ALBANY — University at Albany women’s lacrosse standout Katie Pascale finally got free for the final 10 seconds of Sunday morning’s America East Conference women’s lacrosse match.
There was nothing Binghamton, which had gone to great lengths to stop her all match, could do to prevent her or the rest of the Great Danes from celebrating their first championship in 11 years.
With the ball in her possession coming out of a timeout, Pascale sprinted behind the Binghamton goal to run out the clock and the Great Danes had a 14-13 victory at John Fallon Field to earn their first America East championship since 2012.
“I saw that they pulled their goalie and had two (players) on me,” Pascale said. “I knew 10 seconds and we’d be champions, so I just ran as fast as I could.”
The entire UAlbany team then ran to the other end of the field to mob freshman goalkeeper Grace Cincebox, who had nine saves and made the all-tournament team.
The Great Danes (12-6) could finally savor a title after losing in nine straight championship matches — eight in a row against league power Stony Brook, which finally left for the Colonial Athletic Association, and last year in a one-goal home defeat to Vermont.
“To bring it back to UAlbany is so special,” Danes head coach Katie Thomson said. “Our team always believed and took it game by game and this was built from the foundation of these past 12 years. All of our alumni, we had a bunch here in the stands and we’re so grateful to have that support and belief. They built that opportunity for us.”
UAlbany found out later Sunday it will play Virginia (11-6) in Denver at 8 p.m. Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of that game will play Sunday in a second-round contest against the winner of a first-round match between host Denver and USC.
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