Reeves Scores 5, Sets Yale Record in 14-8 Loss

NEW YORK, N.Y. – A fourth straight league tournament title was never within grasp of the Yale men's lacrosse team today, which had its win streak end at six games. Shots that had been going in during the string of success got saved. Passes that were normally caught were dropped, and balls that had been getting picked up were going to the other guys. Give credit to No. 8 ranked Cornell, which knocked off the nation's top ranked team, 14-8, to claim the 2018 Ivy Tournament Championship at Robert K. Kraft Field.

On a day when Ben Reeves hit the net 5 times and surpassed Jon Reese '90 as Yale's career goal leader (163), the Bulldogs didn't get enough offensive support and ended up losing most of the small battles against a team it beat by just 2 goals at Ithaca in March. The Bulldogs had the edge in shots and faceoffs but could not solve a talented goalie.

There were 4 or 5 top-notch scoring opportunities in the second half alone for the Bulldogs (13-3) that were denied by great saves. That turned out to be the difference in the game. Christian Knight, named the MVP after setting a combined tournament record for saves with 35, stopped 19 Yale shots.

"He was incredible," said Andy Shay, Yale's head coach, about Knight. "He made some big saves. And he was catching some of them, which made it hard to set up the ride."

This game could have gone either way in the first 30 minutes, and most people at Baker Field today would not have been surprised to see Yale roll to another victory. The Blue got on the board first following a Conor Mackie faceoff win. With the shot clock on, Reeves ran out from behind the net and fired top shelf at 12:36.

Reeves tied the game at 2-2 when he ran in from the right side and bounced one into the net at 5:07 of the first. The captain was at it again when he tied it at 3-3 with a run out from behind with 15.3 seconds left in the first.

Yale opened the scoring in the second as well, but this time it was Jack Tigh running through a stick check and flicking a shot through the goalie's legs.

Reeves came out from behind a third time to give the Blue its only multiple goal lead at 5-3, but this one was different. The senior attackman didn't come out as far and had much less of an angle on this attempt. Despite the lack of openings, Reeves let it rip over Knight's shoulder. This was the only time of the game that the tourney's top seed felt like it may have captured the momentum.

However, the Red tallied three straight to grab a 6-5 advantage. This set up Yale's final equalizer, a Reeves rocket at 12:42 of the third that gave him the career goals record. Cornell answered with 6 straight and the game was out of reach. During that stretch, there were multiple grade-A scoring chances for the Elis that were turned aside by the Red-hot goalie.

"It didn't feel like us today," said Shay, who was concerned about paying respect to Cornell's effort. "Hopefully we can sharpen our swords [for next week]."

The Bulldogs, who bounced back from both regular-season losses with long win streaks, hope to rebound the same way next weekend in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. They will find out who they play and where tonight at 9 during the selection show on ESPNU.

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