Laxers Close Out 2008 at Maryland :: No. 9 Terps Host Bulldogs

April 29, 2008

The Yale men's lacrosse team (4-9, 0-6 Ivy) closes out the 2008 campaign Saturday with a 1 p.m. game at the University of Maryland's Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium that will air live on CBS College Sports televison (DirecTV 610). The No. 9 Terps bring an 8-5 record into their regular season finale.

Series

Yale won the first encounter in 1925 at College Park but Maryland has taken the last six to register a 6-1 series lead. The Blue is 1-5 at College Park and 0-1 against the Terps at New Haven. UM has outscored the Bulldogs 72-35 and none of its wins have been by less than three goals. The two squads met in a 1959 exhibition that is not included in the overall series.

Last Meeting

Three players scored at least three goals as No. 7 Maryland enjoyed its senior day with a 12-4 victory over Yale at Byrd Stadium last May. George Carafides had a career-high 18 saves on a day when Maryland outshot Yale 43-18. Yale's top scorers were responsible for all of its points. Tyler Casertano and Brendan Gibson each had a goal and an assist. Captain Chris Kempner and Michael Karwoski also scored. The Terrapins held a 37-32 edge in ground balls but faceoffs went to Yale, 13-6.

Offensive Outage Allows Crimson Comeback

Harvard, which got two goals each from Jason Duboe and Max Motschwiller, erased 2-0 and 5-3 deficits to beat Yale 9-5 Saturday at Reese Stadium. Yale had the 5-3 advantage after Brendan Gibson's goal at 6:25 of the second period but didn't score over the last 36:25. The Crimson, who outshot (29-23) the Blue and had five fewer turnovers, blanketed Yale shooters the rest of the way and Harvard goalie Evan O'Donnell needed just five saves to earn the win. Tyler Casertano, Jerome Arnold, Bryce Pyle and Jonathan Koenig had the other Yale goals. Yale faceoff man Gregory DuBoff gave the home team plenty of chances with 10 wins on 17 draws. Yale goalie George Carafides made nine saves.

Terps Coming Off ACC Playoff Loss

Maryland, No. 7 in last week's USILA poll, is coming off an 11-8 loss to No. 3 Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinals.Max Ritz and Grant Catalino each had two goals while Jason Carter (8 saves) and Brian Phipps (5) shared the netminding duties against the Cavaliers.

Running the Sidelines

Yale head coach Andy Shay (30-36, 5th), a 1994 LeMoyne graduate, is 0-1 against Maryland. Dave Cottle, who has coached 19 teams to NCAA appearances in 25 years as a head coach (255-102), is in his seventh season at Maryland. Yale assistant Graham Niemi, who played at Maryland (class `97), was Cottle's assistant at Loyola (2001) and at Maryland (2002).

Casertano Cruising

Tyler Casertano leads the Blue with 37 points and 18 assists and has moved into the No. 9 spot on Yale's career points list with 134. Jon Reese '90 is the all-time leader with 200. Casertano, the only Eli with a point in every game, has a point in each of his last 40 games. The senior from Millbrook, N.Y., is nationally ranked in assists (27th, 1.38)) per game and in points (45rd, 2.85). He is fifth at Yale with 81 career assists.

Carafides To End Career With 53 Straight Starts

George Carafides (Drexel Hill, Pa), who had a career-high 19 saves while limiting Air Force to its lowest (2) goal total of the season two weeks ago, held the Falcons scoreless for the first 50 minutes. Carafides is ranked 24th among Division I goalies with a .562 save percentage, while he is 29th with an 8.91 GAA. Carafides, who has started all 52 games since he arrived at Yale, has 528 career saves (4th best at Yale).

Offense From Other Sources

Senior Kyle Washabaugh (Lower Gwynedd, Pa), junior Michael Karwoski (Greenlawn, NY) and sophomore Brendan Gibson (Pt. Lookout, NY) have all found the scoring touch over the second half of the season. Washabaugh had 3-1-4 over the first six games but has 16-1-17 over the last seven. Karwoski, who missed almost four full games as a member of the hockey team, has 10-3-13 over the last six. Gibson also had a slow start but now leads the team with 20 goals after going 7-5-12 in the last four.

Grimm is Lowe's Award Finalist

Yale captain Pat Grimm (Annapolis, Md.) has been named one of the 10 finalists for the 2008 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The award, presented annually to NCAA Division I student-athletes in eight sports, focuses on classroom, character, community and competition. Grimm, a defenseman and three-year lettermen for the Bulldogs, was second-team All-New England and honorable mention All-Ivy last spring. He owns a 3.43 GPA in history and plans to attend medical school, but his best work may have come in outreach activities.

Bulldog Bites

Gregory DuBoff (McLean, Va.) is ranked third in Division I with 6.23 ground balls per game while his .601 faceoff percentage ranks seventh... Jonathan Koenig (Woodbury, NY) has goals in the last three games and points in the last four... Yale celebrated its senior day last Saturday at home with 10 players being honored before the contest... Three (Cornell,8; Princeton, 14; Brown, 9) of the seven Ivy teams are ranked in the latest USILA coaches poll... The Blue suffered its first winless Ivy campaign since 1983.

Reese Stadium

The official game debut of the Field Turf (Phase I renovation) at Reese Stadium was 3/24/07. Formerly known as Yale's Soccer-Lacrosse Stadium, Reese will have other improvements over the next few years thanks to the gift from former Yale players Jason and Jon Reese. Jon is a candidate for the United States Lacrosse Hall of Fame's Class of 2008, having just been inducted into the Suffolk County (Long Island) Sports Hall of Fame. A gift from former soccer players Jamie and Cynthia Kempner and an anonymous matching challenge has Phase II plans moving forward.