The Yale men’s lacrosse team broke open a close game in the first period by scoring 11 of the final 14 goals on the way to a 13-6 win over Providence College at Reese Stadium. It was the Bulldogs’ second straight win.
The Friars, under the tutelage of a new head coach, had won seven of their first nine games this season, two more than the previous three seasons combined, and were looking for their first ever win over the Bulldogs.
The first period set the stage for a battle. Yale, undoubtedly suffering a hangover from their overtime victory over Penn three nights earlier, came out sloppy. They turned the ball over seven times, allowed Providence nine shots to their six, and finished the period down 3-2. After one period, the Bulldogs were in a dogfight.
The fight turned to slaughter. Conrad Oberbeck opened the floodgates, slipping a John-William McGovern pass past the goalie just 24 seconds into the period. Ryan McCarthy provided Yale its first lead before Oberbeck returned for seconds, making it 5-3. Thirteen seconds later, Michael Quinn found the net, with Brandon Mangan rounding out a 5-0 run to make it 7-3. Kirby Zdrill concluded Yale’s first half-scoring, finding the net with 2:10 left, and leading the Bulldogs into half up 8-5.
Providence opened the second half with a goal, cutting the lead to two, before Yale slammed the door. The Bulldog defense didn’t allow a goal for the final 28 minutes while the attack poured on another 5-0 run.
Out of their 13 goals, eight different Bulldogs tallied a score. Andy Shay, the Ryan and Forst Family Head Coach, praised his players’ attitude, “We have an unselfish team.”
Three Elis netted multiple goals. Zdrill and Oberbeck both scored three while Mangan added a pair and assisted three others.
Playing just three days after their last game, the Bulldogs battled through first period cobwebs. “It was more of a mental battle than it was about them.” Said Captain Michael McCormack, “It was nice to see us focused and get a win out of it.”
The Bulldogs entered the game with the fourth best faceoff winning percentage in Division 1, but their faceoff specialist, Dylan Levings felt he had more to prove. “I had a couple of poor games, and really just wanted to get back in there and have some fun and be competing again.” Levings competed all night, taking 17 of 19 battles on the x while scooping up 12 ground balls.
Overall, the Blu outshot Providence 37-28 and picked up 16 more ground balls, while Eric Natale stopped 10 shots, his second consecutive game with double digit saves.
Winners of two straight, Mangan and the Bulldogs aren’t planning on slowing down, “It was a program win for us. Next we have Dartmouth, and we just have to keep rolling.”
