wish him the best in all his future student-athletic endeavors. Lastly, now in retirement I glad that stuck around the Albany area. I have taken advantage of the free UAlbany sporting events. You get the opportunity to meet parents, athletes and coaches across all our programs. From this group, I draw on the prospect of better days in our athletic programs and in our society in general.

The path, taken by UAlbany to Championship Saturday CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE Wednesday, May 10 Links Game 1 - 11:00 AM No. 4 UMass Lowell 11, No. 5 Bryant 3 Box Score Game 2 - 1:30 PM No. 3 UAlbany 7, No. 6 Maine 3 Box Score Game 3 - 4:00 PM No. 6 Maine 11, No. 5 Bryant 1 Box Score Thursday, May 11 Game 4 - 11:00 AM No. 1 UMBC 7, No. 4 UMass Lowell 0 Box Score Game 5 - 1:30 PM No. 3 UAlbany 6, No. 2 Binghamton 0 Box Score Game 6 - 4:00 PM No. 6 Maine 1, No. 4 UMass Lowell 0 Box Score Friday, May 12 Game 7 - 11:00 AM No. 1 UMBC 1, No. 3 UAlbany 0 Box Score Game 8 - 1:30 PM No. 6 Maine 6, No. 2 Binghamton 4 Box Score Game 9 - 4:00 PM No. 3 UAlbany 5, No. 6 Maine 3 Box Scorew Saturday, May 13 Championship Day Game 10 - 12:00 PM No. 1 UMBC vs. No. 3 UAlbany Live Stats | AETV Game 11 - 2:30 PM If necessary game* Live Stats | AETV

The link to the updated bracket: 2023 Division I Women's Lacrosse Official Bracket | NCAA.com

This observation is a concern with Benson, further based on my recent conversations with Jon Mueller (Baseball), Dwyane Killings and assistant football coaches, it is not lost on their coaching staff and players. Perhaps, we should look at this as a half glass full situation, with having competitive WBB, Field Hockey, Women Track & Field, WLAX and Softball.

/images/logos/Denver_2022.png?width=80&height=80&mode=max May 14 (Sun) 3:00 PM at #5 Denver Second Round Denver, Colo. History

The win, this evening, represents our women's programs second first round win in a NCAA Tournament during the 2022-2023 sports season. The first being the Field Hockey win over Michigan in Ann Arbor. So, watch out Denver. Lastly, I wonder how much elevation and time zone difference came into play.

A signature win for sure for UAlbany WLAX and UAlbany Sports .... no one lapped around Albany this evening.

now our run is 8-2

Outscoring Virgina 7-2 over last nine goals in game

at 12-12, yes much so

UAlbany 10-Virginia 11 .... UAlbany scored last three goals.... Is Virginia feeling the effects of the elevation more than UAlbany?

I have seen Tairi Ketner, on campus, during the spring sports season. He looked like he had "checked-out".