ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Sarah Falk and Shonly Wallace combined for nine goals to lead the University at Albany women’s lacrosse to a thrilling, 15-14 victory over UMBC Friday afternoon at Fallon Field.

Despite leading 11-6 at halftime, the Retrievers fought back to tie the game at 13. But Falk netted her fifth goal of the game off a free position with less than three minutes remaining; that proved to be the game-winner.

Key Stats

Head Coach Katie Thomson: “Today was a great team win.  We had a strong first half and knew that UMBC was going to come in a give us a good fight and battle hard back into the game in the second half.  But we did a great job of finishing the game, making some great stops, making some great plays on the offensive end, and winning some key draws.  We’re really proud of our players for trusting each other, and their believe, always, in each other and in the game plan.”

How it Happened

  • UAlbany hosted UMBC on Friday in the first leg of a back-to-back that would see the Great Danes host games in consecutive days, just 29 hours apart.  The meeting with the Retrievers was the first since the 2022 America East semifinal, where UAlbany jumped out to a 5-1 lead and withstood a UMBC rally to win 16-13 and advance to the conference title game.
  • Sarah Falk and Shonly Wallace provided the offensive spark for UAlbany against the Retrieves on Friday, combining to score a total of nine goals.  They kicked things off right away, scoring back-to-back in the first three minutes and 12 seconds to quickly put the Great Danes on top.
  • UMBC responded by scoring each of the next four goals to go up 4-2 with 7:05 remaining in the first quarter.  Wallace scored her second goal of the afternoon to end UMBC’s run, only to see the Retrievers take a 5-3 lead three-and-a-half minutes later.
  • Falk’s second goal closed the first half, and Wallace scored to start the second to tie the game at five.  The pair scored their third-straight set of back-to-back goals to expand UAlbany’s run to 4-0, giving the Great Danes a two-goal lead with 7:09 left in the second.
  • UMBC scored just over a minute later to close within one, before another 4-0 run for UAlbany put the Great Danes ahead by five, 11-6, at halftime.  UAlbany had outscored the Retrievers 7-1 in the second quarter alone.
  • UMBC scored to open the third quarter, before a five-minute scoring drought led to another goal for Falk with 7:00 on the clock.  UMBC scored the next two, starting to inch their way back into contention, before Allie Maloney interrupted the Retrievers’ nascent run with 4:59 remaining in the third to keep UAlbany’s advantage at four.
  • UMBC closed the third and opened the fourth on a 4-0 run to tie the game at 13 with 10:10 remaining, the first time the game had been tied since 14:17 left in the second quarter.  Neither team scored for nearly eight minutes before Falk successfully converted a free-position attempt with 2:45 left for the go-ahead goal.
  • Grace McCauley added one final insurance goal, a setup from Bryar Hogg, with 1:46 to go, before UMBC scored with 49 seconds remaining to close within one.  UAlbany’s defense held firm for the final seconds to clinch the victory, 15-14, and move to 3-0 in-conference.
  • The Great Danes finished the game with a 36-29 advantage in shots taken, and a 19-14 advantage in draws won.  UAlbany was a perfect 15-15 on clear attempts, while UMBC missed just one, going 17-18.

Next: UAlbany hosts Northwestern, the No. 2 team in the country, Saturday night at 5:00. It’ll be a “Black Out” game for the Danes.