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Previewing Albany’s 2018 Schedule

With plenty of players returning, along with the arrival of Tehoka Nanticoke, will the Great Danes win their first national championship?

Albany v Syracuse Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images

The Albany Great Danes are the 58th team in our 2018 schedule preview series and the seventh and final team from the America East. The Great Danes won the America East Tournament and edge North Carolina in one of the best games of the 2017 season, but lost to eventual national champion Maryland in the NCAA Quarterfinals.

Here’s the entire 2018 schedule:

Albany’s 2018 Schedule

Date Road Team Home Team Special Notes Last Year's Meeting(s)
Date Road Team Home Team Special Notes Last Year's Meeting(s)
2/3 Colgate Albany Scrimmage
2/10 Albany Princeton Scrimmage
2/17 Albany Syracuse 10-9 L
2/24 Drexel Albany 19-8 W
3/3 Cornell Albany 17-6 W
3/6 Albany UMass 17-8 W
3/10 Albany Maryland 12-11 L, 18-9 L
3/17 Vermont Albany America East 17-6 W
3/20 Canisius Albany 20-11 W
3/24 Albany UMass Lowell America East 21-11 W
3/28 Harvard Albany 15-13 W
3/31 Stony Brook Albany America East 19-11 W, 19-6 W
4/7 Albany UMBC America East 10-5 W
4/20 Binghamton Albany America East 10-4 W, 20-8 W
4/22 Albany Yale 13-12 W
4/28 Albany Hartford America East 16-10 W

The Great Danes keep the same regular season opponents as they did a year ago.

Let’s check out some notable games on this schedule:

Best Nonconference Game: @ Maryland

What would be a bigger win for the Great Danes: Syracuse or Maryland? With the game being held in March and in College Park in a game that should be on TV, I’m going with the Maryland game. They lost twice last year, and a road win outside of New York against the defending national champions would quiet any remaining doubters.

Best Conference Game: @ UMBC

Albany should have an relatively easy path to the America East conference title. The closest margin of victory during the season came against UMBC, which was a five-goal margin. Despite the margin, Albany scored four goals in the second and five goals in the third quarter. The Retrievers did finish second in the America East conference standings.

Under The Radar Game: vs. Harvard

The Crimson had a good start to last season before they limped at the end. They did play the Great Danes to a 15-13 loss to Albany, thanks to three goals from Morgan Cheek and Tim Edmonds to keep them in it at Harvard Stadium. This year’s meeting is at Albany.

Possible Upset: vs. Cornell

The Big Red might have a pretty good offense next year with the likes of Jeff Teat, Connor Fletcher, Clarke Petterson, and a veteran goalie in Christian Knight. They still might be young and not ready to make big moves, but Cornell could provide a very surprising upset early in March.

For other schedules and team rosters, check out our Men’s Division I matrix.