Cris Zillo, Contributing Photographer

Despite losing the entire 2021 season and having the majority of their 2020 season cut short, the men’s lacrosse team looks to reassert itself as a force to be reckoned with in its upcoming campaign next spring. Ranked as high as #1 in the nation in 2020, success is nothing new for the Bulldogs, who have amassed a massive trophy cabinet with the likes of a 2018 National Championship, three Ivy League titles, one Tewaaraton winner, seven NCAA Tournament appearances and a plethora of All-American honors. Many of the team’s stars will return hungry to Reese stadium, despite losing the most decorated faceoff specialist in NCAA history in TD Ierlan.

While the Blue and White now stand in the national spotlight, their name seldom graced headlines prior to 2018. Before winning their first NCAA title in 2018, the Bulldogs last topped the national standings in 1883.

The team’s astronomical rise to stardom can be traced back to head coach Andy Shay’s arrival in 2003. Well before the era of hoisting trophies, the Bulldogs were struggling to stay out of last place in the Ancient Eight. Yet, in just 15 years, Shay transformed the ragtag program into a national powerhouse that now commands respect across the country. He did so by leading a shift in culture, emphasizing the importance of hard work, intensity and teamwork. 

“After only brief meetings, it is clear that he brings a style of intensity and intelligence to the game,” goalie Roy Skeen ’04 told the News back in 2003. “It is refreshing and infectious.”

The Elis only won one game in the Ancient Eight during Shay’s first season at the helm.

Unbeknownst to most, however, Shay was laying the foundation for a program that would soon become a beacon of hard work across collegiate athletics brick by brick.

“One thing about coach Shay is that when he first came in, the intent was not to become a national contender, but he wanted to change the culture … from there it was about laying that foundation,” said Jason Alessi ’18, a member of the 2018 national championship squad. “Each year he got better and better and instilled that belief that we won’t be the most talented, but we’ll be the hardest-working, the most gritty, chasing down every ball. The goal eventually changed from winning one game to two games, to then winning an Ivy championship. Eventually it became competing on a national scale, and that came from all those years prior where he laid that foundation.”

The team’s unofficial motto, “ONE: Only Need Everybody,” embodies that sentiment.

“There was an idea that everyone had a contribution to make and no man was more important over the others,” former defenseman Ryan McQuaide ’18 told the News last year. “So we had this slogan — ONE: Only Need Everybody. I remember I dove in front of a shot to stop it one day. It was pretty painful, but I just remember getting up, feeling sorry for myself, then seeing coach Shay going nuts yelling, ‘Great job, McQuaide,’ and it just helps you buy into that mindset.”

En route to the national title, the team developed superstars such as Ben Reeves ’18 MED ’22 and Tyler Warner ’18, both of whom have since suited up in the Professional Lacrosse League alongside a plethora of other former Yalies. Reeves, a Tewaaraton Award-winner, helped the Bulldogs defeat Duke in the finals in 2018 to bring the NCAA lacrosse title to New Haven for the first time in program history.

In the following year, despite losing some of their top dogs, the Bulldogs took a second consecutive trip to championship weekend. Despite falling short in the finals to UVA, they showed the world that they were here to stay.

“Andy Shay has proven himself to be an innovative thinker in our industry,” UVA head coach Lars Tiffany told the News last year. “His approach to training is unique and his men have a powerful belief in their systems. With such an effective physical and emotional approach to developing his teams, Andy places his men in [a] fantastic position to win … Yale is once again prepared to compete for the title. 

With a bad taste in their mouth following the 2019 championship loss and a strong desire to once again enter the title conversation, the Bulldogs started their 2020 campaign strong and claimed the No. 1 ranking following decisive wins over Villanova and then-No. 1 Penn State. They dropped the following game to the UMass Minutemen in a nail-biter, but bounced back with a solid win over Michigan prior to the season’s cancellation. Four players earned All-American honors in the COVID-laden year.

The men’s lacrosse team, which last played a game in March of 2020, will look to resume its title hunt in the upcoming season. Despite losing several of its key threats from the 2020 squad, the team is still ripe with talent and remains hungry to reclaim its spot atop the nation. 

The 2022 squad will be led by captain Brian Tevlin ’22.