Yale 2025

[FannOLax]

Congratulations to Max Krevsky on being elected 2024-25 captain (I saw this via a Brian Tevlin re-tweet).

Lots of reasons for optimism about the 2025 season, but I'll hold off for a while on that.

[The Orfling]

Congratulations to Max Krevsky on being elected 2024-25 captain (I saw this via a Brian Tevlin re-tweet).

Lots of reasons for optimism about the 2025 season, but I'll hold off for a while on that.

Congratulations to Max Krevsky! What a pleasure it's been to see his game grow during his Yale career so far. It's been great to see him get 1st team All-Ivy recognition this season and, now, receive the singular honor of the solo Yale athletics team captaincy for men's lacrosse.

Now that Fann has started the 2025 thread (well done!) I think I will post my thoughts on next season while my knowledge of the line-up/personnel is more fresh; it's always fun to circle back a year from now and see if I was close or way off base.

[The Orfling]

Major questions for 2025:

• How will Yale adjust to Matt Brandau's departure? Tremendous performer who made all around him better; had an amplifying effect that is difficult to quantify.

• Who will start in goal? #28 had some great moments but his save percentage dipped to 49% (down from his career best 52% in 2022).
  #38, his leading backup, had a higher save percentage but against weaker competition. A highly regarded five-star 'tender from Taft is coming in -- could he challenge in a pre-season goalie competition?

• Who will play ssdm with the departure of three out of four midfielders (Hackler, Monfort, and Ocken) who logged the most minutes on the defensive side? Christian Johnson was a mainstay but who will join him?

• Can Yale improve a historically poor EMO (19%!) in 2025? This was paired with allowing goals on 42% in man down situation and this -23% swing was brutal at times (and may have been the difference against Penn State, for example).(

• Team health: will key contributors like Rodriguez, Sharp, Lyons and L. Johnson be back to full health in 2025?

• Will the Bulldogs schedule any differently to try to add 1-2 additional higher RPI opponents (OOC RPI in 2024: Denver #6; Penn State #8; BU #18; Villanova #19; Colgate #28; Albany #35; Le Moyne #67)? It takes two to Tango and to schedule, so I would suspect it might be hard for Yale to swap out for a higher RPI possibility, and Coach Shay is a Le Moyne alum so we may see that one stay on the schedule for a while./list]
  
  This isn't meant to be negative about Yale's 2025 outlook -- like Fann, I'm optimistic about the 2025 prospects.

[The Orfling]

Long range 2025 Post #2 -- Position groupings:

Attack: Even with the departure of Matt Brandau, there's cause for optimism with the attack group, particularly if Chris Lyons and Leo Johnson are healthy. I could see Johnson filling the QB role that Brandau held (he was second behind Brandau in assists with 22 in 2023); Lyons as the goal scoring threat via dodging or finishing; and then there are some intriguing options for the third spot: keep Kuhl on attack (great job this year); keep D. Anderson in the lineup (strong year as a finisher) and move Kuhl back to midfield; or move Peter Moynihan to his natural attack spot (moving Kuhl back to midfield). It may take a while to figure out the best configurations but Yale should get plenty of goals from the attack unit.

Offensive midfield: An excellent midfield group. Hopefully Brad Sharp will return healthy, but the Bulldogs also have seasoned strong returners in Max Krevsky, Johnny Keib, Cole Cashion, and either Kuhl or Moynihan (or maybe both if attack is Lyons/Johnson/Anderson).

Rope Unit: Yale has lots of great options at LSM, with Stuzin, Garchitorena, Cohen, Miklaszewski (if healthy), and Michalik. Probably the biggest transitional concern is for the shorties, with Hackler/Ocken/Monfort all graduating. Christian Johnson is a seasoned ssdm, but not sure who else Yale might be looking at for that key position.

FOGO Yale will miss Nicholas Ramsey, but could be in great shape if Mac Rodriguez returns to full health -- he was having a tremendous 2024 year prior to his injury. First-year Anthony Annunziata got thrown into the fire and gained valuable experience to add some depth.

Close Defense: Lots of experience returning, as Mikey Alexander, Patrick Pisano (who had a breakout season) and Eric Platten (who stepped into the line-up) all return. Will we see anyone emerge as a sophomore like Platten and Pisano did this year? (And Yale has had some great first-year close defenders in the past.)

