Fast Start Fuels 20-11 Win Over Albany

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Bulldogs are playing for a national championship on Monday at Gillette Stadium. Yes, a national championship. The Yale lacrosse team, making just its second appearance in the NCAA Championship Weekend, scored on its first 4 possessions in the first and second halves on the way to a 20-11 win over No. 2 seed Albany today in the first national semifinal played before 30,616 at the home of the New England Patriots.

Matt Gaudet scored 6 times on 8 shots, Ben Reeves posted 9 points including 5 goals and Jackson Morrill contributed 3 goals and 5 assists in Yale's most prolific NCAA Tournament game ever.

The Blue will face No. 4 seed Duke (16-3) on Memorial Day at 1 p.m. for the 2018 championship. The Blue Devils knocked off top seed Maryland, 13-8, in the second semifinal.

"I'm very proud of my guys for sticking to the details and grinding as much as they did today, sharing the ball and playing a great game," said Yale Head Coach Andy Shay, who has led the Elis to their first national finale.

Nobody expected Shay's team to be able to share the ball like this, especially on a stage as grand as this. Gaudet, Reeves and Morrill combined for 23 points, while 8 Bulldogs found the net overall.

"I could just follow the slide, like coach has always taught me. I was able to get behind my guy for a couple of easy lay-ups," said Gaudet, who has 16 post-season goals this spring.

The Great Danes won the opening faceoff and then turned the ball over, leading to 4 straight Bulldog possessions with a goal and 7 tallies on the first 8 chances with the ball. John Daniggelis got it started by going right, left and then right again, ending his dekes with a bouncer through a small opening at 13:17.

Morrill added to the momentum seizure by running around from behind the net on the right side and sending a jump shot to the upper corner. Yale, cashing in on 3 consecutive Conor Mackie faceoff wins, kept it rolling in the offensive end. Reeves took a feed from Morrill behind the net and then headed for the cage. The captain stopped and zipped a quick shot inside the far post for a 3-0 lead.

On the ensuing faceoff, Jason Alessi grabbed the ground ball, took a few strides and then fired a shot that bounced off the UA goalie. Reeves scooped up the rebound and then saw Gaudet open near the crease. A quick flick by Reeves made for an easy deposit for his fellow attackman, the first of an impressive streak for Gaudet. The Hamilton, Ontario native notched 5 goals on his first 5 shots over the first 25 minutes of the game.

First-year goalie Jack Starr, who finished with 7 saves, needed to make a few tough stops in big situations to help the Blue get out of the gate quickly. Two in the first quarter helped keep the Danes off the board while building a 7-goal lead. The closest UA could get was a 4-goal deficit midway through the second quarter.

The Yale defense also came up with big plays today. Senior Jerry O'Connor caused the first of his game-high 3 turnovers and grabbed a ground ball on a play that resulted in a Reeves from Morrill tally and a 7-0 lead on the eighth Yale possession.

The Bulldogs (16-3) have benefited all season from near domination on the X from Mackie, who had 15 wins today. On a day where the nation's most efficient faceoff man, TD Ierlan, had the slight edge overall, Mackie's teammates made up for the difference.

This is clearly the largest stage ever for the Yale Lacrosse Program, but it never seemed to faze the Elis. "Our coaches make practice so hard, that a game like this can't ever get too big," said Morrill, who now has 40 goals this year. He added, "The pressure we get from our defenseman in practice is incredible, so you are always going to be prepared for a big game like this."

WAGGING A TALE

Yale defensemen Christopher Keating, Chris Fake, Jerry O'Connor and Aidan Hynes held the All-American duo of Cnnor Fields and Tehok Nanticoke to a combined 4 goals and 6 points today, 7 points combined between the 2 meetings this year...Two EMO goals from Brendan Rooney were huge today and something he has been able to do all season when called on... Christian Cropp scored his fourth goal of the year... Ted Forst also got his fourth... Conor Mackie had a team-high 7 ground balls... Duke has an 8-7 series lead and has won the last 4 meetings with Yale. The last Yale-Duke game was in 2009… The 16 wins tie the school record set by the 1990 team… The 20 goals are the most allowed by Albany since a 2013 regular season game.

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