Hempstead

University at Albany sophomore TD Ierlan took a deep breath. One more faceoff to go against a man considered the greatest at his position that lacrosse has ever known.

After a tense nine-second standoff, Ierlan wrested control of the ball away from Denver senior Trevor Baptiste. Ierlan spun off one defender, bounced off another and evaded a third and fourth before scrambling downfield and passing to senior teammate Connor Fields.

"Fieldsy, thanks for being open, bud," Ierlan said later.

Then the countdown began. The Great Danes ran out the clock and were finally headed to their sport's Final Four for the first time in program history because of a 15-13 NCAA Tournament quarterfinal victory over Denver on Saturday before 6,486 at rainy Hofstra University.

"It was a sigh of, not relief, but just we finally did it because I knew we were going to win," Ierlan said of game's closing moments.

Sean Eccles, Kyle McClancy, Tehoka Nanticoke and Jakob Patterson had hat tricks for the Great Danes (16-2), who won in the quarters for the first time in five tries to advance to the NCAA semifinals next Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., the home of the NFL's New England Patriots.

They'll play third-seeded Yale, which beat UAlbany 14-6 in New Haven, Conn. last month.

When it was over, players charged the field to mob fifth-year senior goalkeeper JD Colarusso, the only player left from a UAlbany team that blew a five-goal, fourth-quarter lead in a quarterfinal loss to Notre Dame on this same field four years ago. The coaching staff exchanged hugs.

"It's all part of the process, and again, they stuck with it,'' UAlbany head coach Scott Marr said. "If you watch our sideline, there's no negativity, everybody is just next-play oriented. They believe in each other and they believe in themselves. It's definitely a great feeling for us to break through and make this (semifinal) appearance next week, but we just said in the locker room, we're halfway there."

The Great Danes will attempt to become the first UAlbany team to win a Division I national title. UAlbany became the first America East program to reach the national semifinals since Towson in 2001.

UAlbany's TD Ierlan went 15-for-30 in his much-hyped matchup with Baptiste, which pitted the game's two best at their position.

Ierlan set a Division I single-season record by winning his 340th faceoff of the season. He also won the first three of the game as the Great Danes built a 3-0 lead just 2:07 into the first quarter.

Denver (13-4) ran off four unanswered goals to take a 5-4 lead, but UAlbany retaliated with four of its own to go up 8-5. Nanticoke scored on a shot in close after brushing off two defenders at the buzzer to put the Great Danes up 7-5 at halftime.

With the match tied at 9, McClancy picked up a ground ball and scored off a faceoff just 11 seconds after the tying goal to put the Great Danes ahead for good at 10-9 with 3:44 to play in the third quarter.

When Denver pulled within 12-11 in the fourth quarter, Patterson scored and McClancy had back-to-back goals to push the advantage back to 15-11 with 2:08 to play.

Colarusso made seven saves. Fields had three assists to continue a season that appeared like it might be over when he struggled repeatedly with a sprained right knee suffered against UMass Lowell in March.

"It's an unbelievable feeling,'' Fields said. "We worked so hard all season just to get over this hump. It means a lot for our university. It comes back to our alumni, too. They were here supporting us today and it's a really exciting feeling for everyone."

A heavily pro-UAlbany crowd showed up and repeated the "Albany" chant that has become the program's anthem. It was a particularly personal moment for the UAlbany seniors Troy and Justin Reh, twin teammates, and McClancy, who all hail from Long Island. Justin Reh had two goals and two assists.

"We just go out here and have fun with our best friends and we're happy to continue another week together," Troy Reh said.

It was also a meaningful win for Marr, who defeated Denver head coach Bill Tierney, the man who recruited Marr as a player to Johns Hopkins more than 30 years ago.

"That was an outstanding lacrosse game,'' Marr said. "For me to coach against Coach Tierney, who gave me my start in college lacrosse, I can't describe how special it is for me to beat him."