NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale Bulldogs played one of the most thrilling games of the 2022 men's lacrosse season as the No. 8-ranked Elis defeated No. 5 Penn in overtime, 12-11. It was first year Chris Lyons who came up with the deciding goal and his third-straight hat trick.
 
The Bulldogs faced a gauntlet of an Ivy League start with three-straight games against teams ranked in the top-5 nationally but now sit at 5-2 overall and 2-1 in Ivy play.
 
In a tight, back-and-forth contest, Penn was able to get back into the game with strong defense in the final regulation frame, but the Bulldogs remained poised despite the Quakers tying it up and came through in extra time.
 
"We came out with some fire in the second half and played lose and faster before part of our youth started to show a little bit as we turned the ball over, but we pride ourselves on talking about mental toughness. When they tied it up, our guys hung in there and stuck to the process," said head coach Andy Shay. "In the end, we scored the last one."
 
Penn scored first in the game and led 5-4 early in the second quarter. Yale rallied and got a goal from Lyons with the clock expiring to take the lead at the break, 7-6. Yale answered a second-stanza opening goal with three-straight scores to go up 10-7, but Penn then used a 4-1 scoring advantage over the final 24 minutes to force overtime.
 
In the end, Lyons' OT winner gave him a career-high four points as he was one of eight different Bulldogs to score and four with multi-point games. Junior Matt Brandau had a goal and two assists while first year Brad Sharp had two goals and an assist in addition to fellow rookie Leo Johnson scoring twice.
 
Bulldogs playing in their first collegiate seasons accounted for nine of the 12 Eli goals.
 
The Yale defense was strong all day as senior Chris Fake had a game-high with four caused turnovers and added four groundballs. Sophomore Patrick Hackler, junior Thomas Bragg and senior Luke Eschbach each had two caused turnovers.
 
In goal, Jared Paquette came up with 12 stops as he improved to 5-2 on the season.
 
The Bulldogs start a three-game road swing at No. 14 Boston University this coming Tuesday, April 5, at 4 p.m. Yale then plays Saturday games at Dartmouth (4/9) and Brown (4/16) before returning home on Sunday, April 24 against UAlbany at noon.