Bulldogs Host Archrival Saturday at 1 pm :: Harvard Comes to Reese on Senior Day

April 22, 2008

The Yale men's lacrosse team (4-8, 0-5 Ivy) celebrates Senior Day this Saturday with league rival Harvard (5-7, 0-4) coming to Reese Stadium. The Bulldogs, closing out the 2008 home schedule, and the Crimson are looking for their first Ivy League wins. The 1 p.m. game can be heard live on WYBC (AM-1340) and on wybc.com.

Series

Yale, which leads the series 56-33, has lost three of the last four to the Crimson after a five-year Bulldog win streak. Yale's last two wins came at Cambridge, 11-6 in 2003 and 9-8 in 2007.

Last Meeting

Yale held off a fourth-quarter Harvard offensive outburst to register a 9-8 win before 1,063 at Harvard Stadium and a national TV audience last April. The Bulldogs took an 8-2 lead into the fourth quarter on Senior Day for the Crimson, who went on to tally six of the seven goals in the frame before falling one shy. Goalie George Carafides, who had 11 saves, and the Yale defense held on as the home team scored the last two goals and came within a few inches of sending the contest to overtime. Harvard called a timeout with 40 second left and proceeded to fire three shots at Carafides that bounced off target, including one with four ticks on the clock. Tyler Casertano led the Blue with two goals and a pair of assists while Michael Karwoski hit the net twice and had three points. Brendan Gibson (1-2-3) was the only other Eli with a multiple-point day. Captain Chris Kempner, who was all over the field making plays, Jonathan Koenig, Ben Fuchs and James Ryan III each had a goal.

Bulldogs Blanket Air Force

George Carafides stopped 19 of 21 shots on target and Michael Karwoski had three goals and an assist as the Elis defeated Air Force 10-2 before 1,569 at Reese Stadium on Sunday. The Yale senior goalie saved his best day as a Bulldog for his second-to-last collegiate home game, holding the Falcons scoreless for the first 50:41. Karwoski had his second straight three-goal outing and propelled the Bulldogs out of a defensive struggle. Woody Johnson finished with nine saves in the Air Force goal as his team was outshot 36-33. Yale had the advantage in ground balls (34-29) while the Falcons won nine of 16 faceoffs. Tyler Casertano added two goals and an assist while Jonathan Koenig chipped in a pair of scores. Other Yale scorers included Kyle Washabaugh, Colin Ford and Nick Tsouris.

Crimson Double-Up Crusaders

Travis Burr and Jason Duboe both tallied three goals to propel the Crimson to a 12-6 win at Holy Cross Saturday night at Worcester. Joe Pike earned the victory with 11 saves while captain Evan O'Donnell closed out the game in goal. Harvard outshot the home team 45-22, had a 46-25 advantage in gound balls and won 15 of the 21 faceoffs. The Cantabs, 25-0 against Holy Cross, scored on three of four EMOs.

Running the Sidelines

Yale head coach Andy Shay (30-35, 5th), a 1994 LeMoyne graduate, is 1-3 against Harvard. Former Navy assistant coach John Tillman is in his first year as the Crimson mentor.

Senior Day

Saturday is the last home game for 10 Yale seniors. G George Carafides, A Tyler Casertano, G Joe Costa, M Gregory DuBoff, D Pat Grimm, D Tom Hamilton, M Jonathan Koenig, M Davis Lindsey, D Michael Raynor and A Kyle Washabaugh will be honored in a brief, pre-game ceremony.

Casertano Cruising

Tyler Casertano leads the Blue with 34 points and 16 assists and has moved into the No. 11 spot on Yale's career points list with 131. Jon Reese '90 is the all-time leader with 200. Casertano, the only Eli with a point in every game, has a point in each of his last 39 games, which is seventh-best among active Division I players. The senior from Millbrook, N.Y., is nationally ranked in assists (28th, 1.33)) per game and in points (43rd, 2.83). He is fifth at Yale with 80 career assists.

Carafides Stops 19 of 21 Against USAF

George Carafides (Drexel Hill, Pa) had a career-high 19 saves while limiting Air Force to its lowest (2) goal total of the season. The Falcons did not score until the 51st minute of the game, which means the Bulldogs had a legitimate shot at their first shutout since 1956. Carafides is ranked 22nd among Division I goalies with a .567 save percentage, while he is 29th with an 8.90 GAA. Carafides, who has started all 48 games since he arrived at Yale, has 519 career saves (4th best at Yale). Carafides, far from the Yale career record set by Rich Dressler (1991-94, 796), exceded his previous career-best of 18 saves at Maryland in 2007.

Turning Up The Offense

Senior Kyle Washabaugh, junior Michael Karwoski and sophomore Brendan Gibson have all found the scoring touch over the last two weeks. Washabaugh had 3-1-4 over the first six games but has 16-1-17 over the last six. Karwoski, who missed almost four full games as a member of the hockey team, has 10-3-13 over the last five. Gibson also had a slow start but is now tied (19 goals) for the team lead with Washabaugh after going 6-5-11 in the last three.

Grimm is Lowe's Award Finalist

Yale captain Pat Grimm (Annapolis, Md.) has been named one of the 10 finalists for the 2008 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The award, presented annually to NCAA Division I student-athletes in eight sports, focuses on classroom, character, community and competition. Grimm, a defenseman and three-year lettermen for the Bulldogs, was second-team All-New England and honorable mention All-Ivy last spring. He owns a 3.43 GPA in history and plans to attend medical school, but his best work may have come in outreach activities.

Bulldog Bites

Gregory DuBoff (McLean, Va.) is ranked third in Division I with 6.25 ground balls per game while his .602 faceoff percentage ranks 10th... The Blue has lost five Ivy games by a total of 10 goals... Three (Cornell, Princeton, Brown) of the seven Ivy teams are ranked in the latest USILA coaches poll... The Blue looks to avoid its first winless Ivy campaign since 1983

Reese Stadium

The official game debut of the Field Turf (Phase I renovation) at Reese Stadium was 3/24/07. Formerly known as Yale's Soccer-Lacrosse Stadium, Reese will have other improvements over the next few years thanks to the gift from former Yale players Jason and Jon Reese. A gift from former soccer players Jamie and Cynthia Kempner and an anonymous matching challenge has Phase II plans moving forward.