VILLANOVA, Pa. -  The offense was hot for the No. 3 Yale Men's Lacrosse Team on a cold 2020 opening day, an 18-12 win over Villanova. The Bulldogs, who avenged season-opening losses to the Wildcats the last two years, had contributions from all over the lineup on a day senior TD Ierlan established yet another NCAA record.

Ierlan, who won 23 of 31 faceoffs, cleanly grabbed a faceoff late in the first quarter to break the national career record for ground balls. The most prolific man at that position in NCAA history now has 762. His work on the X today, which included 13 scoops, helped the Blue outshot the Wildcats 47-39 while allowing the visitors to spread the love on the offensive end.

Five Yale players found the net. Seniors Matt Gaudet and Lucas Cotler each had four goals and an assist, while sophomore Thomas Bragg notched a career-high four goals and six points and sophomore Matt Brandau chipped in three goals and three assists.

The Elis, missing numerous regulars with injury or illness, trailed 1-0 after the opening faceoff and then never got behind again. Yale had leads of 5-1 and 7-3 before the Wildcats, who opened their season last week with a loss to No. 1 Penn State, made two runs to close the gap.  The Bulldogs put things out of reach by outscoring Villanova 9-3 in the second half.

Yale senior Brody Wilson, who has earned a win in all five of his career starts, stopped a career-high 13 shots today. That included a pair of attempts from close range in the second quarter while the home team was close to grabbing the momentum. Those stops were a big reason the score was 9-9 at the half.

The Bulldogs have a bigger test next Saturday when they travel to No. 1 Penn State for a rematch of the 2019 NCAA Semifinal.