LarGer Than Life Game Less About Lacrosse, More About Liam

As Scott Marr thought of ways to honor his late friend Liam Gleason, he kept coming back to the former Siena coach’s nickname during his playing and coaching days at UAlbany: “The Tree.”

It was an apt way to describe Gleason: Big, rock-solid and reliable. And so Tuesday afternoon, a flowering pear tree will be planted along the path UAlbany walks from its locker room to practices and games, visible from Casey Stadium.

“In the springtime, it’ll bloom and be nice white flowers,” Marr said. “It’s funny, Liam was always about gear and uniforms. He’d say, ‘We look really clean. Let’s go with all white because it’s a real clean look.’ I kind of went with that for him.”

The lasting tribute to Gleason, who died at 41 in December of injuries suffered in a fall at his home, is the preamble to what will be a day of remembrance and celebration for the Capital District lacrosse community. Come the evening, Siena will make the crosstown trip for what the schools have christened the LarGer Than Life game they intend to play each year moving forward.

It’s a name that works on multiple levels. Gleason possessed that sort of personality, but part of Tuesday’s festivities will include highlighting the power of organ donation. Gleason designated himself as one, a decision that helped saved four lives last year.

Donate Life New York State will have a presence, as will Lax For Life, which advocates for participation in and awareness of organ donation.

“His organ donations helped save the lives of multiple people, and that just speaks volumes to who Liam was and wanting to be the big tree teddy bear giving out hugs and then to make sure his life continues to make lasting impacts on other people,” Siena coach Tim Cox said.

Gleason was a fixture in Albany lacrosse circles for more than 20 years, first as a player for the Great Danes. What followed was a gradual tweak of his commute: To Siena as an assistant, to Division II College of Saint Rose for a short head coaching stint, back to Albany for seven years as an assistant and then back to Siena for seven seasons as the head coach.

Last year marked a breakthrough for the Saints, who won the Metro Atlantic and returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014. It was a triumph for the program and for Gleason, who had promised Siena lacrosse alums when he took over that the school would again compete for championships.

His death created a centrifuge of emotions for the Saints to navigate. The honor walk at the hospital. The memorial service on campus a few days later. And a season to prepare for, one that began barely two months later.

Siena dropped its opener 23-7 at Boston University on Feb. 6. It has lost just once since.

“We knew that first game was going to be challenging,” said Cox, who was an assistant under Gleason the previous seven years. “The message after that first game was we can’t let one game define us. We knew this one was going to be a tough matchup. BU’s a great team and really put the pressure on us, and emotions were really high and our guys didn’t know how to handle that as much as they do now.”

The Saints head across town at 10-2, including 6-0 in the Metro Atlantic. A double-overtime victory at second-place Marist on March 25 is Siena’s only victory by less than four goals, and it will clinch the top seed in the league tournament with a victory over either Mount St. Mary’s or Merrimack in its final two regular season contests.

Tuesday represents a rematch of last year’s NCAA opening round game, an 11-9 UAlbany victory.

“The kids have really rallied around Timmy and rallied around the program and obviously in remembrance of Liam,” Marr said. “You have to give them credit for doing what they’re doing and just being able to hold it together. It’s a really good team, and it’s going to be a great game.”

The Saints figured out quickly togetherness and unity would be vital, and those qualities have propelled them deep into the spring. Cox has appreciated the excitement he’s seen from his starters when game conditions have allowed him to get scout team players into games in recent weeks.

It’s all in a sense an acknowledgement that every second counts.

“We’ve used that term, life is too short,” Cox said. “You have today. We have right now, and we have the moment that we’re in, so let’s make the most of it and enjoy it and play with a smile on your face. It’s effort and attitude. Just go out and play with full effort, with a great attitude and a smile on your face. Good things will happen when we do that. Then you just live with the outcome at the end of the day. Then you wake up tomorrow and you do it again.”

The LarGer Than Life game was originally scheduled for March 17, but a cold snap led the schools to push the game back four weeks.

It was for the best. While conditions in Albany can fluctuate in April — it snowed there last Tuesday — high temperatures are expected to reach 80 degrees with a chance of scattered thunderstorms.

“It was miserable that week. It would have been no fun, not for what we wanted to do as far as the celebration part,” Marr said. “The ground was frozen, so we wouldn’t have been able to plant the tree. It just made sense that if we were going to do this right for Liam to play on a date where we had a chance for a better weather day.”

It’s also a chance for some good lacrosse. The Saints have taken seven in a row, the second-longest streak in Division I. UAlbany (7-4) has won its last five, and on Saturday clinched the top seed in the America East tournament.

“It really seems that lacrosse is really the last piece we’re even thinking about,” Cox said. “Hopefully, both of us can show up and pass and catch and it’s not a 2-2 game. But I think the biggest thing is for Scotty to see these two programs come together and honor Liam since he was such a big part of both of them and just trying to find ways for both universities to honor him for the foreseeable future.”

Marr wants Tuesday to be much more of a celebration of Gleason than anything else. Gleason’s parents, brother, wife and children will be in attendance. UAlbany has a video planned to honor Gleason’s time at both schools. There will be a moment of silence before the game.

And there will be the flowering pear tree, visible from the stadium and taking root in the same town Gleason did.

“I think it’s going to be an emotional night,” Marr said. “We’re just proud of Liam and what he did and what kind of friend he was to everybody. Just hope it’s a good night.”