Box Score PRINCETON, N.J. – The No. 9 Yale University men's lacrosse team pushed hard in its attempt to come back from a four-goal deficit in the fourth quarter but No. 10/13 Princeton was able to hold off the hard charging Elis, 11-10.
Conrad Oberbeck (Greenwich, Conn.) led the Bulldogs (5-2, 0-2 Ivy) with seven points, three goals and four assists. The output from the senior is a team-high this season.
The Tigers (6-1, 2-0 Ivy) were paced Mike MacDonald (Georgetown, Ont.) and Kip Orban (Westport, Conn.). MacDonald recorded six points, two goals and four assists, while Orban scored four goals.
Oberbeck now ranks seventh on the career scoring charts with 148 points. The senior currently has 113 goals and 35 assists. Next on the list is Brandon Mangan, '14 with 163 points.
The home team opened the scoring 3:27 into the 99th meeting between the Ivy League rivals when Adam Hardej (Hingham, Mass.) ripped a MacDonald feed into the cage.
Oberbeck tied the game at the 5:25 mark with his team-leading 17th goal of the season. Ben Reeves (Macedon, N.Y.) had the assist. Reeves had a four point (two goals, and two assists) afternoon for the visitors.
The Tigers took advantage of a Yale turnover when MacDonald slammed a Sean Connors (Manhasset, N.Y.) lob past Yale goalie Eric Natale (Westminster, Md.).
Oberbeck scored his second of the game all alone at the top of the crease with 3:26 remaining in the opening quarter. Michael Keasey (Newport Beach, Calif.) assisted on the tally.
Eric Scott (Basking Ridge, N.J.) gave the visitors a 3-2 lead with 49 seconds remaining in the opening period. The sophomore fired one off the post and in with the shot clock on.
Face-off men Jonathan Reese (West Islip, N.Y.) and Conor Mackie (Glen Rock, N.J.) won all six of the first quarter face-offs. For the game the duo finished 17-of-24 (70.83%)
The Tigers outscored the visitors 5-1 in the second quarter to take a halftime lead.
Orban opened the second quarter scoring 1:59 in to tied the game at 3.
Princeton scored twice in 41 seconds to take a 5-3 lead with 3:49 left in the second quarter.
MacDonald broke the deadlock at the 9:45 mark when he sent the orange sphere past a screened Natale. Then with 4:34 left in the first half, Orban scored his second of the game.
The Tigers added to their lead when Gavin McBride scored off a Zach Currier (Petersborough, Ont.) feed at the 12:29 mark.
Yale broke the four-goal Princeton run with 1:19 left in the first half. Colin Flaherty (Eastport, N.Y.) fired a Michael Bonacci (Crofton, Md.) behind the goal toss into the upper right corner.
Orban completed the hat trick with 6.4 seconds left in the quarter. MacDonald assisted on the 100th career point by the Tigers' captain.
The teams entered the locker room with the Elis trailing 7-4, despite holding a 10-2 advantage in the face-off X.
Princeton opened a quick five-goal lead, scoring twice in the first 2:02 of the third quarter.
First Connors commenced the second half scoring with an over hand rocket (shot clock) goal with 13:49 left. Fifty one seconds later, Will Rotatori (Winter Park, Fla.) scored off a Bear Altemus (Kensington, Md.) feed.
The Bulldogs broke the streak when Sean Shakespeare (Walpole, Mass.) converted an Oberbeck pass while man-up at the 2:55 mark.
Orban scored his fourth of the afternoon with 8:38 left in the third.
Oberbeck completed the hat trick at the 7:12 mark. The strike moved the senior into a tie for seventh place with Mike Babcock, '89 and Jason O'Neill, '90 on the career scoring chart with 145 points.
The Elis capitalized off a slow man-down Princeton rotation with 3:32 left in the third. Reeves fired an Oberbeck toss past Tigers' goalie Eric Sanschagrin (Carlsbad, Calif.). It was the team-best seventh straight game with a goal by the freshman.
Each team scored trio of third quarter goals allowing the Tigers to maintain its three goal lead entering the fourth quarter.
The hosts got their advantage back to four when Ryan Ambler (Rydal, Pa.) converted a MacDonald pass 3:06 into the final period.
The Bulldogs got the lead back to a deuce, scoring twice in a 48 second span.
Shakespeare got his second of the afternoon ripping a Reeves feed into the cage at the 4:12 mark. Reeves then fired an Oberbeck pass over Sanschagrin's shoulder with exactly 10 minutes remaining.
Keasey bounced one through the goalie's legs to cut the Tigers' lead to a single goal with 2:50 left. Oberbeck had the helper.
The Bulldogs pushed hard for the equalizer.
Sanschagrin was able to come up with a Shakespeare rocket with 1:33 remaining to get the Tigers the ball back.
From there, Princeton was able to run out the clock of the sixth-straight one-goal game between the schools.
Natale (5-2) made five saves in defeat while Sanschagrin (5-1) finished with eight stops.
Ivy League play continues at Penn on March 28. Opening face-off of the game, which will be televised on FOX Sports 1, is set for 5:30p.m.
Filed by Kyle Young, Yale Sports Publicity
