Yale Thoughts

[dave h]

Yale are a bit of an anomaly, they played 2 close games in the ILT and easily could have lost either of them if it wasn't for some home cooking.

Penn especially should have won but were denied a Timeout because official didn't hear it?

they are 10-5 overall, they lost 3 early when Reeves was injured then went on a run when he came back. They lost by 1 @ Albany in a thriller and then by 1 @ Harvard when they had already clinched #1 seed and right to host ILT.

Tough draw for Cuse, their defense isn't as strong as previous years but have a strong F/O, and starting 6 on offense.

#2 Ben Reeves (A) is the showcase player, strong lefty wing dodger who a good shot on the run and also an excellent feeder, he has a deceptively good righty finish as well when he rolls back from narrow angle.

#44 Matt Gaudet (A) is slick Canadian Box finisher inside, strictly off-ball player Brown put a SSDM on him but he has highest Shot % in Div I and has very quick hands and can catch anything as you'd expect.

#5 Eric Scott (M) alley dodger and outside shooter off either hand (2nd Top Scorer)

#12 Jackson Morrill (A-Fr) sharp nippy attackman his dad & grandad are in the HoF (both JHU) very solid fundamentals but role player behind Reeves

#3 Joseph Sessa (M) another all rounder on the starting midfield (11,23)

#45 Jason Alessi (M) Plays DB for Yale Football and has scored TDs as ESPN mentions every 2 mins, again started slow but is probably their 2nd biggest threat now behind Reeves. Very fast, very physical player who plays both ways, can create transition and has a solid outside shot with a quick release.

They run a 2nd string of attackmen thru the bench who have all contributed but don't initiate.

#21 Conor Mackie (FOGO) workhorse, turf troll, scrappy (228/386) 55%

#35 Phil Huffard (G) only 51% but streaky which probably means he will play out of his mind at The Dome

Ball movement and motion on offense is excellent high pace and accurate and will look to create transition, although didn't convert vs Brown.

Defense giving up 10 GPG

Should be a good game, usual suspects

Face offs
Ground balls
Turnovers

will decide the game

Yale are very well coached and disciplined they won't beat themselves
very tough gig for #2 seed in 1st round

Stats:
Team - Yale

Individual - Yale

 

[WoodyUK]

Reeves had a heavy wrap on his left leg yesterday.

It will be interesting to see Gaudet at the Dome after being recruited by Cuse and flipping to Yale in his PG year! Good player though!

 

[CousCuse]

This isn't lacrosse of 10-15 years ago, there are no easy opening round games. Better to play a known team like Yale rather than a newcomer like Monmouth who could be under estimated. However, if the team wants to play another close game, it could be an early exit for the Orange.

 

[RoofBeam]

I think the two weakest areas on SU's team are the SSDM's and the face off wings. This team won't quit (even when they are playing like block heads) but if Desko and Rogers think they have to go zone in order to hide the deficiencies of the short sticks and if Ben doesn't give us a possession advantage it might be a tense night.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

 

[wvlax]

One can make a solid argument that this Yale game will be as tough if not tougher than the Penn State/Towson winner.