Reeves, Rooney Combine for 9 Goals, 14 Points

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – When the No. 2 team in the country is coming to your house in a few days, it's easy to get caught looking ahead. The Yale men's lacrosse team made sure that did not happen tonight in its last non-league game of the year.

Ben Reeves had a season-high 4 goals and 4 assists, Brendan Rooney added 5 goals and an assist and Jack Starr made 10 saves as the No. 5 ranked Elis won a third straight game, 14-4 over Marist.  

The Bulldogs (10-2, 5-0 Ivy) have 10-1 Albany coming to Reese Stadium on Sunday (1 p.m. on ESPN3, 6 p.m.- delayed- on ESPNU) for a game that has been circled by everyone since the 2018 schedules were announced.

Five different players found the net as the Blue broke open a 1-1 game with 5 straight tallies. Reeves, the senior All-America attackman, got two of those early goals and now has 35 on the year to go along with 32 assists. He scored on jump shots, in heavy traffic and on long shots from multiple angles.

"Marist had a great defensive scheme, but our offense found opening inside," said Reeves. "It was a great test for us, and we will use it to get better for the weekend."

Yale got on the board first in the initial meeting of these teams. Jack Tigh picked off a pass in his own end and passed the ball to Will Weitzel, who set up Jackson Morrill for a bouncer that hit the top of the net.

"It was a sticky start, but we started moving the ball much better after a while," said Yale Head Coach Andy Shay.

John Daniggelis scored consecutive goals in the first quarter to give the Blue a 4-1 lead. The home team could have had a larger lead at that point if not for the stellar play of Marist goalie Brian Corrigan (14 saves).

Reeves and Rooney combined for consecutive tallies on great passing plays to put the game out of reach. The senior fed the junior on a give-and-go and then it went the opposite way for a 6-1 advantage.

"I dropped a few early, so I was just trying to focus," said Rooney, who had a career-best outing. "I had to focus on every play."

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