HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.  — Yale took a step 28 years in the making Saturday.

Even better for the Bulldogs, they’re not done yet.

Tewaaraton finalist Ben Reeves scored three goals and added three assists as third-seeded Yale handled sixth-seeded Loyola 8-5 to advance to its first NCAA tournament semifinal since 1990.

The Bulldogs (15-3), who deployed a strong ride to stellar effect in the second half, had built toward this breakthrough as coach Andy Shay methodically constructed his program over the last 15 years. And after a string of excruciating postseason losses, Yale finally has a second trip to the season’s final weekend to its credit.

“I’m happy for this team and proud of these guys for bringing this program to another level,” Shay said.

Yale will meet second-seeded Albany next Saturday in Foxborough, Mass.

Goalie Jacob Stover made a career-high 19 saves for the Greyhounds (13-4), who mustered just one goal in the final 37:58.

“We got a great effort in the goal,” Loyola coach Charley Toomey said. “Sometimes as a coach, you say ‘Wow, that one was wasted.’”
 

After that 1990 trip to the final four — halted by Loyola, with Toomey in goal — Yale earned a tournament bid in 1992 and then endured a 20-year postseason drought. The Bulldogs re-emerged as an Ivy League power this decade and had a string of close calls in May — one-goal losses in 2013 (quarterfinals against Syracuse), 2015 (first round at Maryland) and 2017 (first round at Syracuse) — that denied bigger things.

Not this time.

“It’s still pretty surreal,” said Reeves, a three-time Tewaaraton finalist who went over the 100-point mark for the season. “It still hasn’t sunk in yet. Just glad we got the win today.”

Reeves was involved in four goals as Yale built a 5-3 lead in the first quarter, and it seemed the matchup of potent offenses willing to push the pace could produce a wild quarterfinal. But the pace of the game changed considerably in the second quarter, and a heavy rain didn’t help matters.

While Stover and Yale goalie Jack Starr (nine saves) made their share of stops, there just wasn’t much offensive continuity over the final 45 minutes — especially for Loyola, which lost while allowing less than 10 goals for the first time since last year’s 7-4 first round defeat at Ohio State.

“I think the whole game was kind of out of whack for us and out of sorts in terms of flow,” junior attackman Pat Spencer said. “We never got ourselves into a rhythm offensively and didn’t really get too many transition looks. They did a good job of dropping back and taking those away.”

While Spencer, another Tewaaraton finalist, had two goals and an assist, he received little help as Yale didn’t allow either midfielder Jay Drapeau (41 goals this season) or attackman Kevin Lindley (37 goals) to record a point. The pair managed combined for four shots on the day.

It wasn’t just on the Loyola offense. The Greyhounds committed nine turnovers in the second half, six of them coming on bungled clears. Loyola’s seven failed clears was a season high.

“I thought it was huge,” Shay said. “Deep in the second half, we were able to turn them over. We were going to drop ride, which is a little more passive and just cut the field in half and play 6-v-6 and then [attackman Matt Gaudet] said ‘Stick with what we do.’ We felt they were getting out pretty easily. We trust the guys to make good decisions on the field and they felt we could get a few back. Sure enough, the guys hustled.”

Added Toomey: “Toward the second half when we had to play so much defense, I didn’t feel like we were willing and able to get out and run the field and get it to our short sticks who could make a play for us. I think the opportunities were there. You credit Yale. It was a terrific ride. But we were prepared it.”

Yale’s rise was predicated on toughness and smart play, and both were on display Saturday. But these Bulldogs have often provided an explosiveness capable of swamping many opponents.

Aside from the early burst, Loyola didn’t succumb to Yale’s offensive pressure. Credit a good chunk of it to Stover, who stopped several shots from inside five yards and almost single-handedly kept the Greyhounds in contention. Yale scored just twice in the final 41:02, including once when Stover was out of the cage applying pressure with 1:29 to play.

“Outside of that first five minutes, I don’t think we played outside of what we’ve been doing all season, which is the frustrating part,” defenseman Foster Huggins said. “[With] Stover, our defense looks good because of him.”

While Loyola will rue some missed chances, Yale has at least a moment to appreciate how far it’s come before returning to work. The Bulldogs never finished better than fourth in the Ivy League in Shay’s first six seasons.

In the nine years since? Eight 10-win seasons, six NCAA tournament bids and five Ivy League tournament championships.
And now, one trip to Foxborough and a chance to claim the program’s first NCAA tournament and its first national title of any kind in lacrosse since 1883.

“We feel like everything is kind of built every year, and every moment has built to this point,” Shay said. “I think the guys who suffered through some seasons that were not like this have had a lot to do with this. I can show my staff practice plans from 14 or 15 years ago and they look a lot like this. We’ve changed and tweaks things a bit, but by large it’s been since we weren’t this good, we’ve laid a foundation for these guys. It’s been a long process.”