Goalie: It's always hard to tell if a mediocre save percentage is mostly due to giving up excessively good looks (and Yale had some schematic struggles on defense again in 2024 at times), but goaltending was not a real strength in 2024. Yale finished with a 50% save percentage on the year, 5th in the Ivy League, and we saw how Carroll for Penn and Gianforcaro for Princeton really influenced things. We've seen one situation (Starr in 2022) when a 3-year starter with a sub 50% save percentage was supplanted -- will there be a competition at the spot? Notwithstanding this issue, Yale looks to have some good depth with two 'tenders with meaningful game experience (Paquette and Conrad) and a talented prospect coming in as a first-year.

Coaching: Great job by the staff this year with a "next man up philosophy." I'd assume that team defense (including man down defense) and EMO will be points of emphasis in 2025. I would like to see Yale's team play a more cohesive, sound fundamental (e.g. on offball players) brand of team defense at some point and wonder if the coaching responsibilities might switch up at any point.

Thanks to the 2024 Bulldogs, looking forward to more great lacrosse in 2025. (And in the meantime -- go Yale women's lacrosse, which won their first-round NCAA tournament game!)

[FannOLax]

Long range 2025 Post #2 -- Position groupings:

Attack: Even with the departure of Matt Brandau, there's cause for optimism with the attack group, particularly if Chris Lyons and Leo Johnson are healthy. I could see Johnson filling the QB role that Brandau held (he was second behind Brandau in assists with 22 in 2023); Lyons as the goal scoring threat via dodging or finishing; and then there are some intriguing options for the third spot: keep Kuhl on attack (great job this year); keep D. Anderson in the lineup (strong year as a finisher) and move Kuhl back to midfield; or move Peter Moynihan to his natural attack spot (moving Kuhl back to midfield). It may take a while to figure out the best configurations but Yale should get plenty of goals from the attack unit.

Offensive midfield: An excellent midfield group. Hopefully Brad Sharp will return healthy, but the Bulldogs also have seasoned strong returners in Max Krevsky, Johnny Keib, Cole Cashion, and either Kuhl or Moynihan (or maybe both if attack is Lyons/Johnson/Anderson).

Rope Unit: Yale has lots of great options at LSM, with Stuzin, Garchitorena, Cohen, Miklaszewski (if healthy), and Michalik. Probably the biggest transitional concern is for the shorties, with Hackler/Ocken/Monfort all graduating. Christian Johnson is a seasoned ssdm, but not sure who else Yale might be looking at for that key position.

FOGO Yale will miss Nicholas Ramsey, but could be in great shape if Mac Rodriguez returns to full health -- he was having a tremendous 2024 year prior to his injury. First-year Anthony Annunziata got thrown into the fire and gained valuable experience to add some depth.

Close Defense: Lots of experience returning, as Mikey Alexander, Patrick Pisano (who had a breakout season) and Eric Platten (who stepped into the line-up) all return. Will we see anyone emerge as a sophomore like Platten and Pisano did this year? (And Yale has had some great first-year close defenders in the past.)

Goalie: It's always hard to tell if a mediocre save percentage is mostly due to giving up excessively good looks (and Yale had some schematic struggles on defense again in 2024 at times), but goaltending was not a real strength in 2024. Yale finished with a 50% save percentage on the year, 5th in the Ivy League, and we saw how Carroll for Penn and Gianforcaro for Princeton really influenced things. We've seen one situation (Starr in 2022) when a 3-year starter with a sub 50% save percentage was supplanted -- will there be a competition at the spot? Notwithstanding this issue, Yale looks to have some good depth with two 'tenders with meaningful game experience (Paquette and Conrad) and a talented prospect coming in as a first-year.

Coaching: Great job by the staff this year with a "next man up philosophy." I'd assume that team defense (including man down defense) and EMO will be points of emphasis in 2025. I would like to see Yale's team play a more cohesive, sound fundamental (e.g. on offball players) brand of team defense at some point and wonder if the coaching responsibilities might switch up at any point.

Thanks to the 2024 Bulldogs, looking forward to more great lacrosse in 2025. (And in the meantime -- go Yale women's lacrosse, which won their first-round NCAA tournament game!)

