As the minutes ticked away on the fourth quarter at Gillette Stadium, reality set in for Yale. The Bulldogs, up against perennial powerhouse Duke, were moments away from their first-ever Division I men’s lacrosse title.
With freshman goalie Jack Starr’s ninth and final save, the 13-11 win was secured. Yale finally had its championship, and not just an Ivy League one. They, led by 15-year head coach Andy Shay and three-time All-American Ben Reeves, got the last laugh against head coach John Dankowski.
“I’m really proud of my guys for sticking with it,” Shay said. “My guys are just a coach’s dream. Really a coach’s dream in every sense of the word. It’s just unbelievable that they have accomplished this.
“I told them last night, you push them and you push them and you push them, and sometimes your season ends in a loss, and you feel like maybe you let them down,” Shay continued. “Didn’t want to let them down, and we didn’t lose.”
Like they had all championship weekend, Yale jumped out on Duke early, scoring the first three goals. By halftime, the Bulldogs were up 6-4. Most impressively, they kept Justin Guterding, second all-time in points for the Blue Devils out of the goalscoring column entirely.
What also struck Shay was that they kept Duke freshman sensation Nakeie Montgomery off the scoreboard. The explosive midfielder was marked by defensive midfielder Tyler Warner, and virtually silenced.
“You watch these guys on film and I’m just like, well, we’ll see if Tyler can do it, because this kid’s just leaving everybody,” Shay said. “He’s leaving everybody behind, and not Tyler. If we run into him next year, I’m not sure what we’re going to do, but for now we were able to cover him.”
While Duke score four of six goals at one point in the third quarter, Yale had an answer every time the Blue Devils went on a run.
That was largely because sophomore attack Matt Gaudet, who had six goals in the semifinal against Albany, went off for four more strikes against Duke. Reeves had himself a day too with one goal and three assists, and so did junior midfielder Jack Tigh with a hat trick.
The spotlight, however, kept on returning to Gaudet, who was named Most Outstanding Player for his efforts against Duke and Albany.
“I don’t think my 10 goals this weekend was attributed to anything I did specifically,” Gaudet said. “I honestly could not thank our offensive guys enough and our Coach. Hate to admit it, but we are talented, we are talented. Hard work has been the framework for our program, and just the weight room every single day, practice every single day.”
With Yale left celebrating, the game also marked the end of two incredible college lacrosse careers.
The first was for Guterding, who held back tears in the postgame press conference. Danowski heaped praise on all Guterding meant for the program, and the same followed suit from the player.
“I can’t believe it’s over, and that’s why I’m so upset,” Guterding said. “Obviously, I’m not happy that we didn’t win, but I would have been upset either way because these are some of my best friends. Coach Danowski and Matt, and Coach Caputo and Ned have been like fathers to me. It’s going to be so hard to say goodbye to them.”
The other historic end came for Reeves, a three-time nominee for the Tewaaraton Award, given annually to college lacrosse’s best player.
Asked about the meaning of the title win, Reeves deflected credit to Shay. But for Yale’s coach, it was clear Reeves meant the world to his program.
“He’s the man,” Shay said. “I’m going to miss him. I love him dearly. I’m going to miss him.”
In a sport where momentum swings can make all the difference, Yale and Duke were virtually deadlocked in all categories that typically result in runs one way or another.
They each won 14 faceoffs, both programs were near perfect on clears, and each goalie made at least eight saves. The only stark difference was ground balls, as Yale won 35 to Duke’s 29. All that, combined with some precise shooting, was enough to vaunt Yale atop the Division I lacrosse world.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t happen this week, but I think the theme is we’re going to be back,” Danowski said. “When we do, this experience, we’ll draw from it.”
