Yale 2019

[calourie]

Came across this quote from Voyeur on the Virginia thread and thought it provides good background for why the Cavs become the national champs, and why Yale was unable to repeat:

Yes UVA got some nice bounces and fortuitous calls that gave them a chance to win it all, but they took advantage of those breaks. The reason I was not a believer in UVA was their play earlier on the D end of the field. Conrad got healthier, as the year went along which helped, but the O was as advertised. It was the D, GK and especially the SSDM's that really improved their games the 2nd half of the season. UVA looked confused at times early in the season. Nothing makes you less aggressive than thinking!! Early in the year there was a lot of "i got him?" "you got him?" oops nobody has him...GOAL. But in the second half of the season UVA looked very comfortable with how they were playing D and that allowed them to play more athletically and aggressively. That to me is where UVA made the most progress and why they surprised people by winning it all. Nobody ever doubted their talent level.

Yale was in much the same position at the season's start as the Cavs, and though the Bulldog D showed improvement on many levels over the course of the season ( footwork, communications, slides etc) it never outpaced the improvement of both its' and its' opponents Os,which ended up being the difference in the title game as well as the two loses to Penn, and came close to catching up with them in their two tilts with Penn State and their third match up with the Quakers. Fortunately for the Bulldogs almost all of the defensive playing components will be coming back ( I read on a thread in here that coach Baxter to Fairfield as HC is almost a done deal) and I expect they have the talent and hope they have the resolve to take that next step in cohesion that will help enable the Bulldogs to stay in the championship discussion for a third season in a row despite the need to replace a truly amazing first offensive midfield line as well. I reserve the right to remain optimistic regarding these two issues at least until next February 1. Fun time to be a Yale lacrosse fan.

[FannOLax]

Since we haven't yet been flipped over to a "Yale 2020" thread, I'll make a few last remarks here. Before the season started, I stated here that Yale had a big red target on its back; it did, and responded very well to that. This 2019 version of Yale men's lacrosse played with all the guts, intensity and hustle that I could have wanted to see. Geez, it was fun, an exciting team to watch. On Memorial Day my wife wore a Virginia t-shirt; I asked her about it and she said she had no idea that UVa was Yale's opponent. I didn't ask her to change it; that would have been superstitious (or something along those lines) of me. It wouldn't surprise me if Stimmel (or Baxter) gets the Fairfield job; I was mildly surprised me that Shay was able to keep his assistants after winning the national championship. On to fall ball in October and then 2020.

[Mid-Lax]

Great season. Over achievement in some ways; just hard to get back to National Title Game. Seniors leave a lasting legacy and returning players, including the rising sophomores, will keep us fans cheering next year and beyond.