First things first: Yale coach Andy Shay is not ready to declare that his team is No. 1.
“I don’t think we’re nearly as good as we can be,” Shay said hours after his 3-1 group earned the top spot in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Top 20 on Monday. “I think we’re starting to get better and starting to get back to what we expect from some of our guys.”
The Bulldogs’ standing will immediately be threatened on Saturday, as Ivy League rival Cornell comes to town, ranked third in the nation after handing then-No. 1 Towson its first loss, 18-11.
“They’re going to be a handful,” Shay said.
NO. 3 CORNELL AT NO. 1 YALE
WHEN: SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 1 P.M.
WATCH: ESPNEWS
Cornell has survived despite winning just over 32 percent of its faceoffs, which ranks 72nd nationally. Yale, on the other hand, has arguably the top player at the X in TD Ierlan and leads the country at nearly 78 percent.
So, how has Cornell done it? Shay said he’s cognizant of the fact that Cornell is the nation’s top finishing team. When Cornell gets possession, it often scores, resulting in its average of 16.2 goals per game. A .440 shooting percentage is anchored by big-time marks from Clarke Petterson (.613), John Piatelli (.567) and Jonathan Donville (.476), and Jeff Teat is no slouch at .406, either.
“I’m not sure that’s a huge factor in this game,” Shay said of Cornell’s faceoff group that primarily included Brandon Salvatore and Paul Rasimowicz against Towson. “They seem to be just fine without a gaudy faceoff percentage.”
Cornell coach Peter Milliman acknowledged the struggles before last week’s Crown Lacrosse Classic but expressed confidence in the options he has.
“We’ve had some injuries there already, so we’ve dealt with a little bit of that,” he said. “For the most part, we’re still trying to figure out what our best options are. But we feel pretty good about the group we’ve got. They probably haven’t produced like we’ve thought, and I think they know that.”
Of course, it’s a case of what could have been for Milliman, as Ierlan had reportedly narrowed his choices to Cornell and Yale last offseason upon announcing his plans to transfer from UAlbany.
It’s hard to imagine this being the game Cornell breaks out from the X, but the Big Red have proved they don’t need it to be successful. That’s one of many storylines to watch in this Ivy League rivalry.
Another is of the Family Feud variety. Ierlan’s freshman brother, Chayse, made 11 saves in Cornell’s win over Towson. Maybe we’ll get the chance to see TD shoot on Chayse.
Other games to watch this weekend include:
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No. 5 Towson at No. 8 Duke
Saturday, 1 p.m., ACC Network
How will Towson respond to its first loss? The Tigers fell to No. 5 in the polls with a decent bit of reshuffling ahead of them, but this is still a team primed for season-long success. Two excellent faceoff specialists go head-to-head here, as Duke’s Brian Smyth and Towson’s Alex Woodall have dominated opponents this season. Ironically, both have taken 155 faceoffs, but Woodall holds a 117-100 advantage. Duke has been nearly flawless since stumbling against High Point on Feb. 6. The Blue Devils have beaten three ranked opponents (Denver, Richmond and Loyola) since. After Duke, Towson faces Denver and then begins its CAA schedule, so the Tigers would boost their resume significantly with a win.
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No. 4 Notre Dame at No. 12 Virginia
Saturday, 1 p.m., ACC Network
Virginia has played (and won) three overtime games in a row against Princeton, Syracuse and Brown. Is Notre Dame in line to be the fourth? On the surface, Virginia and Notre Dame have posted nearly identical offensive numbers (Notre Dame has scored 12.75 goals per game to Virginia’s 12.33). Faceoffs are also close, with Virginia holding a .494 to .479 edge. The Fighting Irish have the clear advantage in terms of goals allowed per game (8.75 to 12.83), so UVA must buckle down to stop Notre Dame’s big scorers (Bryan Costabilie, Brendan Gleason, Brian Willetts and Connor Morin). Notre Dame is rolling in March with wins over Maryland and Denver, a nice early resume for Kevin Corrigan’s team.
MORE GAMES ON OUR RADAR
All times are listed in E.T. For a full list of broadcast games, please visit our US Lacrosse TV/Streaming listing page.
FRIDAY, MARCH 15
7 p.m.
Utah at Fairfield (Lax Sports Network)
SATURDAY, MARCH 16
Noon
No. 20 Army at Holy Cross (Patriot League Network)
Drexel at No. 16 Georgetown (BIG East Digital Network)
1 p.m.
Delaware at No. 17 Johns Hopkins (ESPN3)
No. 15 Rutgers at No. 14 Syracuse (ACC Network)
Furman at Richmond (ESPN+)
Navy at No. 9 Loyola (Patriot League Network)
No. 10 Denver at No. 7 Ohio State (BTN Plus)
2 p.m.
Bucknell at Boston University (Patriot League Network)
3 p.m.
Princeton at Penn (ESPN+)
4 p.m.
Harvard at Brown (ESPN+)