Yale 2024

[FannOLax]

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Cole Jackson, M, St. Francis (Calif.) | Yale
Jackson is an explosive athlete with great speed that constantly allows him to put pressure on the defense. Among the pieces of his game that set him up for success at the next level is his confidence and capability working with picks and dodging with the necessary patience to set the pick up. That said, his most impressive play on Sunday was when he came bombing out of the sub box, swept across the top and hammered a bouncer on the run.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... game/61903

Thanks, Fann. Nice to see some Yale ‘27 guys showing out well. That description of Jackson sounds a little bit like Brad Sharp’s game.

Yes, plus both are from California (Michael Keasey '16 was another SoCal middie). Although having Chauvette decommit late on was not a great thing, I suspect the class of '27 will be fine. Following the 2018 natty, I think the lure of a championship ring might have attracted some recruits who weren't fully committed to the culture Shay instilled; perhaps the program can get back to having 100% buy-in.

[Lax3]

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... shay/61972

[The Orfling]

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... shay/61972

Thanks for the heads up on this, Lax3; I look forward to listening to it.

[FannOLax]

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... shay/61972

"It's not a talent-based process here." It's about work ethic and commitment to the process. Around minute 24, Shay confirmed the difficulties of recruiting after the national championship. Plenty of interesting details.

[coda]

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Cole Jackson, M, St. Francis (Calif.) | Yale
Jackson is an explosive athlete with great speed that constantly allows him to put pressure on the defense. Among the pieces of his game that set him up for success at the next level is his confidence and capability working with picks and dodging with the necessary patience to set the pick up. That said, his most impressive play on Sunday was when he came bombing out of the sub box, swept across the top and hammered a bouncer on the run.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... game/61903

Thanks, Fann. Nice to see some Yale ‘27 guys showing out well. That description of Jackson sounds a little bit like Brad Sharp’s game.

Yes, plus both are from California (Michael Keasey '16 was another SoCal middie). Although having Chauvette decommit late on was not a great thing, I suspect the class of '27 will be fine. Following the 2018 natty, I think the lure of a championship ring might have attracted some recruits who weren't fully committed to the culture Shay instilled; perhaps the program can get back to having 100% buy-in.

I dont think you are going to regret that decommit. That was not going to be a culture fit.

[FannOLax]

Alumni game Friday Sept 15, 7:30 pm at Reese; golf outing earlier in the day. Autumn is in the CT air today.

[Lax3]

...
...
Cole Jackson, M, St. Francis (Calif.) | Yale
Jackson is an explosive athlete with great speed that constantly allows him to put pressure on the defense. Among the pieces of his game that set him up for success at the next level is his confidence and capability working with picks and dodging with the necessary patience to set the pick up. That said, his most impressive play on Sunday was when he came bombing out of the sub box, swept across the top and hammered a bouncer on the run.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... game/61903

Thanks, Fann. Nice to see some Yale ‘27 guys showing out well. That description of Jackson sounds a little bit like Brad Sharp’s game.

Yes, plus both are from California (Michael Keasey '16 was another SoCal middie). Although having Chauvette decommit late on was not a great thing, I suspect the class of '27 will be fine. Following the 2018 natty, I think the lure of a championship ring might have attracted some recruits who weren't fully committed to the culture Shay instilled; perhaps the program can get back to having 100% buy-in.

I dont think you are going to regret that decommit. That was not going to be a culture fit.

Without delving into it, curious why that was not going to be a culture fit?

[The Orfling]

Already posted on the JHU thread: Ty Xanders reporting that Taft D Matthew Surin ‘24 has flipped from Hopkins to Yale. That gives Yale three Taft commits so far: A Peter Moynihan ‘23 and G Ben Friedman ’24. Good to have a strong connection to a great home state program. Friedman and Surin are also club teammates.

https://twitter.com/tyxanders/status/16 ... 62106?s=20

[The Orfling]

Already posted on the JHU thread: Ty Xanders reporting that Taft D Matthew Surin ‘24 has flipped from Hopkins to Yale. That gives Yale three Taft commits so far: A Peter Moynihan ‘23 and G Ben Friedman ’24. Good to have a strong connection to a great home state program. Friedman and Surin are also club teammates.

https://twitter.com/tyxanders/status/16 ... 62106?s=20

Matthew Surin's highlights from spring '23 (looks like he's got a good stick and good footwork -- moves well for his 6'3" size): https://youtu.be/DfBRCpXwwhM?si=vn_rsDx4n7YMrWkr

[FannOLax]

Asher Ziv, midfielder from Pingry, is a '25 (reclassified from '24) commit to Yale.

