Tons of credit to Harvard for an amazing near-comeback, particularly the composure shown by their goalie in withstanding the early barrage of goals and making a ton of saves;
Lots of credit as well to Yale for handling injury adversity so well -- another big injury, this time to top LSM Jack Stuzin who missed most of the game. With real-time defensive line-up adjustments, it's no wonder a strong offensive team like Harvard had such a good day in terms of offensive efficiency. #28 in net for Yale did not have his best day but the defensive shuffling and man-down situations probably played a part in that. And #28 came up big with a couple of key saves down the stretch, including when Harvard had a chance to cut the lead to one with an EMO and #28 made the save and Hackler scored his crazy 75-yard empty net short-handed goal.
Can't do anything about injuries, and Yale's "next man up" philosophy has gone well. One place where I think Yale must improve down the stretch is on EMO. Harvard was 3-for-5 on EMO and scoring two goals on a two-minute non-releasable (correctly called) was a huge part of their second half comeback. Yale was 0 for 2 on EMO for its part and is now under 15% for year. With these non-releasable penalties playing such a major role in games this year (e.g. Denver-Cornell), hopefully Yale can get a respectable EMO offense together or it really may hurt (as it did today).
Co-players of the game for me: FOGO Mac Rodriguez, with an amazing 71% at the X in a game in which Yale absolutely needed every extra possession, and the Most Unselfish Player in College Lacrosse, Matt Brandau, with 8 assists, zero goals;
Other offensive heroes: Kuhl, Keib, Thomas Bragg (3-for-3 shooting; if Bragg's shot is dialing in that's a big deal); and a big congratulations to first-year Cole Cashion with his first career goal at a key point in the game.
Great job Yale, great win over a gutsy Harvard team. Gimme a Bulldog and a couple "bow-wows"!
Thank you, Orfling, for your accurate and insightful summary. I hope that Stuzin will be back soon. In his absence, first-year Michalik got playing time at LSM. I agree with The Orfling's assessment of the goalie play, and I would add that I thought Paquette's clearing game was good. Yale was 17 0f 19 clearing, and I suspect that those two failed clears were the result of scrum-like situations and/or Harvard contesting everything.
Yale controlled the first half well, but committed a penalty in the last seconds of the half, giving Harvard possession with a man up to start the third quarter. That seemed to be the story of the third quarter, Harvard attacking with an extra man or two. In past years, posters on this board have called for the Bulldog defense to play with controlled aggression; unfortunately, today there was some ill-advised aggression, probably resulting from frustration at the way the quarter was going. Yet, Yale found a way to turn the tide of momentum, thanks to consecutive goals by Bragg and Cashion. Bragg rose to prominence with his man-up howitzers from the perimeter, but today he showed that his game is much more than that. And Cashion's first Yale goal could hardly have come at a better time, restoring Yale's four-goal lead. And then Hackler's man-down goal, from fully 70 yards. Wow!
I echo Orfling's praise of FOGO Rodriguez. His development reminds me of Conor Mackie's from 2016 through 2018, and I mean that as high praise. I think Ramsey took one draw today. As good is Rodriguez is, I can understand making hime the clear #1 Eli FOGO. Still, Rodri developed as part of a tandem, and I think he tired late on, which contributed to his win percentage slipping late in the game. I'd like to see Ramsey (and perhaps even Annunziata) get more chances at the dot. Still, a tremendous performance from Rodri, and from the team. As Harvard showed in its game against Bucknell, the Crimson is capable of rousing comebacks; so kudos to Yale for withstanding the second-half onsalught and coming away with a win. It's good that this team is not repeating last year's 0-3 Ivy start. What a good game, and a good win!
I don't know what the record is for MOST ASSISTS are in a game but what a game by Matt Brandau. You know this guy is a great goal scorer, but that was one of the most unselfish performances to help his team to a great win.
His team, fans, coaches and teammates should be so proud of this guy, with such an amazing, unselfish performance.
Congrats to the ELI's and especially Matt Brandau.
Orfling had a good assessment of the game. 37 was a difference maker for sure. Great on the clamp and even better in the contested ground balls. Kudos from this crimson fan. Paquette made some key saves down the stretch. The save percentage doesn’t tell the whole story. While he may have wanted one or two back, he made some key stops to preserve the win. Hope H gets to see Y again in the ILT.
joewillie78 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2024 7:11 pm
I don't know what the record is for MOST ASSISTS are in a game but what a game by Matt Brandau. You know this guy is a great goal scorer, but that was one of the most unselfish performances to help his team to a great win.
