Yale Athletics

The Yale men’s lacrosse team’s two-game winning streak snapped this weekend in an overtime loss to Penn State.

The No. 11 Elis (2–1, 0–0 Ivy) started off their game against No. 6 Penn State (4–1, 0–0 Big Ten) strong last Saturday, finishing the first half with a 9–2 lead. The Nittany Lions, however, made a comeback to tie the Bulldogs 14–14 by the end of regulation play, leading to a four-minute overtime period during which Penn State tallied an additional goal to secure the win.

The Bulldogs started out the game with a 6–1 lead in the first frame. Midfielder and team captain Patrick Hackler ’24 started off the scoring just seven seconds into the game off an assist by face-off man Machado Rodriguez ’25. Assisted by midfielder Carson Kuhl ’25, attackman David Anderson ’27 scored under three minutes later.

Hacker, assisted by attackman Matt Brandau ’24, tallied another point to close out the first five minutes of the game at 3–0, and midfielder Max Krevsky ’25 scored unassisted at 9:35. Nittany Lion attackman Jeb Brenfleck put Penn State on the board off an assist by attackman TJ Malone less than a minute later.

Anderson, assisted by midfielder Johnny Keib ’25, resumed Yale’s offensive onslaught with another goal at 3:24 remaining in the first frame, and Krevsky scored once more to close out the quarter.

The Bulldogs also saw success in the second quarter, leading 3–1 and finishing the half with a seven-point lead. Krevsky opened the scoring 35 seconds into the frame, and Brandau tallied another goal five minutes later, assisted by Keib, to raise the score to 8–1. 

Malone made an unassisted goal under four minutes later to decrease Yale’s lead to six, but attackman Peter Moynihan ’27 closed out the half with another Yale goal, assisted by Brandau, with just under two minutes left in the period. 

The Nittany Lions started the second half of the game on a roll, with a five-point scoring streak over the course of six minutes. Malone scored the first two goals, and after that midfielder Ethan Long, midfielder Mac Costin and attackman Will Peden also scored. 

Anderson broke this streak with an unassisted goal with 7:37 remaining in the period, which Penn State midfielder Matt Traynor answered less than a minute later with another goal. Yale then reaffirmed their lead with three more points, the first by Krevsky and the second two by Anderson, both assisted by Kuhl. 

To close out the third quarter, Malone scored for Penn State, assisted by Long, and the Nittany Lions continued scoring into the final quarter. Costin tallied an unassisted goal 1:03 into the period, and 1:02 later, Long scored on a man-up. 

Kuhl raised Yale’s lead to 14–11 just over a minute later, but the Nittany Lions entered another scoring streak of three goals — by Malone, Traynor and Costin — to close out regulation in a 14–14 tie. 

During the golden-goal overtime period, Yale led 5–1 in shots, including one by Brandau that hit the goal post and one that Penn State goalkeeper Jack Fracyon saved. With 59 seconds remaining in the four-minute overtime period, Malone assisted Penn State attackman Jake Morin in sealing the win for the Nittany Lions.

While the Elis ultimately fell to Penn State by a mere point in overtime, each team’s season records reflect something different. While the Nittany Lions fell 13–12 to Colgate in their season opener on Feb. 3, the Elis triumphed 21–11 over Colgate on Feb. 21.

Yale also saw strong offensive play in the contest. Anderson led the game with five goals, followed by Krevsky with four and Hackler with two. Brandau, Kuhl and Moynihan also each tallied one goal during the game.

The Elis led the game 56–44 in shots and 31–30 in shots on goal. Yale also led the game 20–13 in faceoffs, with Rodriguez and face-off man Nick Ramsey ’24 winning 12-of-19 and 8-of-14 faceoffs, respectively.

Goalkeeper Jared Paquette ’25 played the entire game in goal, making 15 saves over the course of the contest. 

The Elis also led in turnovers, 16–13, and 42–21 in ground balls. 

The Bulldogs hope to regain their momentum next week when they travel to Colorado for their next game. 

Yale will face No. 10 Denver University (5–0, 0–0 Big East) in Denver, CO on Sunday, March 10 at 2 p.m. EST. The game will stream live on Altitude.