Yale 2019

[FannOLax]

A game that Yale was definitely "supposed to win," and the Bulldogs indeed did win, convincingly in the end. Dartmouth had hung with Harvard and Cornell early, so that seems to be a Big Green pattern. I like the fact that the Elis were 4 for 7 on EMO. On to Senior Day with Brown.

[FannOLax]

So, Brown up next for Senior Day. At 3-1 in conference, Yale is not fully guaranteed a place in the ILT; a win against Brown or Harvard would change that. Last year, with two OT losses under its belt, Yale really started putting it together around this time, scoring 27 on Brown in Providence. This year, #1 ranked Penn State is garnering lots of national attention, which is fine with me. Several times during last night's Big 10 Network broadcast of Penn State-Ohio State the announcers mentioned PSU's record, but they didn't happen to mention the only team to have beaten the Nittany Lions. No problem, as long as Yale continues to improve. Against Brown, I'd like to see a step-up in offensive production from the first-line midfield, at least 50% conversion on man-up opportunities, and an aggressive, coordinated defense. Brown is 2-1 in conference, trying to play its way into the ILT. Go Blue & White.

[Ghost]

Playing what if... if Yale lost 30/31 FOs (opposite actual result) - Dartmouth wins (maybe easily)...
...if 50/50 at X - Yale is in a dog fight

[calourie]

Playing what if... if Yale lost 30/31 FOs (opposite actual result) - Dartmouth wins (maybe easily)...
...if 50/50 at X - Yale is in a dog fight

I suppose in a totally symmetrical universe that would be the case... I'll leave it at that.

[The Orfling]

Playing what if... if Yale lost 30/31 FOs (opposite actual result) - Dartmouth wins (maybe easily)...
...if 50/50 at X - Yale is in a dog fight

I don't know about your Yale losing 30/31 face-offs scenario, but Yale was almost exactly 50/50 at the X against UPenn (which, it is fair to say, is a much better team than Dartmouth) and lost in triple overtime. The Yale-UPenn result, although disappointing, showed that Yale could compete (with a chance to win) against a very good team even without the big advantage in possessions that they've gotten in most games due to Ierlan's face-off dominance. Do I still prefer "big advantage in possessions due to face-off dominance"? Yes, certainly.

[Ghost]

UPenn is another great example of how a dominating fogo can dramatically transform a Season...
Only last year, UPenn need 2OTs to beat Dartmouth (Prior to Hostra’s Fogo Transfer)

[The Orfling]

If folks haven't checked out the Inside Lacrosse show "The Season," Episode 3 has posted on the Inside Lacrosse YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/fqo7_g-_5ZQ

The first 6 minutes or so focus on the Cornell-Yale game with an extended clip from Cornell HC Milliman's locker room halftime talk.

[Ox77]

UPenn is another great example of how a dominating fogo can dramatically transform a Season...
Only last year, UPenn need 2OTs to beat Dartmouth (Prior to Hostra’s Fogo Transfer)

Last time DC had an ivy win- in 2015 over Harvard- they went 20 of 24 or something like that to win in OT. Good FOGO is super helpful. If you are saying that if DC had a good Fogo they’d be right there w Yale and Penn, I’d challenge that one. Or If you are just trolling the Yale fans then it worked! TD!

[FannOLax]

If folks haven't checked out the Inside Lacrosse show "The Season," Episode 3 has posted on the Inside Lacrosse YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/fqo7_g-_5ZQ

The first 6 minutes or so focus on the Cornell-Yale game with an extended clip from Cornell HC Milliman's locker room halftime talk.

Thanks Orfling. Nice to re-live that day. Given that day, and the day in late February when Penn State came to New Haven, it's pretty clear that Yale has plenty of potential. It will be interesting to see how that potential manifests itself for the remainder of this season, one game at a time.

[Ghost]

UPenn is another great example of how a dominating fogo can dramatically transform a Season...
Only last year, UPenn need 2OTs to beat Dartmouth (Prior to Hostra’s Fogo Transfer)

Last time DC had an ivy win- in 2015 over Harvard- they went 20 of 24 or something like that to win in OT. Good FOGO is super helpful. If you are saying that if DC had a good Fogo they’d be right there w Yale and Penn, I’d challenge that one. Or If you are just trolling the Yale fans then it worked! TD!

