LaxPower Back-Up Stick

Chris Lyons of course is just crushing Villanova,
and Lyons with just wide open looks and he’s not missing.

Paquette with four really tremendous saves in a row,
that’s got to be very deflating for Villanova - and it shows,
much greater energy on the Yale side.

If you aren’t paying attention to the Yale attack . . . You will be soon! Matty Brandau and the Young Lions, Leo Johnson and Chris Lyons, combined for 15 out of Yale’s 20 goals today. The Lyons 9 goals will get top billing but points per game machine Brandau had 7 points (4 g, 3 A) and Uber-versatile Leo J with 5 points (2 g, 3 A). Throw in a transition midfield scoring threat and a monster day in the cage by Paquette (18 saves) and you’ve got a highly satisfying opening win over a good opponent.

I was able to watch the last 3 quarters on the FloSports stream but missed the opening quarter in which Yale gave up 7 goals. For what I did see, seemed like a few times Yale doubled when it didn’t need to and opened up passing lanes as a result? Villanova took a ton of shots — expected in a fast-paced game but sometimes Yale maybe got a little impatient. Still, a 4 goal 2nd half defensive effort backstopped by Paquette is a good defensive note to end on.

Lots of similarities between this attack unit and the title winning 2018 unit. Senior Tewaarton candidate bracketed by two highly touted sophomores. Two guys capable of quarterbacking the offense with the third guy being a great finisher from mid-range and in close. Only difference is I think this unit may even be better.

Defense improved after the first quarter, but have to factor in that Paquette stole a bunch of goals to keep Nova at bay.

random observer wrote: ↑Sun Feb 19, 2023 2:20 pm Lots of similarities between this attack unit and the title winning 2018 unit. Senior Tewaarton candidate bracketed by two highly touted sophomores. Two guys capable of quarterbacking the offense with the third guy being a great finisher from mid-range and in close. Only difference is I think this unit may even be better.

Defense improved after the first quarter, but have to factor in that Paquette stole a bunch of goals to keep Nova at bay.

What’s even better is that all three will be back in 2024...Brandau still has another year next year.

The 1st quarter was Yale overplaying and over-committing
to Matt Campbell,
that game plan resulted in opening things up for other players,
for shots, for feeds,

Villanova made the mistake of having Campbell at attack in
the second quarter,
mistake for this game but probably works against other teams,
they also switched up going more with a short stick against
Campbell — but again really it was that offensive frenzy in the
3rd quarter that got the job done.

10stone5 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 19, 2023 9:19 pm The 1st quarter was Yale overplaying and over-committing
to Matt Campbell,
that game plan resulted in opening things up for other players,

Villanova made the mistake of having Campbell at attack,
mistake for this game but probably works against other teams,
they also switched up going more with a short stick against
Campbell — but again really it was that offensive frenzy in the
3rd quarter that got the job done.

Worked for my son and I as we have Licata.

Good win to start the season, with the second half being especially encouraging. The box score confirms that not a single first-year saw playing time for Yale. You'd have to go back to some time before 2015 (and I suspect well before) to find another Eli season opener in which no frosh played. I'm still wondering if Miklaszewski, Riecken or Platten can step up to help strengthen the defense; after all, Lyons didn't emerge until last year's Cornell game.

FannOLax wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 8:34 am Good win to start the season, with the second half being especially encouraging. The box score confirms that not a single first-year saw playing time for Yale. You'd have to go back to some time before 2015 (and I suspect well before) to find another Eli season opener in which no frosh played. I'm still wondering if Miklaszewski, Riecken or Platten can step up to help strengthen the defense; after all, Lyons didn't emerge until last year's Cornell game.

Edited: I had thought I'd seen #34 during the FloSports LiveStream, listed as Miklaszewski on the Yale roster. If indeed his roster # is accurate, this Villanova video clip posted on Twitter prominently showing Yale #34 shows that Miklaszewski did play against Villanova despite what the box score indicates: https://twitter.com/NovaLacrosse/status ... 91840?s=20

Thank you for the correction, Orfling. Miklaszewski looks like he has all the tools to succeed. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for first-years stepping onto the field at Reese. Perhaps Brody Coleman is another first-year with the potential to see PT, either as a SSDM, as a midfielder on offense or as a two-way middie.

