Men's Lacrosse

No. 3 Yale Faces No. 2 Albany in NCAA Men's Lacrosse Semifinal Saturday

PRINCETON, N.J. – For the second time in the past three seasons, the Ivy League will be represented at the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Final Four. No. 3 Yale will make its first Final Four appearance since 1990.

The Ivy League has made 25 Final Four Appearances and owns a 15-10 record. Of the 15 times an Ivy advanced to the national championship, the League is 9-6 in the final game. Princeton has won six national titles and Cornell has earned three.

 Yale, in the hunt for the program’s first-ever national title, will play Albany in the first of two national semifinals on Saturday, May 26 at 12 p.m. at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
 Defending national champion and top-seeded Maryland will take on Duke in the second semifinal. The winners will play for the national championship on Monday, May 28 at 1 p.m.
 
Yale defeated Massachusetts in the first round of action, 15-13 at Reese Stadium for the program's fourth NCAA Tournament win and first at home since 1990. The Bulldogs went on to defeat Loyola in the quarterfinals, 8-5, on Saturday at the James M. Shuart Stadium to earn its first semifinal appearance in 28 years. Senior Ben Reeves, a 2018 Tewaaraton Award finalist, has contributed 12 points in the Bulldogs' two NCAA wins while Jackson Morrill has tallied 10 points, including seven goals in the win against Massachusetts. 

Second-seeded Albany defeated Denver, 15-13, to earn the program's first-ever appearance in the Final Four. Earlier in the season, the then-No. 5 Bulldogs defeated then-No. 2 Great Danes, 14-6, at Reese Stadium. 

LEAGUE NOTES:

  • The League has received multiple bids 34 times, including nine of the past 10 years. Since 1971, Ivies have made 25 Final Four Appearances and own a 15-10 record. Six of the seven Ivy League teams have advanced to the Final Four.
  • Of the 15 times an Ivy advanced to the national championship, the League is 9-6 in the final game. Princeton has won six national titles and Cornell has earned three.
  • The Bulldogs are 5-8 in the national tournament and have qualified for postseason play in six of the last seven NCAA tournaments.
  • Yale is 3-5 in the NCAA Tournament under head coach Andy Shay, who is in his 14th season at the helm. Shay has guided the Bulldogs to a program record four straight NCAA appearances. 
  • Yale senior Ben Reeves has been named one of five finalists for the 2018 Tewaaraton Award for the third consecutive season. With the selection, Ivy League men’s lacrosse has cultivated seven finalists over the past six seasons.
  • 11 Ivy League student-athletes from four institutions were named Inside Lacrosse Media All-Americans as announced at the conclusion of the first weekend of NCAA Championship play. Yale paced the Ancient Eight with five selections, including a trio of first-team honorees.
  • The Bulldogs have won five of its last six games, outscoring its opponents 82-52 during that stretch, which included two NCAA Tournament wins over Massachusetts and Loyola. Yale ranks third in the country in scoring margin (5.06).
  • Reeves leads Yale with 56 goals and 102 points in 18 games. He ranks second in the nation in goals per game (3.11) and third in the nation in points per game (5.67). Princeton’s Michael Sowers still leads the country in points per game averaging 6.38 per game during his sophomore campaign.
  • Reeves, a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year, holds a 52-game point streak, dating back to his first season in 2015.
  • Three Bulldogs – Jackson Morrill, Jack Tigh and Matt Gaudet – have 30 or more goals this season. Morrill ranks second on the team with 37 goals followed by Tigh (32) and Gaudet (31).
  • Conor Mackie, a 2018 Inside Lacrosse Third Team All-American, ranks fifth in the nation in groundballs per game (9.88) and has won 64.6 percent of his faceoffs this season, which is good for seventh in the country. Mackie is averaging 9.78 groundballs per game, good for fifth in the country.
  • Yale ranks 10th in the nation in caused turnovers, forcing 8.33 per game. Senior defender Chris Keating paces the Elis with 23 caused turnovers. The senior has also collected 50 groundballs.
  • Jack Starr, Yale’s starting goalie, owns an 8.12 goals-against average, which is good for eighth in the nation.
  • Defending national champion and top-seeded Maryland will take on Duke in the second semifinal. The winners will play for the national championship on Monday, May 28 at 1 p.m.