Courtesy of David Schamis

The 11th-ranked Yale men’s lacrosse team (6–2, 2–1 Ivy) defeated the Brown Bears (1–8, 0–2 Ivy) by a score of 16–10 on Saturday, while senior attackman Matt Brandau ’24 made Yale history.

Coming into the game against a struggling Brown team with 173 career goals for the Bulldogs, Brandau was just two away from breaking 2018 Tewaaraton Award winner Ben Reeves ’18 MED ’24 record of 174 career goals in a Yale uniform.

After scoring his first goal of the day with 10:26 remaining in the second quarter, Brandau gave the Bulldogs a 5–4 lead and tied Reeves for the record. Then, just over four minutes later at the 6:15 mark, Brandau cut to the right of the Brown net, catching a Thomas Bragg ’24 pass from behind the net before quickly flicking it into the goal and setting the all-time Yale record. 

“Just to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the guys that are up there with me is a great honor,” Brandau said to Yale Athletics. “I’m happy to still be here and putting the ball in the net for the Yale Bulldogs.”

Brandau then closed his account for the day with two more second-quarter goals to make it four goals on the day in the six-goal victory for the Bulldogs. 

As the team deals with numerous injuries to key offensive players, Brandau has been crucial to the team’s success, driving the offense all season long. The senior from Timonium, Maryland currently leads the nation in points per game with 6.57 and will look to keep the success going to challenge for the Tewaaraton Award as the best men’s lacrosse player this season. 

Joining Brandau in pursuit of the Tewaaraton recently is faceoff specialist Machado Rodriguez ’25. The junior FOGO was one of seven second-round additions to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List and is currently fourth in the nation with a .645 face-off winning percentage and first in ground balls, scooping up 11.14 a game. 

Looking ahead, the Bulldogs have a massive matchup this upcoming weekend against No. 15 Penn (7–3, 3–0 Ivy). Penn is currently ranked first in the Ivy League while Yale sits in second. 

SPENCER KING
Spencer King is an Editor for the Sports desk. He has covered the Yale football and women's ice hockey teams. He has also previously covered the Yale men's lacrosse team and most things Bulldogs sports. Spencer is a junior in Davenport College and is majoring in Political Science.