UAlbany 15, Yale 13 Location: Tom & Mary Casey Stadium in Albany, N.Y. Records: UAlbany (1-0); Yale (0-1) Short Story: Falling behind by as many as four in the second half, the UAlbany women’s lacrosse team mounted a furious comeback to clinch a season-opening victory in head coach Katie Rowan’s Great Dane debut. Coach Rowan: “It’s such a great feeling to get the win today. I’m so proud of the girls’ effort, they’ve been working so hard and I’m so happy for them. We were making some better decisions overall in the second half and putting our shots away. We were getting our chances in the first have but we weren’t taking that extra second to finish our shots. It says so much about the players as people and their character that they were able to finish and play the full 60 minutes and never stop to the end. I’m really proud of their composure.” Key Stats Kendra Harbinger scored four goals Sam Tortora scored two goals and recorded three assists Hailey Carroll scored three goals Ally Alliegro scored once and recorded three assists off the bench Erin Leghart made eight saves Yale won 11 draw controls in the first half, to UAlbany’s five UAlbany forced 10 Yale turnovers in the second half UAlbany outshot Yale 17-11 in the second half Recap In a rematch of the 2018 season opener in New Haven, Conn., the University at Albany women’s lacrosse team hosted Yale to open the 2019 season. The game was also the first on the sidelines for head coach Katie Rowan at the helm of the Great Danes. Last season, Yale knocked off UAlbany in the season opener 12-10. This time around, the Great Danes fell behind by as many as four late before mounting a big comeback in the second half to clinch the victory from the Bulldogs, 15-13. Yale got on the board quickly with two goals in the first three minutes of the first half. UAlbany’s first goal of the season came with 26:32 remaining in the first when Paige Werlau successfully converted a free position attempt. Yale went back up by two just over 30 seconds later. UAlbany scored each of the next three goals to go up 4-3 with 17:28 to go in the first. Yale drew even two minutes later, before UAlbany scored once more to take a 5-4 lead. Yale rattled off each of the next five goals spanning seven in-game minutes to take a four-goal, 9-5 lead with 2:46 before halftime. UAlbany finally scored to break Yale’s run with a minute remaining in the half to cut their deficit to three at the break. Despite the three-goal lead, UAlbany had outshot Yale 14-13 over the first 30 minutes, and had scooped up 10 ground balls to Yale’s four. Yale, however, held a sizeable advantage, securing 11 draw controls in the first half to UAlbany’s five. Yale scored quickly within the first minute of the second half to go back up by four. UAlbany scored again with 23:52 left in the second. Neither team scored again for nearly eight minutes, when Yale scored with 16:11 to go to attain their third four-goal lead of the game. UAlbany ripped off the next three goals in a row in a span of two and a half minutes to cut Yale’s lead to one with 13:51 remaining. Yale scored four minutes later on a penalty advantage, and traded the next two goals with the Great Danes to maintain a two-goal lead with 8:12 left. UAlbany scored the final four goals of the game. The Great Danes tied the Bulldogs at 23 with 4:44 to go, took the lead with 3:40 to go, and finished out the game’s scoring with 2:37 to go, securing the 15-13 victory in the first game of the season. UAlbany outshot Yale 17-11 in the second half, whole the UAlbany defense forced Yale into 10 second-half turnovers. Overall, the Great Danes outscored Yale 9-4 in the second half. Reigning America East Rookie of the Year Kendra Harbinger led UAlbany with four goals, while captain Sam Tortora scored twice and recorded three assists. Hailey Carroll with three and Kyla Zapolsko with two were UAlbany’s other multiple-goal scorers on Saturday. Eight Great Danes found the back of the net. Next: UAlbany hosts Bucknell in the second of four straight home games to start the 2019 season on Saturday, February 23 at 12:00 p.m.