The Dane Train, it turned out, was no match for the Eli Express.
Yale exploded for four goals in the first four minutes and seven in the first quarter, twice chasing first-team All-American goalie JD Colarusso and ending Albany’s magical season in stunning fashion with a 20-11 victory in the first NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse semifinal Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The third-seeded Bulldogs (16-2) will play either top-seeded Maryland or fourth-seeded Duke in the NCAA championship game Monday at 1 p.m. ET (ESPN2).
Three-time Tewaaraton finalist Ben Reeves further staked his claim to the Heisman of lacrosse with a five-goal, four-assist gem, while Canadian finisher Matt Gaudet scored six goals in the victory. Yale shot nearly 50 percent (20-for-44) against the overmatched Great Danes defense.
The Bulldogs looked bigger, faster and stronger, as four different players scored in a span of 1 minute, 51 seconds to stake Yale to a 4-0 lead. Albany called timeout, but the Bulldogs kept biting, scoring three more goals to go up 7-0. The Great Danes did not get on the board until Sean Eccles connected at the 2:40 mark of the first quarter.
Albany scored three unanswered goals midway through the second quarter to pull within 9-5, but Yale answered with a three-goal run of its own, culminating in a buzzer-beater by Jackson Morrill off Reeves’ inbound feed from behind coming out of a timeout.
The Great Danes’ last gasp came early in the third quarter, when they scored two extra-man goals on a non-releasable penalty to pull within 12-7. Again the Bulldogs answered. Brendan Mooney converted on consecutive man-up opportunities and then Reeves went to work, netting his 59th, 60th and 61st goals of the season, the last coming with six seconds left in the third quarter to put Yale ahead 17-7.
Albany (16-3) would never recover, its high-octane offense muzzled by a Bulldogs defense that features All-Americans Chris Fake and Chris Keating. Connor Fields (three goals, two assists) and Eccles (two goals) were the only Great Danes to inflict noticeable damage Saturday. Freshman sensation Tehoka Nanticoke finished with just one goal on 1-for-6 shooting.
“Whatever the matchup was, they had attention to detail on that end,” Yale coach Andy Shay said afterward on ESPN2. “They realized if we were on hands, we had at least a chance.”
The Bulldogs, competing in championship weekend for the first time since 1991, now have a chance to win their first NCAA championship. One of the oldest college lacrosse institutions in the country, Yale won a pre-NCAA era national title in 1883.
“We’ve got to recover in the next 48 hours,” Shay added. “We’ve never been here before. This is a little different than what we’re used to. We’ve got to recover and hopefully we’ll show up in the end.”