Albany Snaps Three-Game Skid
from press release
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Corey Small had three
goals and goalkeeper John Carroll came off the bench to spark his
team’s defense in leading UAlbany to a 9-6 America East
Conference victory over Vermont on Sunday afternoon at Moulton
Winder Field. The Great Danes, who ended a three-game skid, earned
a conference postseason tournament berth for the eighth consecutive
year.
UAlbany (7-5, AE 3-1) trailed 4-3 at the intermission, but scored
five unanswered to take control in the second half. John Alpizar
drew his team even when he moved in from the left side and hit the
top corner despite taking a cross-checking penalty from midfielder
Luke LaBranche. Derek Kruezer’s unassisted goal put the Great
Danes ahead following a successful clear with 5:58 left in the
period.
Small, a senior attackman, extended the lead with a pair of
extra-man goals in third and fourth quarters. He scored from right
of the crease 12 seconds into the first man-up situation after Dave
Brock found him from the mid-level of the zone. After UVM’s
Max Gradinger was called for slashing with 13:53 remaining, the
Great Danes worked the same play as Brian Caufield hit Brock from
the top of the box. The junior midfielder then hooked up again with
Small, who faked and scored from the top of the crease.
Alpizar added his second tally of the game with 5:20 to play for
an 8-4 cushion. The senior midfielder had just two goals this
season coming into the contest. Meanwhile, the Great Danes shut
down the Vermont attack for exactly 42 minutes despite the fact the
Catamounts got off 22 of their 43 shots in that span. Carroll, a
freshman, made 10 of his 14 saves during that period.
“John Carroll sparked us with some good saves and the
defense played awesome,” said UAlbany coach Scott Marr, whose
team can share the conference regular-season title with a victory
in the final game of the schedule at Stony Brook on April 25.
“We were sluggish in the first quarter after playing on
Friday night and we didn’t execute and made some poor
decisions (at the start).”
Vermont (4-9, AE 1-3) dominated the first quarter en route to a
4-1 advantage. The Catamounts rode the visitors’ midfield and
attack into several failed clears and miscues. Andrew Kelleher, who
had three goals and one assist, scored in transition to put his
team in front after gathering in a left-to-right crossing pass.
After winning the subsequent face-off, UVM’s Gradinger scored
nine seconds later on a low shot from the top of the box. Derek
Lichtfuss completed his team’s three-goal run by scoring with
a man-advantage from the left side.
The Great Danes, who were coming off a 15-13 road loss to
fourth-ranked Syracuse just 40 hours earlier, changed from starting
goaltender Drew DiCioccio to Carroll to begin the second period and
the defense responded. Meanwhile, Joe Pompo and Joe Resetarits
found the net 28 seconds apart to close the gap by halftime. Pompo
moved to the middle and canned a shot that went off the goalkeeper
and into the cage. Resetarits circled from behind the cage to score
from the left side of the crease.
Small, who scored three or more times for the 15th time as a
collegian, moved into a tie for eighth place on the program’s
career chart with 103 goals. Worley had one goal and three assists
for the Catamounts, who dropped their fifth in a row.
