Yale wins in OT, reaches national semis

EAST HARTFORD — The moment Yale lacrosse coach Andy Shay saw the referee charging toward him at full speed, blasting away on his whistle, he realized he’d messed up big time.

With a little more than a minute on the clock, the Bulldogs clung to a twogoal lead in Sunday’s NCAA quarterfinals at Rentschler Field. Shay asked for a timeout. It was quickly ruled illegal, resulting in a procedure penalty. Penn’s man-up goal cut the deficit to one. It took the ensuing faceoff and scored again with 4 seconds left, sending the game to overtime.

“I kept thinking about these seniors and how I might have ended their careers with one of the dumbest things I’ve ever done,” Shay said.

On the sideline, Yale players patted Shay on the back and assured him he needn’t worry.

“Coach, we got this,” they said.

And they were right. Jack Tigh’s goal at 2 minutes, 32 seconds of overtime lifted Yale to a thrilling 19-18 victory over Penn, sending the Bulldogs to the YALE 19

PENN 18 NCAA’s championship weekend for a second successive season.

Yale (14-3), the defending national champion, faces Penn State in the national semifinals on Saturday, a 2:30 p.m. start at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Penn State, ranked No. 1 in the nation, has one loss all season, a 14-13 setback to the Bulldogs in February.

Duke and Virginia square off in the other semifinal. The championship game is Monday.

Penn (12-4) had won 12 straight games, two against Yale, including the Ivy League championship contest two weeks earlier. It was also keenly aware the Bulldogs sent them home for the season three years in a row, and were eager to return the favor.

An action-packed game on Sunday saw two blistering offenses trade leads seven times.

Yale took a two-goal lead when long-stick defender Will Weitzel scored his first of the season with 2 seconds left in the first period. Jackson Morrill (four goals, three assists) kept the lead at two on a goal with 8:37 remaining in the second.

But Penn took momentum behind faceoff specialist Kyle Gallagher, who’d been dominated in the first quarter by Yale’s Tewaaraton Award finalist T.D. Ierlan until turning the tables in the second. The Quakers outscored Yale 6-3 in the period to take an 11-10 halftime lead.

John Daniggelis had two goals for Yale in the third to help tie the game at 14-14 heading into the fourth. Lucas Cotler (four goals, one assist) scored twice as Yale took a 16-15 lead. Matt Gaudet (three goals) and Morrill scored around a goal by Penn’s Sean Lulley to make it an 18-16 game.

And then came the frenetic final few minutes.

Yale led 18-16 with 1:10 remaining when Shay called for timeout following a holding call in the Bulldog zone. But since there was no change of possession on the play, by rule, it was ruled an illegal request.

“That’s a rule that I know,” Shay said. “I knew I committed that violation.”

Penn’s Tyler Dunn scored on the man-up to cut the deficit to one. Kyle Gallagher took the faceoff to regain possession for the Quakers. Simon Mathias scored with 4 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.

Things got especially dicey in the overtime. Penn took possession after goalie Reed Junkin saved a shot by Yale’s Matt Gaudet, but were unable to cash in, allowing the Bulldogs to get the ball back.

Tigh, an All-American midfielder, won it on an improbable goal. He’d charged across the center of the Penn zone, tripped and fell on his face, briefly lost possession, snatched the loose ball while still on his knees, got back to his feet, split through a pair of defenders and zipped a shot past Junkin to ignite delirium on Yale’s sideline.

Shay, silently battling bouts of personal anguish, could finally relax.

“Jack Tigh saved me,” he said.

Tigh was more than happy to provide a small gift to a coach that, among other things, has turned Yale into a true national power.

“I feel like I owe this guy so much more than just that (goal),” Tigh said. “The stuff he’s done for me these past four years has been remarkable. It’s something every college kid really wants. As a coach, he’s a fearless leader and someone that trusts his team. He might have made that call. But he always tells us to reset. I gave him that reset. He did. He led us in that overtime.”