Assuming that Lyons and Leo are back to top form next year, attack will be a strength. With Brandau taking fall semester off, Lyons looked amazing in fall ball. As an IL article said, "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.” https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... oard/62166 There are interesting options for rounding out the attack line, and Yale will score goals.

Yet again, the big question is defense, especially SSDM. Traditionally, Shay has converted offense-minded midfielders, so maybe the likes of Brody Coleman and Tristan Ghosh. With all the LSMs back, might Garchitorena, Cohen, Miklaszewski or Michalik be able to opeate with a short stick? And yes, defensive coaching... on the topic of coaching, would Shay take back Stimmel? Shay deservedly won Ivy Coach of the Year, but would this be an opportune time to change up the assistant coaching staff?

Seems like we could see intense competition for the starting goalie position. In 2018, Starr won the starting job as a freshman, then in 2022 was beaten out for the job as a senior. I expect that Paquette, Conrad, Northrup and incoming Friedman will all have the chance to show they should start.

I expect the 2025 team to be hungry, talented and capable of scoring in bunches. Hopefully, the defense improves and team stays healthy.

[The Orfling]

Great post, Fann. I'd forgotten that you had been able to watch the offense in the fall led by Lyons and Johnson with no Brandau -- very encouraging observations indeed. (And I'd love to see Andrew Stimmel come back if he'd be up for it.) I too wondered about conversions to ssdm, either from the LSM or offensive midfield ranks. That will be one of the big things I look for in fallball. It will also be interesting to see if Leo/Chris take off the fall semester to try to preserve the ability to play 4 years for Yale (they'd need to take off falls 2024 and 2025 to graduate in 8 semesters); if they are present for fallball it would mean if they get a redshirt year in 2026 it will be as a grad transfer. But that's looking WAYYYYYY out

And congratulations to the Yale women's team -- they advance to a quarterfinal matchup against Syracuse with a tight 9-7 win over Hopkins (another second half comeback). Just to keep it relevant to Yale men's lacrosse -- when watching the stream on Friday I saw Coach Shay with Joe Tsai cheering on the women's team. It's really good to see both the men's and women's programs continuing to support each other (as was always the case back in the proverbial day).

[JAFO]

Major questions for 2025:

• How will Yale adjust to Matt Brandau's departure? Tremendous performer who made all around him better; had an amplifying effect that is difficult to quantify.

• Who will start in goal? #28 had some great moments but his save percentage dipped to 49% (down from his career best 52% in 2022).
  #38, his leading backup, had a higher save percentage but against weaker competition. A highly regarded five-star 'tender from Taft is coming in -- could he challenge in a pre-season goalie competition?

• Who will play ssdm with the departure of three out of four midfielders (Hackler, Monfort, and Ocken) who logged the most minutes on the defensive side? Christian Johnson was a mainstay but who will join him?

• Can Yale improve a historically poor EMO (19%!) in 2025? This was paired with allowing goals on 42% in man down situation and this -23% swing was brutal at times (and may have been the difference against Penn State, for example).(

• Team health: will key contributors like Rodriguez, Sharp, Lyons and L. Johnson be back to full health in 2025?

• Will the Bulldogs schedule any differently to try to add 1-2 additional higher RPI opponents (OOC RPI in 2024: Denver #6; Penn State #8; BU #18; Villanova #19; Colgate #28; Albany #35; Le Moyne #67)? It takes two to Tango and to schedule, so I would suspect it might be hard for Yale to swap out for a higher RPI possibility, and Coach Shay is a Le Moyne alum so we may see that one stay on the schedule for a while./list]
  
  This isn't meant to be negative about Yale's 2025 outlook -- like Fann, I'm optimistic about the 2025 prospects.

The team I'd like to see Yale add to the schedule is Army. Schools are only 1:45 apart. It could make for a great mid week game of two tough teams.

[The Orfling]

Major questions for 2025:

• How will Yale adjust to Matt Brandau's departure? Tremendous performer who made all around him better; had an amplifying effect that is difficult to quantify.

• Who will start in goal? #28 had some great moments but his save percentage dipped to 49% (down from his career best 52% in 2022).
  #38, his leading backup, had a higher save percentage but against weaker competition. A highly regarded five-star 'tender from Taft is coming in -- could he challenge in a pre-season goalie competition?