His team, fans, coaches and teammates should be so proud of this guy, with such an amazing, unselfish performance.
Congrats to the ELI's and especially Matt Brandau.
Gobigred
Joewillie78
Brandau yesterday tied the Yale single-game assist record of eight. It had been done twice before, including by Josh Gibson in 2012. Yesterday, Harvard was sliding early to Brandau, keying on him, and he's a very good passer who sees the field well. He also took some shots on goal; maybe three of Harvard goalie Barnard's saves were off Brandau shots. There were also a couple of times I expected #41 to shoot, but he didn't. He's been a terrific player for Yale, and is a big reason why the Eli attack has remained potent even without Leo and Lyons.
joewillie78 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2024 7:11 pm
I don't know what the record is for MOST ASSISTS are in a game but what a game by Matt Brandau. You know this guy is a great goal scorer, but that was one of the most unselfish performances to help his team to a great win.
His team, fans, coaches and teammates should be so proud of this guy, with such an amazing, unselfish performance.
Congrats to the ELI's and especially Matt Brandau.
Gobigred
Joewillie78
Joewillie, thanks as always for your positive outlook on Ivy lax and your enjoyment of the great players in the league. I'm a big Matt Brandau fan -- it's crazy to think as a past Tewaaraton finalist (in 2022) he's flying a bit under the radar but, oddly, I think he is. That's partly because of his style is understated and partly because he is in fact so unselfish -- last year he was #3 in goals scored for Yale with 37 behind Lyons (62) and Johnson (40). As FannOLax observed, having the Yale offense doing so well this year with Lyons and Johnson out really highlights Brandau's key role. (Plus, one of the best games any attackman has had in the country this year was Brandau's 13 point outing against Colgate, with most of his effort in the first half when Yale was down early -- but there was no streaming so in this media environment it didn't have the impact it might have had it been televised or streamed.)
In the first half yesterday Yale challenged a Harvard goal and won. The sound system wasn’t really up to snuff and I couldn’t hear the garbled explanation. Somebody help me out. What was the call?
Thanks
Husky1 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2024 12:13 pm
In the first half yesterday Yale challenged a Harvard goal and won. The sound system wasn’t really up to snuff and I couldn’t hear the garbled explanation. Somebody help me out. What was the call?
Thanks
The shooter was fine but another Harvard attackman fell/was pushed into the crease before the ball went into the goal. The camera replay showed that he had received a lil shove by the Yale defender before falling into the crease; I don't know enough about the current rules (including replay) to know how that plays out. Could the refs only review for "whether the guy was in the crease" and not how he got there? Or were they allowed to review how he got into the crease and the conclusion that it was pretty normal off-the-ball contact and correctly was ruled as a crease violation? Not sure on that one. But the call was definitely crease violation on the off ball attackman.
2. Coach Shay was a guest on the Inside Lacrosse "Tailgate" podcast (he joins partway through). I'm sure he was balancing being a good podcast guest with not providing any bulletin board material, but I found a couple of things interesting. To my ear, it came through that he was frustrated with a couple of Yale's penalties in the win over Harvard and said they'd key on them in the film session. He also appeared to be responding to questions that have bubbled up generally sparked by #23 playing so well on close defense -- why didn't he see the field more last year? -- and suggested that given #23's aggressive style of play they wanted more time for him to adjust to the college game etc. He didn't think #23 had his best game against Harvard's Sam King (who's a great player) but is really happy with all #23 has given the team so far.
2. Coach Shay was a guest on the Inside Lacrosse "Tailgate" podcast (he joins partway through). I'm sure he was balancing being a good podcast guest with not providing any bulletin board material, but I found a couple of things interesting. To my ear, it came through that he was frustrated with a couple of Yale's penalties in the win over Harvard and said they'd key on them in the film session. He also appeared to be responding to questions that have bubbled up generally sparked by #23 playing so well on close defense -- why didn't he see the field more last year? -- and suggested that given #23's aggressive style of play they wanted more time for him to adjust to the college game etc. He didn't think #23 had his best game against Harvard's Sam King (who's a great player) but is really happy with all #23 has given the team so far.
