A six-goal deficit in the first quarter was too much to overcome, even for a team that has proved adept at bouncing back from slow starts.
The men’s lacrosse team (2-7, 0-4 Ivy) once again struggled to come out strong early in the game, eventually falling 15-4 to Albany (5-5) last night at the John Fallon Field in New York.
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The Elis gave up eleven goals before scoring their first one with less than two minutes left in the first half. The Great Danes got off to a dominating start in the first quarter, scoring six goals and picking up seven more ground balls than the visitors.
Trailing by a score of 12-1 midway through the third, the Bulldogs made a minor run, scoring three goals in a row. By this time, though, Albany had already established an insurmountable lead.
The Great Danes added to their lead by scoring three more goals and blanking the Bulldogs in the final quarter, recording their highest goal total of the season so far.
Attackman Kyle Washabaugh ’08 led the Elis on offense with two goals, with Michael Karwoski ’08 and Brendan Gibson ’10 each adding a goal of their own. Gibson credited the Bulldogs’ dismal performance to the team’s mindset. The team “just didn’t show up ready to play,” he said.
Albany’s Corey Small led the home team with six goals and one assist, scoring four of his goals in the Great Dane’s dominating first-half performance. Albany scored in bunches throughout the game — two goals in the span of a minute at four different instances. Albany netminder Brett Queener made 13 saves on 16 shots on goal.
The victory against the Bulldogs gave the Great Danes their fifth win in a row and handed the Bulldogs their third consecutive loss.
Attackman Tyler Casertano ’08, who extended his point streak with an assist, attributed his team’s lackluster performance to poor play.
He said the team played “terribly from the start of the game until the end.” The game was 60 minutes of very bad lacrosse, Casertano said.
Face-off specialist Greg DuBoff ’08, who came into the game ranked second in the nation in face-off percentage, was not his usual dominating self, winning only 12 of 23 face-offs. DuBoff won only one of seven face-offs in the first quarter, severely hindering the Bulldog’s usual game plan of maintaining possession for long stretches of time.
Eli goalie George Carafides ’08 struggled early on, allowing goals on 11 of the first 15 shots he faced on net in the first 25 minutes of the game. He was then replaced by Joe Costa ’08, who saved 13 of 17 on-target shots, including eight stops in the third quarter.
Despite the fact that Yale had a 7-4 advantage in penalties drawn, they were once again unable to convert on any extra-man opportunities, while the Great Danes converted one of theirs.
The loss now drops the team’s record to a disappointing 2-7 after such a promising outlook before the start of the season. Yale travels to Fairfield for a non-conference game on Saturday, looking to halt a three-game losing streak.