The men's lacrosse team dropped a heartbreaker to Yale (6-2 Overall, 3-1 Ivy) on Saturday in its first Ivy League game this season, losing 12-11 to drop to 3-3 on the season. Co-captains Chazz Woodson '05 and Chris Mucciolo '05 led the Bears with three goals each.
"We didn't play a whole game," said Head Coach Scott Nelson. It was "kind of two different teams for us: one where we got way behind (and) played poorly, (and another in the) last 20 minutes when we played fantastic," he said.
Yale dominated possession, especially in the first half, winning 21 of 27 faceoffs and converting 17 of 20 clears compared to the Bears' 17 of 27. Coupled with a 40-26 advantage in ground balls, the Elis had all the time they needed to let their offense go to work.
"They did a good job," Nelson said. "They had lots of opportunities and they played with confidence."
The Elis were able to wear the Bears down with crisp ball movement, generating many quality shots. Fatigue began to show in Brown's defense, and Yale scored seven times in the second quarter to build a 9-4 halftime lead.
Meanwhile, the Bears were forced to run a very efficient offense, making the most of their few possessions. Scoring on 11 of their 28 possessions, the Bears took advantage of their individual athleticism to dodge past the Yale defenders.
"We're the type of team that has a lot of players (who are good) when they have the ball," Mucciolo said. "If we had the ball more, we would have exploited it more. We were just trying to put pressure on the goal."
After making some adjustments, Brown got back into the game in the third quarter and exploded with a furious comeback in the fourth. Down 11-4 with just over 20 minutes left in the game, the game seemed all but over, but the Bears refused to quit and came within one goal of sending the game into overtime.
"We expect that out of them," Nelson said. "They're not going to give up. That's a given here at Brown lacrosse."
Yale got on the board quickly, winning the opening faceoff and moving the ball quickly to generate a wide-open shot just 1:17 into the game. Woodson answered back for the Bears, though, beating his man from behind the net for an unassisted goal. Yale held the ball for much of the quarter, but the still-fresh Brown defense held tough and the teams traded goals to end the quarter 2-2.
In the second quarter, though, the Bulldogs tightened their grip, completely dominating possession and outscoring the Bears 7-2. Yale took advantage of its possession, not only scoring goals but also moving the ball around the perimeter to wear down Brown's defense.
"They made a smart move," Mucciolo said. "(Teams) use (possession) to their advantage, they have a lead, time's on their side (and they) frustrate the defense. (It) made it tough for us."
In an effort to swing momentum back towards the Bears, Nelson pulled goalie Chandler Clarke '07 for Nick Gentilesco '06. Gentilesco had started all of the Bears' previous games, but broke his hand against Syracuse and was not expected to play.
"The goalie switch was done to change the momentum. Chandler's a heck of a goalie," Nelson said.
The switch did not seem to have an immediate effect, but as the game entered the second half, the Brown defense tightened up, allowing only 14 shots, a noticeable improvement from the 25 they allowed in the first half.
The other adjustment the Bears made was to put in an all-long stick faceoff unit to try to force a ground ball off the faceoff instead of allowing Yale to win it cleanly. Putting in a long stick group made it easier for Yale to win the initial faceoff, but gave Brown an excellent chance to strip them of the ball.
The effect on the game in the third quarter was drastic. Instead of Yale dominating possession as they had before, the Bears were able to get more time with the ball, and the Bulldogs did not have as much time to go to work on the Brown defense. Having more time with the ball, the Bears outscored the Elis 3-2, going into the final quarter down 11-7.
"We realized in the fourth quarter we had to play more aggressively, with more energy," Mucciolo said.
In the final period, the Bears came out firing on all cylinders. After a pair of goals from Mucciolo and Kyle Wailes '06, a lucky deflection gave Yale a goal and a 12-9 lead with 3:24 left in the game. Woodson started the Bears' final push, scoring with 1:26 left. Alex Buckley '07 scored just 31 seconds later, pulling Brown within one with under a minute to play.
Knowing that they had their last chance to stave off defeat, the Bears won the final faceoff and called timeout to set up their final play. Unfortunately, with so little time left, Yale was able to put up a zone defense, forcing the Bears to run a time-consuming play. The Elis forced a drop with less than 10 seconds left to prevent a shot and preserve the 12-11 win.
"We were too cautious," Nelson said. "It takes longer to attack a zone, (but) we didn't attack it fast enough."
With the Ivy League still wide open and perennial powerhouse Princeton 1-6 on the season, the Bears still have hopes of capturing an Ivy title and a NCAA tournament berth. They travel to Cambridge, Mass., Tuesday to face Harvard, where they will look to get back on track.
"We just got to worry about Harvard right now," Nelson said. "This is going to be a real gut check for our guys."
