After they finish passing the banana, the players continue recounting stories that put this team in its proper context.
“Our friend Sean Eccles does a good hoo-rah,” Perla says, referring to the pregame chant Eccles inherited from his brother, Derrick, who played for the Great Danes from 2013-16 and now serves as a volunteer assistant.
Sean Eccles’ teammates egg him on to recite the chant, which originated from a Rick Ross song in the locker room before a game against Stony Brook.
“Do it. Do it. Do it,” his teammates shout, still sitting in a hotel lounge. (He would save it for game day.)
The chatter moves to Marr’s air guitar skills, most memorably demonstrated while Derrick Eccles listened to a Lynyrd Skynyrd song in his headphones. Marr couldn’t hear it, but he still hit every riff.
Marr’s love for classic rock has had an influence on Albany’s pregame playlist, but don’t try to pin this team to one genre.
“Creed. Katy Perry. Free Bird. Pearl Jam. Take Me Home, Country Roads,” Zelen says.
“Connor [Fields] always puts Meek Mill on before the game,” Laffin says. “Kodak Black at least a few times.”
Off the field, the Great Danes are a tight-knit group that enjoys every minute together.
That does not change when they take the field the next day at UMBC Stadium. With music blasting through the sound system, voices from the center of Albany’s stretching circle echo much like they did last night at the hotel. Players shout out jersey numbers, calling on their teammates to speak up.
“OK 2-3.”
“Smells like hot dogs 3-8,” Jack Burgmaster shouts, acknowledging the concession stand a few yards away.
At the end of the roll call, as is the case every game, one of the quietest players on the team has his turn.
“Take us home Kyle,” a teammate yells to senior Kyle McClancy.
“OK Danes!” he screams as the team huddles together.
Minutes later, Marr addresses his team for the final time before the game, delivering the mantra that has driven this team all season.
“Let’s go,” he says. “It’s a beautiful night. Let’s have some fun.”
Two hours later, for the first time all season, the levity abates. With Fields, the Tewaaraton candidate, and Justin Reh sidelined and UMBC playing error-free and opportunistic lacrosse, the Retrievers stun the Great Danes 11-7.
Despite the lackluster performance, Marr and his coaching staff — all former Great Danes players — never stop preaching to play loose and enjoy the moment.
That positivity has been part of the DNA of this Albany program since Marr became its first Division I coach in 2001, and it’s not going anywhere.
“It’s a culture,” Marr says. “It’s not a one-time thing. It’s something we preach to them all the time. These guys are college kids, and they’re playing lacrosse. There’s a lot of things going on in the world that are not positive, and they can’t take that for granted.”