Yale Beats Harvard; Improbable Run Continues
from press release
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Freshman defenseman
Phil Gross scooped up the loose ball 25 feet from his own goal and
flung it to the other end of the field as the final seconds ticked
off the clock as the No. 13 Yale men’s lacrosse team
qualified for the Ivy League Tournament with a 9-8 victory over No.
20 Harvard before 1,113 at Reese Stadium.
Gross, who helped the Bulldog defense limit the visitors to one
goal in the fourth quarter, was able to get the ground ball because
classmate Michael McCormack (game-best six ground balls) whacked
the ball out of a Crimson’s possession with Yale protecting
the one-goal lead.
That typified the effort the Eli defense put forth to allow the
home team to erase a 6-3, third-quarter deficit and score four of
the game’s last five goals in a thrilling Ivy League rivalry
contest in front of Reese’s largest crowd in recent
years.
Yale, which could finish first or second in the league, will play
in one of the May 7 Ivy League Tournament Semifinals at either
Princeton or Cornell, depending on the results from tonight’s
Big Red-Tigers matchup at New Jersey.
Brian Douglass, who had the fourth-quarter equalizer and winner,
finished with three goals and pushed his season total to a
team-high 32. The junior attackman took over after Jeff Cohen
(game-high four goals) hit the net at 10:01 of the fourth to give
Harvard an 8-7 lead.
“We wanted this one very badly for our seniors. They have
been through a lot and we wanted to give them a gift on senior
day,” said Douglass. “We had a healthy amount of
nervousness before the game, and it was enough to keep us fighting
the entire game.”
But Douglass would not have tied the game at 8:35 if not for the
defensive play of the game from sophomore midfielder Mark Dobrosky,
whose dive and underhand check knocked the ball from a Harvard
player to a Yale teammate. Before you could figure out what
happened, Colin Still was running down the field and feeding
Douglass for a relatively easy tally.
“To play that much defense in the first half and still get
that effort in the second was amazing,” said Yale head coach
Andy Shay. “We found energy in the second half. We grinded it
out the entire game on defense.”
Matt Fuchs, one of six seniors playing their last game at Reese,
finished his home career in fine fashion with two goals and four
points. His final point was the biggest one. He saw Douglass
crossing in front of the crease and put a perfect pass on his
stick. Douglass turned, in motion, and flipped a 15-footer through
Harry Krieger’s (7 saves) legs with 5:48 left for the goal
that turned into the winner.
Yale called a timeout with 3:26 left and then turned up the
defense a notch more. Harvard proceeded to fire five of its
game-high 37 shots over the last 100 seconds. Three were wide and
two were blocked by Bulldogs. The last came from Kevin Vaughan (4
assists) with 18 ticks left and it bounced off a Yale stick.
Senior Max Rodman had another big day in the faceoff circle for
the Bulldogs. He won 14 of 21 while helping the Blue to a 29-23
ground ball advantage.
The Elis (10-3, 4-2 Ivy) got the first two goals (Fuchs, Patrick
Coleman) of the game, took a 2-1 lead into the first break and were
feeling pretty good about their play despite being outshot and not
having the ball nearly as much as the visitors.
They weren’t feeling so well when Harvard (6-6, 2-4) tallied
six of the next seven goals and seemingly took control of the
contest. However, the Bulldogs did not get flustered.
“I told the guys during halftime not to come on the field if
they were not going to give it their all in the second half,”
said Yale captain Brendan Gibson. “It worked, you see how we
played.”
That’s not all the inspirational leader said during the
intermission.
“Gibby (Brendan Gibson) said he didn’t want this to be
the last half of lacrosse in his college career,” said Yale
goalie Johnathan Falcone (5 saves). “We just poured our
hearts out for the seniors.”
Twenty-three of the game’s first 31 shots came off Harvard
sticks and possession time seemed like three-to-one at that point.
Add to that a three-goal deficit, and Yale’s post-season
clincher was even more impressive.
“We played a full game of defense in the first 30 minutes.
It was an unbelievable win,” said Shay, who was hugged by
more people on the field after the game than the average groom at a
wedding.
The Elis could have packed it in and patted each other on the back
for a nice season when they were down three. Now they are heading
to their first post-season game since 1992, the last time Yale went
to the NCAA Tournament.
“We have had the mantra ‘so what, let’s
get on to the next play.’” We focused on the things we
could change in the game,” said Douglass.
