Men's Lacrosse

Yale Leverages Early Lead to Defeat DU

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Yale (3-1) jumped out to a 4-1 lead at Peter Barton Stadium and put the Pioneers (3-4) in an early deficit. Denver fought back but could never forge a tie or lead the remainder of the game and fell, 16-13, to the Bulldogs. Yale was led by preseason All-American Matt Brandau who scored 5 goals and 3 assists on the day. While the teams had a similar number of shots-on-goal, Yale took advantage of close-in snipes for 64% efficiency while DU could only score on 46% of their shots on frame.

After trailing in the first quarter 4-2, Denver gained their legs in the second quarter with a pair of goals by Alex Simmons and a goal from Ted Sullivan. Yale still outscored Denver 4-3 in the quarter and took an 8-5 lead into the halftime break.

Denver seemed to regroup in the third quarter following a quick goal by Yale. Three consecutive goals by JJ Sillstrop, Johnny Morocco and Jack Hannah pulled Denver within one point, 9-8, but Yale responded by scoring 4 of the next five goals to put the game out of reach, 13-9.

The teams traded goals in the fourth quarter, 4-4, but Denver had little chance of making a comeback as the Bulldogs used efficient clock management and countered Denver scoring goal-for-goal.

Denver did well statistically, leading in ground balls (32-25) and faceoffs (20 of 31) while penalty minutes (4-2:30 each) and turnovers (10 each) were both even. Hannah and Simmons had 3 goals and 1 assist each for the Pioneers. Ted Sullivan also had a hat trick. The slow start by DU and the shooting efficiency displayed by the Eli’s were the difference on the day.

2 thoughts on “Yale Leverages Early Lead to Defeat DU”

  1. There are at least two ways to look at the Pios’ 2022 (3-4) season-from-hell so far…

    The optimist would say that just when DU solved its big problem behind the team’s first three losses (ground ball deficit), new problems (poor shooting and poor goaltending) sprang up and kept the Pios from defeating Yale today, and that fixing those problems will turn the season around.

    Or, the pessimist would look deeper and say this program has been in mostly slow decline since 2017 when DU was last in the final four. And the Pios are just being beaten more regularly by better and more talented opponents these days…

    Either way, sitting at 3-4 and out of the top 20 is not where the Pios expected to be this season..

    Personally, I think it’s a bit of both.

    Yes it’s ground balls and better shooting, sure, but there is also something deeper. DU has lost more recruiting battles in recent years than they used lose, and I think the 1-season Yale transfers likely covered some deeper holes in the Pioneer talent pool last season at attack and midfield that are now showing up with the all the Yalies’ now graduated. There also appears to be no immediate equivalent replacement for guys like Walker, Logan and Squires, now all PLL pros.

    Bill Tierney and Matt Brown did not forget how to coach on the field, but it seems to me that some new approaches may be needed on the recruiting front?

    Be interested to hear what others think….

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  2. Maybe the shot clock hurt DU and as well or haven’t adjusted well to it. Also they don’t have 3 C’s(CO, CA and Canada) recruiting locked up as much as they used to? GB’s and Goaltending need to improve A.S.AP

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