Yale hands men's lacrosse first defeat in Ivy play since 1995

Two more wins — that's all the men's lacrosse team needed to match Cornell's record, set between 1972-1979, of 39 Ivy League wins in a row.

Going into its first Ivy League game of the season on Saturday against Yale, it was logical to expect that the Tigers would emerge one game closer to the record.

As of Monday, Princeton (2-4 overall, 0-1 Ivy) was ranked No. 8, while Yale was ranked No. 16. Last season, Princeton defeated Yale 13-4, and the Tigers had won 11 straight against Yale.

In addition, Princeton had reason to be confident entering the game after its 16-6 mauling of Rutgers Tuesday, while the Elis were coming off a 8-4 loss to Cornell.

But the Tigers found out this weekend that past victories — even 37 of them — do not automatically translate into current ones. The Elis upset the Tigers 15-13, obliterating the streak Princeton had been patiently building, one game at a time, since 1995.

It is difficult to decide whether the reason for Princeton's demise was Yale's strength or its own weakness. It was likely a combination of the two. The Elis played the entire game with noticeable fire, while the Tigers did not look anything like themselves.

"We didn't come out as ready to play as we did against Rutgers," head coach Bill Tierney said. "And you have to give Yale credit — they did a great job."

In the first quarter, scoring alternated between the two teams, so that Princeton only trailed by one at the end of the first fifteen minutes.

Yale scored the first goal one minute into the game, only to be answered by senior midfielder Dan Clark's goal off an assist from senior midfielder Mark Pellegrino. After another goal by the Bulldogs, junior attackman Sean Hartofilis found himself in front of a wide-open net and put the ball in effortlessly. Yale closed out the quarter with a third goal with 1.7 seconds remaining.

Despite the relatively even alternation of goals in the first quarter, it was clear from the very first face-off that the Bulldogs were playing at a higher level of intensity than the Tigers. That intensity translated into three straight goals to start the second quarter and a 7-3 lead at the half.

Many of the Eli goals in the first half were off of fast breaks that resulted from what seemed like unforced turnovers. After a Princeton player failed to catch an uncontested pass, an amazed Yale fan commented, "That's what's killing them – they're just off."

Yale, on the other hand, was definitely on. The Bulldogs swung into the second half with two goals in a row, and extended their lead to six. Princeton managed to cut the margin to four, 11-7, by the end of the third quarter with two goals by junior midfielder Josh White, one by sophomore attackman Ryan Boyle and two more by Hartofilis.

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In the final period, the teams combined to score a total of 10 goals. Senior attackman B.J. Prager, off an assist from Clark at 2:13, was the first to score. The same pair produced another goal at 7:12. Junior midfielder Brad Dumont added two, and Boyle scored his second.

After the first of Dumont's goals brought the Tigers within one, however, Princeton lost two face-offs and allowed Yale to score both times. Prager put in the final goal of the game but four goals by the Elis held the lead and clinched the 15-13 victory.

"We made a great comeback," Tierney said, "but then we couldn't make any face-offs or saves to hold on to it."

Another huge factor contributing to Yale's win was the outstanding performance of junior goalie Eric Wenzel. During his 59 minutes of action, he amassed 14 saves. On the Princeton side, junior Julian Gould played 33 minutes and made three saves. Freshman Matthew Larkin relieved him in the second half and made four saves in 27 minutes.

Despite the loss, Princeton would be assured no worse than a share of the league title if it wins all of its remaining games. But now, with their win record set back to zero, the Tigers have to start the building process again.