After a tough road loss against UMass last weekend, the men’s lacrosse team will need to pick things up in subsequent weeks, as it squares off against some of the nation’s elite squads.

The Bulldogs (1-1) travel to Durham, N.C., to face No. 13 Duke (3-2) on Sunday before opening up Ivy League play on the road against Penn (1-1) the following weekend. To close out the break, the Elis welcome fellow Ivy League rival No. 4 Cornell to Reese Stadium for a 1:30 p.m. contest on March 21.

Michael Karwoski ’09, Colin Still ’12, Brian Douglass ’11, Mark Dobrosky ’12, Brendan Gibson’10 and Matt Gibson ’12 all scored, but the Elis were overwhelmed by the Minutemen, who jumped out to a 12-2 halftime lead on their way to a comfortable 18-6 victory.

According to Yale head coach Andy Shay, the team is more focused on its own play than in thinking about how it will match against other teams.

“We’re worried about us more than anything right now,” he said. “Against UMass, we didn’t do anything we’re supposed to do very well. As coaches, we talk way more about ourselves than about them. We’ve told the guys that we need to do our stuff well to win this game.”

Thanks to the help from the Yale athletics facilities staff and administration, the team’s practice schedule has not been thrown off by Sunday night’s blizzard. The team practiced in an indoor facility on Monday, and by Tuesday morning, Reese Stadium was snow-free and ready for practice.