Men's Lacrosse Tops Vermont to win America East Championship

By Gabriel Kitt | May 4, 2026

  Men’s Lacrosse earned their 12th America East Championship last Saturday (5/2). Photo Credit: Brent Warzocha / UAlbany Athletics

On Saturday May 2, the University at Albany men’s lacrosse team defeated the Vermont Catamounts 14-11 to capture their third America East championship in a row. 

The game started with the Catamounts scoring first by a goal from Colin Decker, 4:35 into the game. 

The game stayed 1-0 ,until Max Frattroli scored a goal assisted by Zack Toll to give Vermont a 2-0 lead with 7:05 remaining in the first quarter.

Both offenses struggled to score following the second goal; at 3:31, Jackson Palumb took the first penalty of the game: 30 seconds for a delay of game. The Catamounts did not score on the main advantage. 

With 1:24 left in the first quarter, Ryan Doherty scored the first goal of the game for the Great Danes. Neither team scored for the rest of the quarter, as Vermont led 2-1.

UAlbany started the second quarter strong,  as 49 seconds into the second quarter Silas Richmond would score his 35th goal of the season to tie the game 2-2. 

The game stayed tied, until an unassisted goal scored by Ryan Doherty with 10:30 remaining in the first half gave the Great Danes their first lead of the game. The lead did not last long, as a minute later Tristan Whitaker scored for the Catamounts to tie the game 3-3.

Vermont would take the lead with 7:04 left in the second quarter from a goal by Jack Combs. Less than two minutes later, Vermont would strike again to take a 5-3 lead by a goal scored from Ethan Pearson. 

With 2:31 left in the half, The Catamounts would score their fourth consecutive goal from Luke Reiter. UAlbany responded 13 seconds later with a pole goal scored by Justin Lee.

With 1:04 remaining in the half, the Great Danes cut the Vermont lead to one as Ryan Doherty scored, giving himself a first half hat trick.

The Catamounts led the game 6-5 at halftime. 

The Catamounts did not take long to find the scoreboard in the second half, as Sean McCeney scored 50 seconds into the half to make it 7-5. 

Tristan Whitaker scored with 12:25 remaining in the third quarter to give Vermont an 8-5 advantage. Four seconds after the Whitaker goal, the Catamounts took a one minute major penalty, which UAlbany would capitalize on with goals from Jackson Palumb and Silas Richmond, cutting the lead to 8-7 with 11 minutes remaining in the quarter. 

With 9:52 remaining in the quarter, the Catamounts took a 30 second penalty that the Great Danes did not capitalize on. 

Neither team scored for over five minutes of gametime until Sean McCeney scored with 5:30 remaining in the third quarter to give Vermont a 9-7 lead.

UAlbany responded about a minute later with a goal from Jackson Palumb. About a minute after the goal, Silas Richmond scored his third goal of the game to tie up the game 9-9 with 3:20 remaining in the third quarter. 

With 58 seconds left in the third quarter, Silas Richmond scored again to give the Great Danes their first lead of the second half, as the Albany crowd would be the loudest they had been all game. 

The Great Danes took a total of seven seconds to score their first goal of the fourth quarter as Ryan Doherty scored his fourth of the game. A minute later, UAlbany scored a fifth consecutive goal by Jackson Palumb for his third of the game.

With 11 minutes to go, Vermont scored to make it 12-10 from a goal by Matthew Drimmie. 

With 8:04 left in the game, Ryan Doherty scored his fifth goal of the game to give the Great Danes a 13-10 lead.

A minute later James Reid would follow it up with another goal, giving UAlbany a 14-10 lead with seven minutes left in the game. 

The game stayed 14-10 for the next four minutes. With 3:03 left, Vermont called their first timeout of the half. With 2:28 remaining in the final quarter, the Catamounts scored a goal by Ethan Pearson to cut the Great Danes lead to 14-11.

Following that, the Great Danes shut the door and emerge victorious 14-11, becoming American East champions once again.  

“We really had to find another level and another gear,” said Great Danes Head Coach Scott Marr following the game.