Ha! ...would not go as far to say that... However, IVY is a better league, when they are all good. DC is making progress.

[MDlaxfan76]

UPenn is another great example of how a dominating fogo can dramatically transform a Season...
Only last year, UPenn need 2OTs to beat Dartmouth (Prior to Hostra’s Fogo Transfer)

Last time DC had an ivy win- in 2015 over Harvard- they went 20 of 24 or something like that to win in OT. Good FOGO is super helpful. If you are saying that if DC had a good Fogo they’d be right there w Yale and Penn, I’d challenge that one. Or If you are just trolling the Yale fans then it worked! TD!

Ha! ...would not go as far to say that... However, IVY is a better league, when they are all good. DC is making progress.

Actually that Dartmouth win over Harvard was 2OT, with Harvard never putting a shot on goal in either OT period. Phil Hession went 20-24 on the day at X, Dartmouth went 22 of 27 overall. Huge possession advantage. And most of those wins at X were clean going forward, with Hessions scoring 2 goals himself. Monster performance.

A team is all its parts. The biggest missing piece right now for the Big Green is at X. By contrast, Yale has one of the very best. Penn's FOGO also darn good! Staying even with Ierlan was huge, and made Junkin's performance the difference that day.

Which isn't to say that the rest of the pieces at Dartmouth are each at Yale's level, but they're closer than many seem to think.

I agree with Ghost, the league is better for all the teams to be competitive.

Good luck going forward!

[calourie]

I will state the obvious from afar that the cushion TD's historically incredible faceoff prowess provides the Bulldogs is unarguably a huge net benefit. That being said I will add that perhaps this cushion has covered up or slowed down the urgency to improve on some of the aspects of the game that have curtailed Yale from optimizing the possession advantage that Ierlan has made possible so far. Clearly Shay and company would like to find a way to get the Bulldogs to improve upon their shooting accuracy, slide a bit more effectively, cut down on a few of their their unforced turnovers, and bring more urgency to their man down D. Much of this probably needs to happen in order for this year's team to go as far as it looks like it has the potential to go. Given Shay's coaching track record, I think these improvements are more likely to occur than not, which should only make TD's FOGO dominance that much more effective going forward. Hopefully the team shows some forward momentum in maximizing their potential in this Saturday's game against Brown.

[FannOLax]

Perhaps because of how good Ben Reeves was for Yale and how good TD Ierlan currently is, people seem to forget that Conor Mackie was an excellent FOGO last year, 3rd Team All American who held his own against TD. Last year's senior class was superlative; I think Reeves, Warner and Keating made those around them better. This year's team is a bit younger, but I am confident that Yale will beat Brown Saturday and continue improving.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Perhaps because of how good Ben Reeves was for Yale and how good TD Ierlan currently is, people seem to forget that Conor Mackie was an excellent FOGO last year, 3rd Team All American who held his own against TD. Last year's senior class was superlative; I think Reeves, Warner and Keating made those around them better. This year's team is a bit younger, but I am confident that Yale will beat Brown Saturday and continue improving.

Mackie was tremendous. Few players improved as much as he did during his 4 years of college. Yale graduated a great class. Alessi was terrific too.

[lefty1]

...people seem to forget that Conor Mackie was an excellent FOGO last year, 3rd Team All American who held his own against TD.

Finally, Fann surfaces the great Connor Mackie and the transition to TD.
TD is fantastic, many teams would have loved and benefited from him transferring anywhere, but Yale. He is a talent and the buzz that surrounds his ability and transfer garners much attention. Conversely, Mackie was recognized, but largely under the radar. He was statistically a Top10 talent, but most importantly, competed at such a high level down the stretch and during their championship run. Late in the season and into the playoff run, we only hoped to get a 50/50 day out of him and quite often, he came out on top. What could be more amazing, when Quint and Carc questioned Yale's approach to a back-up FOGO for the last 1/3 of the season due to the insane amount of reps Connor was getting and Shay simply replied, "there is no Plan B". Mackie was a mule, and on any given day would somehow come out on top. Do we recall the Albany game where Mackie was slashed pretty bad by the poll? It was no love tap. Our collective hearts sank as he was on the sidelines for a bit receiving ice and tape. Once he returned, you could only wonder if his reaction time would be compromised. It was, and he lost the first few ensuing faceoffs. Glad it all worked out, but with "no Plan B", you could only imagine what may have happened if this particular guy didn't display the level of grit required to rise above.