• Who will play ssdm with the departure of three out of four midfielders (Hackler, Monfort, and Ocken) who logged the most minutes on the defensive side? Christian Johnson was a mainstay but who will join him?

• Can Yale improve a historically poor EMO (19%!) in 2025? This was paired with allowing goals on 42% in man down situation and this -23% swing was brutal at times (and may have been the difference against Penn State, for example).(

• Team health: will key contributors like Rodriguez, Sharp, Lyons and L. Johnson be back to full health in 2025?

• Will the Bulldogs schedule any differently to try to add 1-2 additional higher RPI opponents (OOC RPI in 2024: Denver #6; Penn State #8; BU #18; Villanova #19; Colgate #28; Albany #35; Le Moyne #67)? It takes two to Tango and to schedule, so I would suspect it might be hard for Yale to swap out for a higher RPI possibility, and Coach Shay is a Le Moyne alum so we may see that one stay on the schedule for a while./list]
  
  This isn't meant to be negative about Yale's 2025 outlook -- like Fann, I'm optimistic about the 2025 prospects.

The team I'd like to see Yale add to the schedule is Army. Schools are only 1:45 apart. It could make for a great mid week game of two tough teams.

That's a great call -- seems like it could be a good addition to the schedule for both teams. (Although I know that with the giant Patriot League it's tough for them to squeeze in new out of conference games.)

[FannOLax]

Yes, Army would be a very good addition. Gotta keep NCAA tourney teams Denver, PSU and Albany. Nearby neighbors (half hour or less away) Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac are much improved, and could be scheduled as mid-week games. I wish Cuse or another ACC team could be added.

[Lax3]

Good write-ups for the 2025 Yale season. A few thoughts:

• Despite losing the GOAT scorer, there is a boatload of offense coming back next season. It is unclear who the third attackmen will be – Monihan certainly looked more like an attackman than a midfielder this season – but there certainly appear to be plenty of options. With Johnson and Lyons back for another two years at attack, it is not a position that Yale fans should be too worried about.
• At midfield, the “middies by committee” approach looks like it will continue next season with Sharp hopefully leading the way. I don’t see the graduation of this year’s middies as all that much of a problem leading into next season.
• Defense remains the biggest concern regardless of who is coming back. This defense continues to be an Achilles Heel in a program that prides itself on toughness. The defensive efficiency ratings continue to be bottom tier for a top ten program. Not sure what the program needs here – maybe a new voice, or an old voice returning? – but something remains amiss on this side of the ball.
• FOGO – one strong returner here and after that they are going to need to develop another one. They have a very highly ranked kid coming in from PA.
• Goalie – clear from this season that coaches would be willing to move on from Paquette. Conrad played well during his second half stints, but my “fearless prediction” is that the incoming five-star frosh steals the spot.

Looking forward to a nice comeback season in 2025 after an unfortunate injury-riddled end to the 2024 season!

[The Orfling]

Good write-ups for the 2025 Yale season. A few thoughts:

• Despite losing the GOAT scorer, there is a boatload of offense coming back next season. It is unclear who the third attackmen will be – Monihan certainly looked more like an attackman than a midfielder this season – but there certainly appear to be plenty of options. With Johnson and Lyons back for another two years at attack, it is not a position that Yale fans should be too worried about.
• At midfield, the “middies by committee” approach looks like it will continue next season with Sharp hopefully leading the way. I don’t see the graduation of this year’s middies as all that much of a problem leading into next season.
• Defense remains the biggest concern regardless of who is coming back. This defense continues to be an Achilles Heel in a program that prides itself on toughness. The defensive efficiency ratings continue to be bottom tier for a top ten program. Not sure what the program needs here – maybe a new voice, or an old voice returning? – but something remains amiss on this side of the ball.
• FOGO – one strong returner here and after that they are going to need to develop another one. They have a very highly ranked kid coming in from PA.
• Goalie – clear from this season that coaches would be willing to move on from Paquette. Conrad played well during his second half stints, but my “fearless prediction” is that the incoming five-star frosh steals the spot.

Looking forward to a nice comeback season in 2025 after an unfortunate injury-riddled end to the 2024 season!

All good analysis, Lax3. Preaching to the choir on the defense issue!