D1 Lacrosse Championship – Duke Men’s Lacrosse vs Yale Men’s Lacrosse
NCAA D1 Lacrosse Team, Yale (17-3) beats Duke (16-4) 13-11. The Bulldogs win their first ever lacrosse championship in a great tournament run. After rolling past Albany, Yale had another test of containing the all time leading goal scorer, Justin Guterding, and the high powered Duke offense. It was a battle of the nations top 2 in points between Reeves and Guterding. The highly anticipate final made history for Yale, and proved that the championship is anyone’s game at the D1 level.
The Bulldogs looked to be in control for most game, and it was nice to watch some great offense finish off Memorial Day weekend. There was a big 11 goal quarter in the third, after only having 10 combined in the first half. Yale was lead by The Undertaker” and tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Matt Gaudet, who put in 4 goals on the day. Along with Gaudet’s performance, Tewaaraton winner Ben Reeves added 1 goal and 3 assists beside Jack Tigh’s hatty.
Duke fought hard, but could never get ahead during the final game of the season. They were led by their star Justin Guterding, with 2 goals and 1 assist. Joey Manown added the very same, but Guterding and Manown couldn’t put up enough to pass the Bulldogs. It was quite the run for both teams, and a great tournament that brought the top 4 seeds to the final 4.
2018 Tewaaraton Award
After being a Tewaaraton finalist for three years in a row, Ben Reeves finally secures the prestigious award along with the national title. The 5 finalists this year were Senior, Trevor Baptiste of Denver; Senior, Justin Guterding of Duke; Senior, Connor Kelly of Maryland; Senior, Ben Reeves of Yale; and the lone Junior, Pat Spencer from Loyola.
The honors really could have went to any of these beasts because they all had impressive seasons. The group contained arguably the best college face off man ever in Baptiste and the all time leading goal scorer in Guterding. Ben Reeves stole the show this year, and he had a phenomenal season scoring 62 goals with 53 assists and led the nation in points on the season. I assume next year Pat Spencer will join Reeves and only 4 others to be a finalist for the award 3 times. All of these players had wonderful years and careers, as it showed in the MLL draft where they all went in the first round.
Farewell to the 2018 College Lacrosse Seniors
Along with 4 of the 5 finalists playing their last collegiate game, we will no longer be watching several other great lacrosse players step onto the pitch. One of my personal favorite players to watch, Connor Fields, graduates and leaves behind a sensational career. Especially with the latest news that came out stating he played an entire season on a torn ACL. That is just nuts. It really shows how much of a competitor he is, and how much he loves the game. Watching him play and learn from the Thompsons was just a beauty to see. He has a great flair and style of the game, and he is just an animal on the field. A lot of other Great Danes will be missed like Kyle McClancy, and Justin and Troy Reh.
Hopkins is losing some other valuable assets that we will miss seeing in the spring. Another sweet player I loved to watch was Joel Tinney, another flashy player who made some amazing moves this year and throughout his career. He has some of the best vision and lacrosse IQ out there. Shack Stanwick, the last of the Stanwicks to finish off his college career, will join his brother at the next level.
Connor Mackie, a great face off man who was a huge contributor to Yale’s success this year, has also finished his college career. Some more notables are Christian Cuccinello, Christian Mazzone, Chris Cloutier, John Sexton, Tim Rotanz, Jules Heninburg, Connor Keating, and Sean Mayle.
Also, we have a huge shout out to good friend of the company Brennan O’Callaghan on an amazing collegiate career hitting 321 points and getting signed to the Ohio Machine practice squad. We hope they all have great professional careers and continue to ball for a long time like the Creator intended.
