VILLANOVA at YALE
Sat., Feb. 17 – 3:30 p.m.
Reese Stadium
Watch on ESPN+ | Live Stats | Tickets
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's lacrosse team will face a familiar foe in its season opener on Saturday. The Bulldogs have played Villanova in their first game in every season since 2017. It's a different story for the Wildcats, who already have one game under their belt and have in many of the other meetings as well. The opening faceoff at Reese Stadium is set for 3:30 p.m. following the Yale-Stanford women's game which is a noon start.
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
 
• Expectations are again high for a Yale program that has been to the NCAA Tournament every season since 2015, including winning a national championship in 2018 and returning to the championship game a year later. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 10 in the preseason rankings of all three major national polls and remain 10th.
 
• Yale returns its top five scorers from last year's team that finished 9-6 overall, advanced to the championship game of the Ivy League Tournament and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Included among the many returners are first team All-Ivy selections Matt Brandau, Michael Alexander and Jack Stuzin.
 
• Yale was picked second in the official Ivy League preseason media poll. Cornell is the favorite. The Big Red received all 14 first-place votes and had 92 points. The Bulldogs were next with 79 points followed by Princeton (73 points), Penn (55), Harvard (40), Brown (32) and Dartmouth (15).
 
• Four Bulldogs earned Inside Lacrosse preseason All-America recognition. Brandau was named to the third team, while Stuzin, Patrick Hackler and Chris Lyons were honorable mention selections.
 
• Brandau and Lyons were named to the first Tewaaraton Award Watch List, which was released on Tuesday. Brandau begins the 2024 season with 154 career goals and 105 career assists, which are both third in school history, and 259 career points, which is second all-time at Yale. Lyons finished second in the nation in goals per game (4.12) last spring, and his 62 goals tied for the second most in a season in school history and were the most ever by a sophomore at Yale.
 
• Andy Shay, who begins his 20th season as the Forst Family Head Coach of the Bulldogs, is the winningest coach in school history with 177 victories.
 
• Hackler is the captain of the 2024 Bulldogs. He came to Yale from Skaneateles, N.Y., just outside of Syracuse and has been a strong contributor throughout his career. Last spring, he scored five goals and added five assists as a top midfielder, and in 2022, he tallied 10 goals and notched three assists. Hackler was captain of both the lacrosse and football teams at Skaneateles High School.
 
SCOUTING VILLANOVA
 
The Wildcats (0-1) opened the 2024 season with an 18-10 loss to No. 15 Penn State last weekend. Villanova trailed 10-2 at halftime but scored eight second-half goals. Colin Michener, who missed last season with an injury, scored four goals and had three ground balls. Justin Coppola was 21-of-31 on faceoff attempts and had 10 ground balls. The Wildcats, who finished 10-5 last season, were picked fourth in the Big East coaches' poll after graduating 11 seniors. Defender Reid Colwell was named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List.
 
LAST MEETING
 
Chris Lyons started off his spectacular sophomore season by scoring nine goals, the most ever by a sophomore at Yale, as the Bulldogs beat the Wildcats 20-14 in Pennsylvania. Yale trailed 7-4 after the first quarter and then proceeded to outscore Villanova 6-3 in the second and 7-2 in the third. Matt Brandau added four goals and three assists. Goalie Jared Paquette made 18 saves to earn the victory.

Home opener on Saturday for Andy Shay and @YaleLacrosse @WTNH @YaleAthletics pic.twitter.com/m3yhseIkXe

— Erik Dobratz (@Erikd25) February 15, 2024