The Ivy League men’s lacrosse slate, after two weeks of play, has been more than advertised. Arguably the deepest conference in men’s Division I lacrosse, the Ivy League looks to be up for grabs as we head toward April.
Princeton and Cornell each picked up big wins last week and looked to keep pace atop the conference standings, while Yale and Penn needed victories on Saturday to avoid an 0-2 start.
We’re now two weeks down and no closer to figuring out who might take the conference title.
BRANDAU GOES OFF
Yale knew it had the talent to win the Ivy League this year, with the conference’s top player returning in Matt Brandau. However, a loss to Cornell last weekend made a meeting with Princeton on Saturday as close to a much-win as the Bulldogs could have in March.
Brandau came to play in New Haven, and the Bulldogs are right in the thick of the Ivy League title race. The senior dropped five goals and three assists, giving Yale an early lead and allow his team to pull ahead late for the 14-12 upset win over Princeton.
Jared Paquette also chipped in 19 saves to help keep the Princeton offense at bay.
The Bulldogs first gained momentum in the second half, pouring in five of six goals to take a 7-5 halftime lead. Brandau and Leo Johnson each had two goals in the run that put them in position to pull the upset through two quarters.
Princeton’s offense caught fire in the third quarter, with Chris Brown scoring two of five goals to cut the deficit to 11-10 entering the fourth quarter. After Alexander Vardaro tied the score to start the fourth quarter, Brandau and Johnny Keib went back-to-back to give Yale the two-goal cushion with 6:42 left.
The Bulldogs won the ensuing faceoff, bled a chunk of the clock and got a Carson Kuhl goal to clinch the win.
PENN AVOID 0-2 START
Penn was on the losing side of an epic game with Princeton that saw 43 goals scored. The Quakers hosted Cornell at Franklin Field hoping for a less anxiety-inducing result, and Sam Handley helped them achieve just that.
Handley led the Quakers with three goals and three assists, allowing them to jump out to a big lead and hold on for the 15-11 victory over Cornell in Philadelphia. Patrick Burkinshaw tallied 15 saves in the winning effort.
Five different scorers helped Penn jump out to an early 6-1 lead in the second quarter — much-needed against a high-powered Big Red offense. Handley and Cam Rubin added goals to lead to a 9-4 Penn lead at halftime.
Rubin and Handley added two more goals to start the third quarter and give Penn its biggest lead at 11-4. Cornell responded with a four-goal run in less than six minutes to cut the deficit to just three goals late in the third quarter.
Dylan Gergar led Penn on another run to start the fourth, tallying a goal and an assist to help the Quaker score three straight and push to a commanding 14-8 lead with 11:34 left. John Piatelli and Michael Long cut the deficit to 14-10, but Cornell could not get closer.
HARVARD SITS ATOP IVY
Harvard entered Saturday with a chance to take the outright lead atop the Ivy League standings, but needed a win and losses by Princeton and Cornell.
Luck was in the favor of the Crimson this weekend.
Despite trailing for much of the first half, Harvard dropped 11 second-half goals to pull away for a 19-10 win over Dartmouth to move to 2-0 in conference play. Sam King led the Crimson with six goals and three assists in the winning effort.
FULL SCOREBOARD
No. 11 Yale 14, No. 3 Princeton 12
No. 7 Penn 15, No. 4 Cornell 11
No. 13 Harvard 19, Dartmouth 10
UMass 10, No. 20 Brown 7