Last Thursday night marked Syracuse men’s lacrosse’s first ever trip to play UAlbany in Albany. However, while this is a novel occasion for the team, it’s not for SU faceoff coach TD Ierlan. The man that some argue is the best FOGO to ever play lacrosse began his career as a Great Dane in 2017. The Victor, New York native was a key piece in UAlbany’s successful run to end the 2010’s decade.
Ierlan broke the school record as a freshman winning 323 draws and led UAlbany to an America East title and an appearance in the Elite Eight. The ‘17 conference rookie of the year followed up a strong first season with an even better sophomore season. Ierlan set NCAA records with 359 face-off wins and a 79% win rate. The Great Danes reached the Final Four in 2018 for the first time in program history.
Following the banner year, Ierlan decided to move on and suit up for a different school. The most sought after transfer in the portal decided to take his talents to Yale.
“An Ivy League education was the biggest thing. Knock on wood but at the end of the day I could get hurt tomorrow and never play lacrosse again. I’ll have a job offer wherever I want because I was fortunate enough to graduate from Yale. It wasn’t easy because I have so many friends at Albany.”
What’s interesting is in the season right after the four-time all-american decided to move on from UAlbany, the Bulldogs made a trip to Casey Stadium. In that contest, Ierlan scored a goal and dominated at the “X” winning 16 of 17 faceoffs. So the former Great Dane FOGO has already experienced a return trip to John Fallon Field. Even though Ierlan has a bit of experience with this situation, he’s not looking forward to going back.
“It’s not going to be fun. It’s tough being on the other sideline with all the relationships I have there and built there and a lot of memories. To say I’m looking forward to it is not true.”
It seems like there may be some bad blood between Ierlan and the folks over at UAlbany. However, 22-year Great Danes Head Coach Scott Marr says there’s no hard feelings.
“We’re proud of what he did for us at Albany and he was a huge part of us getting to a Final Four and competing for a National Championship.”