PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The No. 5 nationally-ranked Yale men's lacrosse team is on to the Ivy League Championship game for the sixth-straight season as the Bulldogs defeated No. 8 Cornell, 14-11, in the semifinal round of the Ivy Tournament. The Bulldogs, the No. 3 seed, will face No. 13 Penn, the No. 4 seed, in the title game on Sunday, May 8 at Noon on ESPNU.
 
After a five-all first period, the Bulldogs outscored the Big Red 3-0 in the second to take a lead they would never relinquish. 10 different Elis scored as Yale was able to hold off several late Cornell runs for the win.
 
"That was just a fun college lacrosse game. I'm sure that people that watched must have been blown away by the energy on both sides. That's what we expect out of Cornell and out of our guys," said Andy Shay, Forst Family Head Coach of Men's Lacrosse. "I'm glad we won but it's unfortunate that someone had to lose that game. Our team has persevered through a lot and I'm really proud of them."

With the victory, Shay has now won 167 career games, the most all-time at Yale. He passed Mike Waldvogel who coached the Bulldogs from 1981-2002.
 
With Cornell determined to take away the nation's leading point scorer in Matt Brandau, who still extended the nation's second-longest goal streak to 37 games, several Bulldogs stepped up including rookie Leo Johnson who had a team-high five points on two goals and three assists.
 
It was the duo of Johnson & Brandau that came up with the clutch score with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation after Cornell cut it to a one-goal game at 12-11. Brandau played the distributor role as Johnson netted his second of the game which gave Yale its two-score cushion back. Just 1:46 later it was Johnson finding Brandau for his score as the Bulldogs' strong defense showed over the final six minutes to close out the game.
 
Sophomore goalie Jared Paquette made six saves in the first quarter and 14 stops overall as he improved to 11-3 on the season. His defenders in front played well all night with seven caused turnovers and even a 75-yard goal from senior Chris Fake at the end of the second quarter.   
 
Paquette and the Bulldogs were able to withstand 18 total shots from Cornell in the first period. The Yale offense countered with 15 shots of their own in the next two periods. Yale's defense also held the Big Red to 10 or fewer shots in each of the final three quarters.
 
Yale owned the advantage in the circle as sophomore Nicholas Ramsey took 18-fo-29 including 4-of-5 in the fourth quarter and a game-high eight groundballs. Yale's midfield also made life tough on Cornell's clear attempts as the Big Red converted on just 15-of-23.
 
Johnson was joined by Brian Tevlin, Brad Sharp and Chris Lyons with two goals each.
 
Sharp had a fantastic game with four points, adding two assists, four groundballs and two caused turnovers. Fellow rookie Jack Stuzin also made an impact in his first career postseason game with a goal, five groundballs and a caused turnover.
 
The Bulldogs are back at Brown's Stevenson-Pincince Field on Sunday at noon.