Quint ranks Yale 7th, with the following commentary: "Chris Lyons scored nine goals in a 20-14 win over Villanova on Sunday. Matt Brandau and Leo Johnson combined for 12 points. That’s one scary attack unit. The game featured 104 total shots. Jared Maquette made 18 saves. Nova had six failed clears against the ten man ride. Yale’s bench scoring was light. The Wild Cats led 4-1 and 7-4 having the benefit of a game under their belts. Yale, down 10-9 late in the second quarter, scored the games next six goals to create a separation they would not relinquish. Yale nailed 7 of 17 third quarter shots. Long term I’m still worried about the Yale defense, a unit that struggled in 2022."
https://laxallstars.com/quint-kessenich ... y-20-2023/

Congratulations to Chris Lyons for being named Ivy Player of the Week. https://ivyleague.com/news/2023/2/20/ya ... onors.aspx

Happy to see that Joe Neuman is getting PT as a grad transfer at Rutgers. Neuman was in the wrong position when TD transferred in, and Joe never got much PT in New Haven.

It's still early days, especially for Ivy teams. I'm looking for the Yale defense to show improvement against Penn State.

YDN coverage of the Villanova game: https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2023/02/ ... villanova/

“It feels really awesome to get a win in our opening game of the season against a talented Villanova team,” goalie Jared Paquette ’24 said. “Our defense as a whole did a great job giving up saveable shots which made my job much easier.”

“It was nice to get a win against a strong opponent,” head coach Andy Shay said to Yale Athletics. “I thought we settled in defensively in the second half and that was the difference. Credit to Villanova, it was a hard fought game.”

Positive spins on a defense that's been questioned. Let's see how it develops.

Some thoughts on this weekend's game against Penn State:

• As we remember, last year Penn State threw a zone at Yale, and Yale's inexperience with the zone and a hot Penn State goalie gave the Nittany Lions the win. Given Yale's 20 goals against Villanova, I wouldn't be surprised if Penn State tests them the Bulldogs this year again with a zone to see if it cools off the red-hot Bulldog offense on display last week;

• This will be another test for the Yale defense -- Penn State has scored 50 goals over three games, averaging almost 17 a game so far. I watched the Villanova-Penn State game and it could have gone either way ('Nova won by 2 with a late charge), and Penn State is a dangerous offensive team. Penn State has pretty balanced scoring between and among its attack and midfielders and plays fairly fast-paced (although not as fast-paced as Yale;

• One area in which Yale might have an edge is in face-offs; Penn State was under 50% against its last two opponents (Villanova and Stony Brook) and Yale's Ramsey had the edge last year against PSU's top returning face-off man, Bohn.

That goalie had the best game I’ve seen from a Penn State
goalie in years, since Austin Kaut.
But overall Penn State is playing better — thing is, I’m not sure
they’re even up to the level of play of Villanova just yet.

Early in the game ... but my goodness this defense is just horrendous. The defense was awful last year and it has not improved one bit this season. Horrendous start, all on the defense.

Yeesh, one of the worst quarters I can remember, PSU with a 7-0 run to go up 8-1. The offense is having trouble solving the zone; the Penn State FOGO has won some key face-offs (e.g. on a locked in penalties); the man down defense has given up three goals on three penalties; and 6 v 6. defense has struggled -- disorganized, losing individual matchups, no real system of help defense, losing sight of the off-ball threat.

Good news -- this team can score quite a lot, as we know, and maybe can get some favorable matchups on transition. I wonder if we might see Yale try a zone of their own? Lots more lacrosse to play.

Considerably better second quarter -- Yale outscores PSU 5-2; even in shots taken (9/9); Paquette with 4 saves to 2 goals; even in face-offs; slight edge for Yale in ground balls. Still some lapses (trying a 50 yard clearing pass on a snowy day, losing the back side player) but the second quarter was a great model for how to chip away.

There is just no cutting through the zone. Six guys standing on the outside passing it around. I don't get the strategy.

Good come-back effort -- just a bit short. Hats off to Penn State, which came into Reese with a great game plan and blew the doors off with a monster first quarter that Yale couldn't overcome. Back to work on offense on cracking a zone (and EMO) and on defense on man-down defense (PSU 4 for 4 on penalties was just a killer) and playing with some consistency in the 6 v 6 set. The cold weather and snow didn't help (uncharacteristic unforced passing errors) but PSU gave themselves the margin of error with their terrific start to the game.

Next up: an always-tough UMass team. Like last year, Yale goes into the game 1-1 coming off the PSU loss. Yale teams generally get better as the season progresses and I'm sure the team will be fired up to put together a stronger complete game effort next week.

Penalties really hurt Yale.

Four penalties led to four extra-man goals. Three in the first quarter by one player gave PSU the momentum, where Yale was outscored 8-1. Another in the fourth quarter when Yale was clawing back.

Evidently Yale just got too far behind too early and PSU neutralized their star player. I saw the end and Yale could have won had they had a little more time left.