Yale Gets 27-15 Win Over Brown

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Yale men's lacrosse team (9-2, 5-0 Ivy) has successfully defended its Ivy League Regular-Season Championship. It has one more league contest remaining that determines if the Bulldogs get a second straight outright title. Today's school-record offensive performance, a 27-15 win over Brown that included 16 goals in the second half at Stevenson-Pincince Field, might indicate the Elis are in good shape to take care of that business.

Ben Reeves had 4 goals and 3 assists and Joseph Sessa notched 4 goals with 5 points overall as the No. 6 Blue clinched a share of the 2018 league title and sent an offensive message to the college lacrosse world. The 27 goals were the most since the Elis recorded a 26-0 win over the Bears in 1927, the year the sport began at Brown.

The shots were 67 to 41 with 15 different Bulldogs finding the net. Yale erased two early deficits before putting on a second-half display that included 8 straight goals and a 15-5 run.

Things started well for the Blue, but it was anything but clear sailing early on. Conor Mackie (18 for 30) won the opening faceoff with help from Tyler Warner's ground ball, which led to Sessa splitting defenders and firing an off-angle shot 54 seconds into the game. That was the first of 4 Mackie wins on the X leading directly to first-quarter goals, turning a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead heading into the second frame.

Matt Gaudet and Lucas Cotler found the net, and then Sessa added two more to give Yale its second lead of the day. Sessa's second of the day came off a great spin move and fake.

The Eli defense also made big plays in the first half. One of those was a outright theft by senior defenseman Christopher Keating. A pair of caused turnovers led to Yale's last two scores of the first quarter, including a rising laser off the stick of Reeves with 25 seconds left.

The Bears clawed back with a 3-goal run to start the second quarter, which ended with a great save by Jack Starr (8 saves) and a Reeves-to-Warner connection that evened things at 7-7. Mackie won the ensuing faceoff and then deposited his third goal of the year. That was the second of a 5-goal run that put Yale ahead 11-7. A Jason Alessi bouncer, a long shot from Jack Tigh (3-1-4) and a fourth Sessa tally gave the Blue its largest lead to that point.

The Bulldogs got more separation and even better play in net in the third quarter. Reeves started things with a nifty, lefty shot. The visitors then went on an extended possession that included 4 ground balls and numerous shots, ending with a Gaudet goal that simultaneously drew an ugly Brown penalty. After the Eli sophomore released the shot, defenseman JJ Ntshaykolo delivered a blow to the head that got him thrown out of the game and gave Yale a 3-minute man up.

Yale scored on 3 of its 4 extra-man chances, and this opportunity ignited the Blue to put the game away, beginning a mass exit by Brown students for an earlier start to their Saturday night.

BULLDOG BITES

Sessa's output was a career-high. His previous career-high was 3-1-4 at Albany last spring… Every dressed Yale player saw action today… Junior Thomas Duran (injured all last year) and rookies Griffin Gharrity and Luke Eschbach each recorded their first career goals… Brody Wilson and Hoyt Crance combined to make 4 saves in the fourth quarter... Yale has won 8 of its last 9 games... U.S. Hall of Famer Morris Touchstone was head coach of the Yale team that beat Brown 26-0 in 1927... The No. 6 Bulldogs host Marist Tuesday night at 7 before No. 2 Albany comes to Reese next Sunday at 1.

IVY

Princeton, which beat Siena earlier in the week, beat Dartmouth 24-13 today… Cornell, after beating Syracuse during the week, got past Lehigh 12-10… Penn beat Harvard 11-7.

By Steve Conn, Yale Associate AD/Sports Publicity Director – steven.conn@yale.edu