Shay has had some tremendous players from New Jersey, from many different schools (the Mackie brothers even went to different high schools), and Asher is the first I can recall who went to Pingry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhYjfxrb33Y

[The Orfling]

Another ‘25 commitment: IL 4-star FOGO from Calvert Hall in Baltimore, Ben Cuomo: https://x.com/tyxanders/status/1701263481809285189?s=46

Seems like a terrific scholar athlete: https://imlca.sportsrecruits.com/athlet ... tto_cuomo2

[MDlaxfan76]

Another ‘25 commitment: IL 4-star FOGO from Calvert Hall in Baltimore, Ben Cuomo: https://x.com/tyxanders/status/1701263481809285189?s=46

Seems like a terrific scholar athlete: https://imlca.sportsrecruits.com/athlet ... tto_cuomo2

Love that self-statement!

[Lax3]

Anybody else a little underwhelmed by the Class of 25 recruits at this point?

[FannOLax]

Fall ball this Sunday Oct 15 at Reese, Yale hosting Vermont and Stony Brook, starting at 11 AM. Looks like three scrimmages, with Yale playing the first and last. Could be cool and rainy, although rain somewhat less likely for Sunday than saturday. I might go.

[FannOLax]

There is sunshine in New Haven. In today's first scrimmage, Yale topped Stony Brook by either 17-8 or 17-7. I'm pretty sure that after one quarter, the Elis were up 7-2, and 11-4 at half time. Lyons looked like an All American. Hugh Conrad looked good in goal, especially on the clear. I believe #3 is frosh Moynihan, who looked really good, both in the 1st half as a first-line offensive middie, and in the second half as an attackman. FOGO tandem of Ramsey and Mac Rodriguez looked very strong, with Rodri scoring a goal straight from a face-off win. More to come.

[FannOLax]

Here is IL's take on Yale fall ball day. In addition to the ones IL named as missing, I would add Thomas Bragg and Mike Alexander, among others. However, I think all of the rope unit was present, and it looked good.
https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... oard/62166

Yale
Matt Brandau, Jared Paquette, Michael Alexander, Brad Sharp, and several other Bulldogs were all unavailable — that didn’t do much to slow the team down though. Chris Lyons and Leo Johnson were outstanding as primary options for the Yale offense, while a combination of freshmen and returning role players looked good alongside them.

“I think we were OK,” coach Andy Shay said. “I think we’re in the right spots, and we did the things we were supposed to do clearing, riding, in those moments. In as much as that, I’m pleased.”

Lyons got the party started early against Stony Brook, scoring a goal off the opening face-off. While in past years, Lyons has played the role of finisher and off-ball threat, he looked like a top dodging option for Yale in their first game. Stony Brook’s defense was aggressive sliding and switching picks, which led to Lyons frequently having a shortstick matchup. He attacked that matchup all day and unofficially finished with five goals and an assist.

Against Vermont, Lyons stayed hot. He had a first quarter hat trick and caused a turnover on the ride. All said and done on the day, Lyons unofficially had eight goals and two assists. He looked aggressive as a dodger and a creator, much more than just an off-ball threat.

“We see that every day in practice. A couple of my colleagues were at practice saying, ‘Well he’s dodging more now’ and I say he dodges all the time,” Shay said. “But we don’t see it in the game because maybe Matt’s back there or Leo, and he’s great inside. So he just does that. He really can do whatever we need him to do. It’s funny, it’s like you don’t notice your kids growing up. So you guys see him once in fall and then in the spring, but I see him all the time. He’s been great.”

With so many stars out, there were opportunities for freshmen to make an impact in game situations. Many played prominent roles with the starting group. Even with Yale using so many young and inexperienced players, they were able to win matchups. Middies Cole Cashion and Matt Harding, attackman Peter Moynihan and goalie George Northup all stood out. Cashion ran with the first midfield group and was able to shake his man on a number of occasions, drawing slides and putting pressure on the defense. The attack in particular saw a lot of young players rotating through Brandau’s spot.

“Cashion was great, I thought Harding played great, [Tristan] Ghosh played great,” Shay said. Northup in particular played well in the goal as a backup, getting a lot of minutes in both games, while Hugh Conrad started both contests.

“I’ll look at the stats, but I think they both were above 50%. I thought they were both great. They were both great in the clear. When you have a goalie that hasn’t played as much, get him in the clear and sometimes it’s an adventure, but both of them were great,” Shay said.

[The Orfling]

There is sunshine in New Haven. In today's first scrimmage, Yale topped Stony Brook by either 17-8 or 17-7. I'm pretty sure that after one quarter, the Elis were up 7-2, and 11-4 at half time. Lyons looked like an All American. Hugh Conrad looked good in goal, especially on the clear. I believe #3 is frosh Moynihan, who looked really good, both in the 1st half as a first-line offensive middie, and in the second half as an attackman. FOGO tandem of Ramsey and Mac Rodriguez looked very strong, with Rodri scoring a goal straight from a face-off win. More to come.

