Albany Great Danes - Other Division I Athletic Success

Other Division I Athletic Success

• In 2013, women's basketball became the 7th team in America East Conference history to go unbeaten in the regular-season. They defeated Stony Brook 60-49 on March 2, 2013. It was the first ever conference regular-season title for the program at the Division I level.

• In 2011, the Women's Lacrosse team would finish the regular season a perfect 17-0. They would be the only team to finish the regular season undefeated in the nation going into the NCAA Tournament. The trip to the NCAA Tournament would be the first in program history. They would defeat UMBC 11-4 in the America East Championship. They would be seeded #7 in the tournament, however would have to play their first round game at Dartmouth (conflict with universities graduation weekend). They would defeat Dartmouth 10-7, however lose in the Quarterfinals 18-4 to Northwestern. They would finish the season a program best 18-1.

• Field Hockey won its first ever America East Championship in 2008 after being ranked within the top-20 nationally for the majority of the season. They would be eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by the top seeded Maryland Terrapins.

• The Athletic Program would win a record-tying eight conference titles in the 2006–2007 school year, including five during the spring sports period. The Great Danes took home the conference championship in women's volleyball, men’s indoor track & field, men’s basketball, men’s lacrosse, men’s & women’s outdoor track & field, baseball and softball.

• Baseball won its first ever conference championship in 2007. They were selected as the #4 seed in the Fayetteville Regional in the 2007 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament (#1 University of Arkansas, #2 Creighton, #3 Oklahoma State).

• The women's volleyball team in 2006 became the first team in school history to host a Division I NCAA Tournament event. In 2007, the Great Danes won their second consecutive America East Conference championship and defeated Cleveland State 3–0 to win their first NCAA Division I Tournament match, led by coach Kelly Sheffield. Sheffield would lead UAlbany to three NCAA Tournaments during his seven seasons as head coach. Even after Sheffield's departure, interim coach MJ Engstrom would lead the Danes volleyball team to its third consecutive America East Championship in 2008.

• The Track & Field team became the first team at Albany to sweep both men's and women's conference titles in 2006 and then repeated the effort again in 2007.

• Men's soccer goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul would sign a contract with the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer and make his professional debut, the first for an Albany alumni in the major-American (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS etc...) sports, on May 13, 2006. In January 2008, Coundoul was named to the Senegal National Soccer Team to compete in the 2008 African Cup of Nations Tournament in Ghana. The African Cup is the highest level soccer championship tournament in Africa. With being named, Coundoul became the first MLS player to ever compete in the tournament. In 2009, goalkeeper Steward Ceus became the first Great Dane selected in the MLS Draft when he was selected by the Colorado Rapids to replace Coundoul after he left to free agency.

• UAlbany has had eight players selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft: Terry Kenny (9th round, 1974, San Francisco Giants), Steve Checksfield (10th round, 2001, Houston Astros), Mike Grasso (11th round, 2002, Atlanta Braves), Adam Kroft (30th round, 2004, San Diego Padres), Tom Hill (34th round, 2007, Kansas City Royals), Mike Konstanty (39th round, 2008, Cincinnati Reds), Dave Kubiak (36th round, 2011, Tampa Bay Rays) and Sean Lucas (25th round, 2012, Cincinnati Reds). No Great Dane has ever played in the majors.

• Softball won three straight conference titles from 2005–2007. The team would win its first NCAA Division I Tournament game and advance to its first regional final after defeating Harvard 1–0 and Hofstra 4–2 in 2007.

• Three former student athletes have competed in the Olympic Games. Andy Seras competed in the 149.5-pound Greco-Roman wrestling group in the 1988 Seoul Olympics for Team USA. Shawn Sheldon competed in the 114.5-pound Greco-Roman wrestling group in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics for Team USA. Rob Caracciolo competed in the 1,500 meter Track and Field event in the 2004 Athens Olympics for Equatorial Guinea.