Good stuff. Thank you for posting it, Orfling.
Brandau has been excellent; it seems that he's been a bit under-appreciated nationally because of the long shadow cast by Ben Reeves. The article mentioned Matt's brother Chris, but made no reference to that 2019 1st round NCAA game when Yale scored 19 goals against Chris and Georgetown. Chris bounced around a bit after that, but Yale has been fortunate that Matt stuck with the program through the pandemic, taking semesters off to play all four of his years for the Bulldogs.
The Orfling wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 7:20 pm
Maybe we bring James Jones over for a consult on the Yale lacrosse defense once this lil post-season basketball tournament thing wraps up?
Shay doesn't need any help! But Jones is one of the best in the business.
Congrats to Yale for blowing up my bracket last night against Auburn. Like last year, I never seem to learn that these Ivy teams can play with anybody, like last year's Princeton team, and the 2010 Cornell team making the Sweet 16.
Anyway, onto today's snow bowl game at a frigid Schoellkopf.
Yale is #1 in RPI, so that right there tells us that the big red are in for quite the battle.
Good luck to both teams in what should be a classic Ivy League battle.
joewillie78 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 9:28 am
Congrats to Yale for blowing up my bracket last night against Auburn. Like last year, I never seem to learn that these Ivy teams can play with anybody, like last year's Princeton team, and the 2010 Cornell team making the Sweet 16.
Anyway, onto today's snow bowl game at a frigid Schoellkopf.
Yale is #1 in RPI, so that right there tells us that the big red are in for quite the battle.
Good luck to both teams in what should be a classic Ivy League battle.
Gobigred
Joewillie78
Joewillie, glad you got to be there to witness a good Cornell win over Yale. Maybe the teams will play again in the Ivy League tournament -- one can hope! Cornell is looking in great shape for the Ivy tournament with wins over Yale and Princeton.
joewillie78 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 9:28 am
Congrats to Yale for blowing up my bracket last night against Auburn. Like last year, I never seem to learn that these Ivy teams can play with anybody, like last year's Princeton team, and the 2010 Cornell team making the Sweet 16.
Anyway, onto today's snow bowl game at a frigid Schoellkopf.
Yale is #1 in RPI, so that right there tells us that the big red are in for quite the battle.
Good luck to both teams in what should be a classic Ivy League battle.
Gobigred
Joewillie78
Joewillie, glad you got to be there to witness a good Cornell win over Yale. Maybe the teams will play again in the Ivy League tournament -- one can hope! Cornell is looking in great shape for the Ivy tournament with wins over Yale and Princeton.
Thanks. 2 really good teams that kept trading blows, until Cornell went on that run in the 4th quarter to put the game away.
I have a feeling, this game will be repeated in the tournament when hopefully, I can dress in shorts and a t-shirt.
Tough one today. Cornell is chock full of fantastic offensive talents and Yale just couldn't get a stop in the fourth when Cornell put them away with a five-goal run to turn a 12-11 lead into a 17-11 lead. Although it's hard to tell, it felt like a couple of turning points in the game were (a) in the first half, when Yale couldn't score on the two minute non-releasable penalty, and (b) early in the second half when there was a two goal swing in the third period with the illegal stick -- goal taken off the board for Yale and Cornell scored on the man up so that a potential 8-7 lead became an 8-7 deficit. "Special teams" still a concern -- Cornell was 3 for 5 on man up goals -- but at least Yale did get one goal on EMO. One bright note: it looks like Jack Stuzin is back. And my overall take is that the guys played hard and lost to a great team on their home turf.
Next up after a quick turn-around is a game against Coach Shay's alma mater, Le Moyne, then a road matchup against a Brown team feeling a lot better about life after notching their first win and looking to keep it going against Villanova on Monday. Four more Ivy League games to go!
The Orfling wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 9:07 pm
Tough one today. Cornell is chock full of fantastic offensive talents and Yale just couldn't get a stop in the fourth when Cornell put them away with a five-goal run to turn a 12-11 lead into a 17-11 lead. Although it's hard to tell, it felt like a couple of turning points in the game were (a) in the first half, when Yale couldn't score on the two minute non-releasable penalty...
That was worse than you think. The penalty was THREE minutes. The play-by-play guy didn't notice until the third minute even though the on screen penalty clock showed it from the start.
