Defense will be tested against Penn
NEW HAVEN — Chris Fake, Yale’s brilliant sophomore defenseman, had seen Andy Shay agitated a few times over the past two years. But never before had that ire been directed at him.
Georgetown attackers were giving Yale major trouble during last weekend’s NCAA first-round game. The Bulldogs would surrender a season-high 16 goals in the victory. Daniel Bucaro, Fake’s primary assignment, had eight of them. At one point, Shay loudly let Fake know he had to be better.
Afterward, Shay pulled the All-American aside.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever yelled at you,” Shay said.
“I know,” Fake replied. “I didn’t like it.”
“I didn’t either.” From the day he walked onto campus, Fake, arguably the best defender in the country, has been matched up with the opposition’s top playmaker. Rarely, if ever, has someone walked away having gotten the best of him.
Georgetown is talented up front. But the game circumstances may have worked against Yale’s defenders. The Hoyas trailed 9-1 in the first quarter. There was only one way to get back into the game — by firing away. Attackers, with no worry about consequential turnovers, were relentless.
Still, Shay knows it was a game in which fundamentals got away from the defense.
“He’s big, he’s fast, he’s strong, he’s tough and he cares,” Shay said of Fake. “He’s an ultra-focused kid. As far as a coach goes, he’s a dream. But he wasn’t executing in a matchup situation and was a little out of sorts. When you spend a year with no one really dodging you, sometimes you get a little out of practice.”
Fake is the leader of a stingy defensive crew that also includes Aidan Hynes, Will Weitzel. The unit will be heavily challenged by a familiar foe in the NCAA quarterfinals on Sunday.
Penn, riding a 12-game win streak, beat Yale in triple overtime during the regular season and added another one-goal win in the Ivy League championship game. A trio of lethal playmakers, Adam Goldner (53 goals), Sam Handley (35 goals, 25 assists) and Simon Mathias (34 goals, 23 assists), are at the heart of the Quakers success. Defense will be crucial in avoiding a third loss.
“We know how good a team they are; how good of players they have,” Fake said. “They won an Ivy League championship and regular-season title. But mostly we’re just focused on ourselves, because we haven’t put together a complete game yet. It’s something we’re looking forward to doing.”
Ben Reeves, the Tewaaraton Award winner as the nation’s best player, brought considerable attention to Yale’s offensive skill during last year’s national championship season. The unsung heroes were on defense. Yale smothered opposing attackers, allowing just 8.75 goals-per game.
Fake played a major role in Yale’s historic run. He arrived with expectations as a three-time high school All-American at New Jersey’s Hun School, and lived up to the advanced billing. At 6-foot-1, 205 pounds, he was a two-time all-league defensive end in football on a team that lost only once in three years.
At Yale, he immediately began shutting down talented, more experienced players with a combination of size, footwork, intelligence and brute strength.
“I’m not a flashy defenseman,” Fake said. “It’s instincts and sitting back and playing good defense.”
Aiding his cause was the chance to go head-to-head with Reeves every day in practice. What better way to prepare for the season than to engage in epic daily battles with the nation’s best speed dodger? Every opposing attacker was a notch below what Fake endured covering Reeves. He was a unanimous firstteam all-Ivy League pick, the league’s rookie of the year, and a second-team All-American.
These days, Fake still spars at practice with an All-American caliber attacker. Yale junior Jackson Morrill is among the nation’s top scorers with 81 points. Other Bulldog attackers Matt Brandau, Matt Gaudet and Brendan Rooney play differing styles that challenge defensive core Weitzel, Hynes and Robert Mooney.
Though Yale is allowing more goals per game, 10.36, than it did a year ago, its performed well against elite competition. Penn State, leading the country with an astounding 17.81 goals-per game, lost its only game at Yale in February. Cornell and Georgetown are ranked in the nation’s top seven. Penn comes in ranked third.
Shay believes the breakdowns of last week were an aberration.
“Those guys didn’t do a great job of covering and they know it,” Shay said. “They’ve been great cover guys all season. We’ve got to be better with fundamentals in defensive end, make contact here and there when we need to. A little humble pie is good. I think we’ll be fine.”