Yale Beats Duke For Their First NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship Title

At the 2018 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Lacrosse Championship at Gillette Stadium on May 28, the Yale men’s lacrosse team made history by winning their first-ever NCAA title. Both Yale and Duke performed excellently in the regular season with Yale finishing with a (17-3) record and Duke coming out with a (16-4) record.

The favored Division 1 Maryland Terrapins who won last year’s title was defeated by Duke in the semi-finals with a score of (13-8). The University of Denver’s team was knocked out in the quarterfinals by the University of Albany. Denver arguably has the best face-off man in all of the NCAA, Trevor Baptiste. While Albany has one of the best attackmen in the league, Tehoka Nanticoke. Baptiste was drafted to the Boston Cannons in the first round of the 2018 Major League Lacrosse Draft.

Jack Tigh, attack, scored his first of three goals in the opening half, 36 seconds into the first quarter. Matt Gaudet, attack, scored four goals for the Bulldogs. Tigh scored his next two goals before half-time, the Bulldogs were leading (6-4) going into the second half of the game.

Jack Starr, a goalie, made an incredible nine saves for the Bulldogs, leading them 10-5 in the third quarter. Starr never let Duke get closer than two points. Duke then scored three straight goals within three minutes, towards the end of the third quarter. Duke then trailed Yale by two points (10-8). Going into the fourth quarter, Yale was back up (12-9) with enough room to hold off the Blue Devils for the remainder of the game.

In NCAA Men’s Lacrosse history, Yale never made it past the NCAA quarterfinals before absolutely dominating top-seeded Syracuse University with an impressive score of (20-11). Yale is the first Ivy-League school to win the championship since Princeton University who won the chip in 2001. Another impressive title goes to Yale’s captain, Ben Reeves. Reeves won the 2018 Tewaaraton Award. The award goes to the most outstanding NCAA lacrosse athlete in both men and women’s lacrosse.

Overall, the Yale Bulldogs have started the season as one of the best teams but now, they are ending the season as the best team.

Click here to see highlights of the championship!

About the Author

Gabriel Matnog

Contributor

Gabriel Matnog, or Gabe as he prefers to be called, is a returning member to the Blue and Gold. This year, Matnog is determined to learn more about journalism. Currently, he hopes to focus on writing for the sports section since he enjoyed writing about numerous sports last year. Some of his friends have gone to South Korea for the World Junior Championships and is rooting for their success. Aside from precision shooting, Matnog enjoys a plethora of other sports including golf, snowboarding, and lacrosse. On weekends, if it is possible, he will do some homework and hit the golf field. His favorite extracurriculars include speech and debate as well the Boy Scouts (even though he completed it and currently is considered an “Eagle Scout”). Eventually, he aspires to be a chemical engineer and go to MIT, since he is good at math and science and comes from a long line of scientists.

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