Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse - 3/30/2024 Tim Bennett
Seven-goal third quarter powers Bulldogs to impressive road victory
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The first thing Matt Brandau wanted to talk about post game was the importance of Yale's 16-10 Ivy League victory over Brown. There was some more significance to the day as well. Brandau became Yale's all-time goal scoring leader when he fired home a shot with 6:15 left in the second quarter. That was the second of his four goals on the day and the 175th of his outstanding career as the Bulldogs improved to 2-1 in Ivy play with the impressive road victory.
Brandau, who has played in 63 career games, now has 177 career goals, three more than three-time All-American and 2018 Tewaaraton Award winner Ben Reeves, who played in 67 games from 2015 to 2018.
"It was an awesome game. I thought we fought very well against a tough Ivy opponent," Brandau said before discussing the record. "Just to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the guys that are up there with me is a great honor. I'm happy to still be here and putting the ball in the net for the Yale Bulldogs."
Said Andy Shay, the Forst Family Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "I'm proud of Matt and very happy for him. I can't say I am that surprised that he was able to do it. He's been a scoring machine since he got here. He's going to do down as one of the all-time greats at Yale, and he deserves every accolade he gets and then some. He's such a great kid."
Brandau's goals were a key part of the victory. With the score tied at 4-4, he scored four straight goals, including the record breaker, to put Yale in front 8-4 at halftime. The final two came in the final minute of the quarter.
"If we don't score those goals in the last minute of the second quarter, I'm not sure what kind of game this is," Shay said.
The Bulldogs (6-2) then put the game away with a dominant third quarter, outscoring the Bears 7-4.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
In addition to Brandau's big game, Carson Kuhl, David Anderson, Patrick Hackler and Machado Rodriguez each scored two goals. Max Krevsky, Jack Stuzin, Logan Soelberg and Christian Johnson all added one goal. Kuhl contributed three assists, while Brandau had two.
KEY STAT
The Bulldogs were dominant in the X, winning 25-of-29 faceoffs. Rodriguez won 17-of-21, two of which he turned directly into goals. Nicholas Ramsey won all eight of his faceoffs.
PAQUETTE STRONG IN GOAL
Jared Paquette was strong in goal for the Bulldogs, finishing with 15 saves. Five of his stops came in the second quarter when Yale seized control.