Fann, so great that you were able to get to Reese for fall ball. It sounds like it was a great day. Thanks for these notes which rounded out the picture from the Inside Lacrosse fall ball report. The news about some good depth at goalie (Conrad and Northup in addition to the returning Paquette) and how strong the face offs were is welcome. Moynihan was highly regarded coming in, and glad he did well; it’s also nice to hear Coach Shay/IL highlight some folks without Inside Lacrosse stars: Cole Cashion, whom some posters on this forum had suggested might be a real player; Matt Harding; and Tristan Ghosh. It’s a good reminder about IL’s star system — I think the 4 and 5 star guys largely pan out, but there’s plenty of great players who aren’t always seen and end up having great college careers. So although I like a 5-star commitment with the best of them (Leo Johnson was a top 10 guy), I have a lot of trust in Shay and Co. in the recruiting process to identify some diamonds not on the “big board.”

Because I am one note these days, I do wish they had highlighted a newcomer pole on close defense as standing out too! But it sounds like Yale was dominant enough that maybe it was hard to get an impression of the close defense.

[The Orfling]

Anybody else a little underwhelmed by the Class of 25 recruits at this point?

Hey, Lax3 — I think we are probably seeing a combination of the following factors:

• Post-national championship recruiting bump has re-set;

• We may be seeing some of the effects of the NIL — although Ivy leaguers can get NIL money, it’s more scrutinized and they can’t get the “pay to play” bonus money that seems to be available at some strong lacrosse schools;

• I’ve heard from a HS coach in a different sport — not lacrosse — that Yale has bumped up its academic requirements for recruits; if this is something happening across the board, perhaps it relates to the post-Tom Beckett era in the athletic department, perhaps to pressure from the academic faculty, or possibly even relating to the tectonic shift in college admissions after the Supreme Court case, which may be putting downstream pressure on athletic admits at Yale.

With that said, the IL star system is imperfect — as I said in my post on fall ball, I think the assessments of top guys generally hold up, but some players just don’t get seen or talked about and fly below the radar. Yale has had a good eye for those players in the past and I hope that will still be the case.

[FannOLax]

Fann, so great that you were able to get to Reese for fall ball. It sounds like it was a great day. Thanks for these notes which rounded out the picture from the Inside Lacrosse fall ball report. The news about some good depth at goalie (Conrad and Northup in addition to the returning Paquette) and how strong the face offs were is welcome. Moynihan was highly regarded coming in, and glad he did well; it’s also nice to hear Coach Shay/IL highlight some folks without Inside Lacrosse stars: Cole Cashion, whom some posters on this forum had suggested might be a real player; Matt Harding; and Tristan Ghosh. It’s a good reminder about IL’s star system — I think the 4 and 5 star guys largely pan out, but there’s plenty of great players who aren’t always seen and end up having great college careers. So although I like a 5-star commitment with the best of them (Leo Johnson was a top 10 guy), I have a lot of trust in Shay and Co. in the recruiting process to identify some diamonds not on the “big board.”

Because I am one note these days, I do wish they had highlighted a newcomer pole on close defense as standing out too! But it sounds like Yale was dominant enough that maybe it was hard to get an impression of the close defense.

I wish I were able to name more newcomers, but I have seen no 2024 roster. I was able to take a good guess on Moynihan because in the second half of the Stony Brook scrimmage, he was playing so well that people in the stands were asking out loud "who is that?" and someone shouted out "Moynihan."

I know it was just fall ball, and that we weren't facing the likes of UVa, but I was very happy with how the defense played: with controlled aggression, like a coordinated defensive unit. (Knock on wood.) Those save percentages cited by Shay had something to do with the the shots allowed by the defense. Miklaswewski and Garchitorena both looked good at LSM (I can't give you more syllables than "Miklaswewski and Garchitorena"). Monfort, Christian Johnson and Hackler all looked good at SSDM, with Monfort and Hackler also looking capable of playing like old-fashioned two-way middies. But really, the entire defense just looked good. Pisano and Platten started with Cohen in the back three and looked like they belong. I know, I know, it was just fall ball, and Cornell and Princeton will probably offer far more difficult challenges.

Against Stony Brook, Sheehan started in the attack line with Leo and Lyons. Sheehan, a Canadian, didn't look flashy or spectacular, but he had a nice bagful of goals against Stony Brook and I can easily imagine him slotting seamlessly into the man-up attack unit... a bit like Brendan Rooney a few years ago.

Yes, a lot of the first-years looked good; I wish I could connect more names to numbers. I'll keep telling myself it was only fall ball, but it's hard for me not to be optimistic about what we might see come February, March, April and hopefully May.

[Farfromgeneva]

Didn’t see him mentioned but anyone notice if Brody Coleman is playing after I guess a rough leg injury last year?

And would love to hear more color on platter if folks have it. Just spent a week on Candaigua Lake and we’ve got his fellow Close D member and HS goalie in Geneva.