Coming off close losses to nationally ranked conference opponents No. 3 Cornell and No. 5 Princeton, things won’t get much easier for the men’s lacrosse team this weekend.
The Bulldogs (4-4, 1-2 Ivy) travel to Providence on Saturday to challenge No. 12 Brown in a 3 p.m. contest, looking to avenge a last-second loss to the Bears (8-1, 1-0) last season.
Brown forward Kyle Hollingsworth scored with 11 seconds left in the game to give Brown a 9-8 win at Reese Stadium last April in a game that saw five ties and four lead changes.
Yale’s four losses this season have been against nationally ranked opponents. The Elis stuck with both Cornell and Princeton, their two most recent losses, for much of the contests, but lost steam late into the games as they let winnable match-ups slip away.
Attackman Michael Karwoski ’09, who leads the Elis with 15 goals and 22 points, said the team is taking confidence from their close 11-7 loss to No. 5 Princeton last weekend.
“If anything, it should give us confidence for the games to come against teams that aren’t ranked as high, and give us confidence to say, ‘Hey, we played with the No. 5 team in the nation, we should be able to take these guys,’” he said. “It’ll give us the chance to come out on the field with more confidence, a little swagger in our step.”
The Bears have won their last seven contests, and their lone loss of the season so far was back on Feb. 28 in an 11-10 double overtime loss at home against No. 7 Hofstra.
Brown’s Hollingsworth and sophomore attacker Andrew Feinberg lead the Bears on offense. Feinberg has already tallied 25 goals and 11 assists this season, and Hollingsworth has 14 goals and 19 assists. All-American senior goalie Jordan Burke has once again been formidable in net this season with a 7.57 goals against average and a .615 save percentage.
The lone squad that both Brown and Yale have already played this season is No. 14 UMass. Yale took a tough 18-6 road loss on Feb. 28 in its second game of the season, while Brown won a close 9-8 contest on the road in mid-March.
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