It's a long season, injuries happen, and it's great that Joe Newman is getting some reps in, especially against Dartmouth. Why not, this year we have a 1-2 punch at the X. With the focus still on TD, we can only hope at this point in the season, he remains injury free. As the grind wears on, I'm either hoping Mackie sends him an encouraging text, or TD channels the same level of grit we witnessed just last year. Mackie's 2018 performance was nothing short of amazing. That being said, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves without first recognizing how blessed we truly were, long before the "advantage of TD" came about. If nothing else, TD has about 10 games left to Memorial Day and is just about halfway there. Let's hope he runs the gamut cleanly and is inspired by the those who battled at the X before him.

Brown in 2 days - another warm day. Looking forward to it.

[FannOLax]

Brown in 2 days - another warm day. Looking forward to it.

While not an absolutely vital game, Brown @ Yale is a big one for both teams. At 4-6 overall with no terrific OOC wins, Brown has to see an ILT crown as its most realistic route to the NCAAs; Brown is 2-1 in conference and a win at Yale this weekend would go a long way toward qualifying the Bears for the ILT. A win for Yale would clinch an ILT spot for the Bulldogs. I think the Elis will want to build momentum, improve and of course, win. A full 60 minutes of intensity and focus from Yale would certainly be welcome.
It's too easy for me and others who follow Yale lacrosse to compare this year's team to last year's. The guys this year appear to be giving it their all; that's pretty much all that we can hope to see. I really like what I've seen so far this season. April lacrosse, warmer weather, yes, I'm also looking forward to Saturday afternoon!

[J.S. Carberry]

Remember when Brown-Yale was the hottest rivalry in college lacrosse for a couple seasons? Our trajectories have been quite different since 2017. If we lose by less than we did against Penn, I’ll be surprised. I’m thinking more of a 19-9 score.

[bearlaxfan]

Remember when Brown-Yale was the hottest rivalry in college lacrosse for a couple seasons? Our trajectories have been quite different since 2017. If we lose by less than we did against Penn, I’ll be surprised. I’m thinking more of a 19-9 score.

19-9? Does Ierlan have the flu? Budum ting! I'm here all week.
Bears' very outside chance: Starr has been average overall, tomorrow he's (-). Yale shortsticks not at Warner/Alessi level, maybe Bear mids can free up (Panepinto needs to up his game a lot). Try try try to create scrums at f/o, although pretty sure Eli wings > Bear wings. Hope Goss plays out of his head. Need ALL this to happen, not just 1 or 2.
Cross posting to Bruno thread.

[FannOLax]

I think these things that Shay says are pretty consistent with what some people on this thread have said: “For us, we’re still trying to find our identity in terms of playing with a certain level of aggression on both ends of the field,” head coach Andy Shay said. “We didn’t play in transition against Dartmouth until the second half. We didn’t dodge or weren't opportunistic enough. We weren’t as aggressive on the defensive end as we wanted to be. … We didn’t feel like it was exactly how we want to play, so we want to do those things going into these next few games.”

https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2019/04/ ... tle-brown/

[calourie]

Hard fought 17-12 win over a very game Brown team. ILT clincher. Hoyt Crance, Gaudet, Morrill, Sessa and Td share the game ball. Starr was leaky which made the D look worse than it was, before he was replaced by Crance with the score 9-8. Too many high to high shots in the second half. Goss is a very good, very tall goalie, Yale student-lacrosse players should be able to do the math. O looked a bit lost when Brandau and then Gaudet (benched for much of the second half for this 2nd unsportsmanlike chirping penalty, but congratulations nonetheless for becoming the 6th player in Yale lacrosse history to score 100+ goals) were out. Brown with their typical feisty effort against Yale. I like where the team is right now though today had some sketchy elements. Knuckle down and win the last three regular season games, starting with an Albany team who has some very talented players and will be playing at home with an enormous chip on their shoulders.