ALBANY The last few months have been a whirlwind for Caitlin Cucchiella.
In late August, Cucchiella — known to her Colonie Central High School alumni as Caitlin Colfer — gave birth to her first child. Nearly three months later, she coached the University at Albany women’s soccer team to its first America East Tournament title, as the Great Danes rallied for a 2-1 victory over Hartford in the final Nov. 8.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” said Cucchiella, who played her high school career at Colonie and collegiately at Ohio State. “I think the girls were a huge part of this. Even with nine minutes left (in the game) and down 1-0, they never gave up.”
The victory propels UAlbany (11-8-1) into the NCAA Division I Tournament, where the Great Danes will meet Big 10 champion Penn State Friday, Nov. 13, in State College. For Cucchiella, it marks a full circle moment.
“I played my last collegiate game at Penn State. Now, I get to coach my first NCAA Tournament game at Penn State,” she said.
Going to the NCAA Tournament was a pipe dream for UAlbany when Cucchiella joined the program in the summer of 2013. Coaching a roster she only had a short time to get to know, her first season ended with a 2-14-1 record.
But Cucchiella — who previously coached at Sage College — turned things around in her second season. With a full off-season of recruiting under her belt and a better sense of the talent already at UAlbany, Cucchiella led the Great Danes to a 7-9-5 record and an appearance in the America East Tournament semifinals, where they lost to Hartford 1-0.
“I think first and foremost it’s believing in the process,” said Cucchiella. “They (the players) had to buy into what we were doing.”
Cucchiella told her team during the preseason this year that the goal was to get to the league championship game — a feat the Great Danes accomplished with a 2-1 overtime victory over Vermont in the semifinals Nov. 1. Standing in their way was Hartford, which owned a 14-1-2 record over them since they joined America East in 2001.
Aaliyah Ingram gave Hartford a 1-0 lead six minutes into the game, and it appeared as if it would be the winning goal until senior Allison Carhart tallied off Caitlyn Paltsios’ free kick with less than nine minutes left in the second half. Kelly Kempf then scored in the 88th minute to put UAlbany ahead for good.
“It’s tough to go down 1-0 in the first half,” said Cucchiella.”Pretty much, the girls decided to take a breath (at halftime) and make a couple of adjustments.”
Now, the Great Danes face a Penn State team that enters the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed in the East Regional after winning the Big 10 regular season and tournament championships. But, Cucchiella said her team won’t be intimidated.
“The first thing we talked about (after the brackets were revealed Nov. 9) is Penn State is a fantastic, quality opponent,” said Cucchiella. “We’re going to take it five minutes at a time, and the longer we keep them off the scoreboard, the better quality chance we have.”