College Men: Albany justifies seeding with big win

Playing in its first ever NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament, Albany justified its No. 14 seeding with a 3-0 win over Boston College, the lone ACC among nine tournament entrants to lose in the secondround.

“Back when we played them the first time we weren’t fully who we are yet,” said head coach Trevor Gorman.  “We were still coming together,getting our bodies back used to playing with each other, and they took advantage of us that day.  Today, having our group that’s been settled here for the last month, who’s reallygetting comfortable playing together, I think it really helps a lot.”

Brazilian Bernardo Mattos redirected a corner kick from Moosah Khanat with his head for the openinggoal.

“It was really good to get that first goal,” said Mattos.  “It gave confidence to the team, and we were able to relax a bit from the pregameemotions.”

Brazilian Afonso Pinheiro teamed up with Chilean Nico Solabarrieta for the second goal. Afonso fed Solabarrieta, who broke through to make it 2-0.

“Anytime you score early, it changes the game,” said Gorman, the son for former Penn State coach Barry Gorman.  “And to get the second one as well in the first halfwas key because it meant they had to chase the game.”

Albany had led BC in their regular-season meeting, but the Eagles rallied for a 5-3 win. But the Great Danes’ defense heldfirm, and Albany sealed the victory with a third goal from Pinheiro late in the game.

“We feel like we’re playing well now,” said Gorman. “We feel like we’vebeen playing really well for the last five, six weeks.  We’re really happy to see them get the reward today.”

Since losing to Boston College, the Great Danes are 10-2-1in thirteen games, and have outscored its opponents 29-7.  The stretch has included a win over Syracuse, which advanced to the third round, and Vermont, which lost in overtime to Virginia onSunday.

“I’ve been here for four years,” said Mattos, “and we’ve been dreaming of this, hosting a game in the NCAA tournament, playing in the tournament forthe first time in history, and we finally did it.  It’s a big accomplishment for us.”