Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/16/18
From Press Release
Yale has been unanimously selected as the preseason favorite heading into the 2018 Ivy League men’s lacrosse season, as chosen by a panel of media representatives.
Yale, the 2017 Ivy League Champions, topped the preseason poll for the second straight year with 98 total points and all 14 first-place votes.
The Bulldogs got the nod over Ancient Eight rival Princeton, which finished second with 70 points. Penn was third with 64 points. Brown rounded out the top half of the league with 54 total points.
The bottom half of the poll featured Cornell in fifth with 49 points, Harvard in sixth with 43 and Dartmouth in seventh with 15 points.
The 2018 Ivy League Men’s Lacrosse Tournament, which features the top four teams in the final standings, will be held at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium on the campus of Columbia for the first time, May 4 and 6. It’s the first time in the history of the event that the tournament will take place at predetermined site. A variety of ticket offerings – including tournament passes and single sessions are on sale online at GoColumbiaLions.com/tickets or by calling the Columbia Ticket office at 888-LIONS-11.
YALE
2017 Record: 10-6, 5-1
Season Opener: vs. Villanova at Patriot Cup in Frisco, Texas, 1 p.m.
Yale, the reigning Ivy League Champion, returns most of the core that helped the Bulldogs win its third straight tournament title. Ben Reeves, the 2017 Ivy League Player of the Year, returns for his senior season. Reeves is a two-time Tewaaraton finalist. Last season, he scored 42 goals and 37 assists to surpass Jon Reese as Yale’s all-time leading scorer with 201 points. Joining Reeves in the offensive third are sophomores Matt Gaudet and Jackson Morrill as well as faceoff specialist Conor Mackie, who fueled the team’s sixth-ranked faceoff unit.
PRINCETON
2017 Record: 9-6, 4-2
Season Opener: vs. Monmouth, February 17, 1 p.m.
Princeton went 9-6 in 2017 and reached the Ivy League tournament. The Tigers concluded the year as the No. 2 scoring offense team in the country. Despite losing two All-Ivy selections in Gavin McBride (Haverford School) and Zach Currier, Princeton returns seven starters. Among Princeton’s key returners are Michael Sowers (Upper Dublin), who set the Princeton record for points in a season with 82 (41G, 41A) as a freshman a year ago and senior Austin Sims, a preseason All-America midfielder.
PENN
2017 Record: 7-6, 3-3
Season Opener: vs. Michigan, February 17, 12 p.m.
Penn went 7-6 last year, including a 3-3 mark in Ivy League play, and took Yale to quadruple overtime in the Ivy League Tournament before falling to the Bulldogs. The Quakers returns their top 11 scorers from a year ago as well as their starting face-off man and goalkeeper. The roster is headlined by senior Connor Keating (Haverford School), a third-team USILA All-America last year, and includes three other players who earned All-Ivy recognition a year ago: junior Simon Mathias—who shared Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors with Penn goalie Reed Junkin in 2016—junior Tyler Dunn, and senior Kevin McGeary (Malvern Prep).
BROWN
2017 Record: 10-6, 4-2
Season Opener: at Quinnipiac, February 17, 12 p.m.
Despite losing 2016 Tewaaraton Award winner Dylan Molloy to graduation, Brown returns five or its top six scorers from a year ago where the Bears finished 10-6 overall and were a goal away from earning an NCAA Tournament berth in the championship games versus Yale. The Bears will rely on a trio of attackman – Luke McCaleb, Jack Kniffin and Jackson Newsome – to keep the offensive pace. Seniors Stephen Hudak (La Salle) and Michael Panepinto will look to improve upon its 14.25 goals per game average, which ranked fourth in the nation.
CORNELL
2017 Record: 5-8, 4-2
Season Opener: at Colgate, February 17, 1 p.m.
After opening the season with five consecutive losses, the Big Red rebounded to go 5-3 down the stretch, including an upset of No. 13 Princeton in the season finale to finish with a mark of 5-8 overall and a fourth place finish in the Ivy League (3-3). The Big Red are led by rising sophomore Jeff Teat who had 33 goals and 39 assists as a rookie and broke Rob Pannell’s freshman scoring record.
HARVARD
2017 Record: 6-7, 2-4
Season Opener: vs. UMass Lowell, February 7, 3 p.m.
Harvard welcomes back all four of its All-Ivy honorees – Joe Lang, Morgan Cheek, Jonathan Butler and Robert Shaw – that led the Crimson to a 6-7 overall mark in 2017. Cheek finished the year with 37 goals, good for third among Ancient Eight leaders, while his 30 assists was good for fourth. Senior goalie Robert Shaw ranked third in the League with a .526 save percentage.
DARTMOUTH
2017 Record: 2-11, 0-6
Season Opener: vs. Canisius, February 17, 1 p.m.
Dartmouth returns two of its top-three offensive threats from a season ago in seniors Richie Loftus and Jack Korzelius. Loftus was tied for first with 21 goals and first in assists (14) and points (35). Loftus has registered one point in 11 games and had eight multi-point performances in 2017. Korzelius, a second-team All-Ivy selection last season, finished third on the team in goals (17) and assists (6). The senior had six multi-point games and grabbed 14 ground balls last season.