Six days after its second-straight Ivy League championship, the Yale men’s lacrosse team won its first NCAA tournament playoff game since 1992 when it came back to defeat Penn State 10–7 in University Park, Penn.
Despite scoring first just three minutes into the contest, the Nittany Lions jumped up to an impressive 5–1 lead at halftime. Second quarter scoring was dominated by Penn State, shutting out Yale 3–0.
The tides began to turn, however, when Yale was given a man-up opportunity and attackman JW McGovern ’16 put a shot past goaltender Austin Kaut two minutes into the third quarter. Shortly thereafter, attackman Conrad Oberbeck ’15 brought the game within reach, making the score 5–3.
The Nittany Lions tried to fight back, widening the gap back to three goals, but the Elis had just caught their stride.
The next seven goals all came from the Bulldogs and were not answered until Penn State slipped one past Eric Natale ’15 with a minute left to play.
Midfielder Colin Flaherty ’14 pumped two goals past Kaut just a minute apart before the third quarter came to a close.
Yale carried its momentum into the final quarter of action and quickly tied the game at six apiece just two minutes into the fourth quarter. Kirby Zdrill ’13, Brandon Mangan ’14, Oberbeck, and Flaherty all added goals to close out the scoring for Yale.
The Nittany Lions tried to make a last stitch effort with one more goal, making the game 10–7, but it was not enough to catch up with the Bulldogs momentous lead.
The Elis will next play the winner of the No. 1 seed Syracuse vs. Bryant matchup in the NCAA quarterfinals in College Park, Maryland on May 18.
The winner of that game will head to the semifinals in Philadelphia, PA.