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Alphabetical 2013 NCAA D1 Preview: Yale

I’m not going to lie. Now that we’re at the end of the Alphabetical 2013 NCAA D1 Previews, I’m a little bit sad. It was just THAT enjoyable to go through every single D1 team, and I definitely learned a thing or two. I hope you all did as well! We move another, final spot down the list to the Yale Bulldogs, located in New Haven, CT! The Elis are up for Preview!

Yale started out in 2012 going 2-4, and most of the country wrote them off. Their fourth loss was in FIVE OT periods to Princeton, and it looks like that was a definite turning point, as Yale went on to win their next nine games, three of which included a total of 7 OT periods. Until a 13-7 loss to Notre Dame in the NCAAs, Yale went on one of the best runs in all of NCAA lacrosse, as they won it OT, and beat teams like Princeton convincingly, after losing to them earlier in the year.

2013 obviously has Yale once again in the Ivy League, and outside of that tough conference (Princeton, Brown, Harvard and Cornell are all looking really tough), the Bulldogs will face St. John’s, Albany, Sacred Heart, Fairfield, Providence, Stony Brook, and Maryland. Fairfield and Maryland are their toughest OOC games, but teams like Providence and Albany could provide an excellent challenge.

Last year, Yale was boiled down to Matt Gibson by many, which was actually pretty unfair. Gibby was a huge difference maker for Yale, but he wasn’t doing it alone, and there was, and is, some serious talent left in New Haven. Brandon Mangan, Conrad Oberbeck, Ryan McCarthy, and Shane Thompson all return, and they combine to bring back 91 total points. Deron Dempster is not listed on the roster, and Yale could definitely miss the Canadian’s 39 points from 2012.

Defensively, Yale returns more talent than on offense. Seniors Peter Johnson and Michael McCormack return as Seniors to lead the way. Guys like Jimmy Craft and Jack Ambrose will be asked to step up, unless a freshman or two really impresses. In goal, both Jack Meyer and Eric Natale return. While Craft took the vast majority of the minutes, Natale showed some promise as well. Dylan Levings won almost 2/3 of his face offs last year, and returns this year as a Junior.

https://youtu.be/scAGZA5j2BM

Yale definitely lost some talent, especially in Gibson and Dempster, but return a solid core of players. The Bulldogs have the potential to compete in the Ivy once again, and with their players losses from last year, another rough start isn’t out of the question. Yale does have experience now in dealing with a tough start, so look for them to improve as the season wears on. Yale might just surprise some people again.

Click HERE to see Alphabetical 2013 NCAA D1 Preview posts for Air Force, Albany,Army, Bellarmine, Binghamton, Brown, Bryant, Bucknell, Canisius, Colgate, Cornell, Dartmouth, Denver, Detroit, Drexel, Duke, Fairfield, Hartford, Harvard, High Point, Hobart, Hofstra, Holy Cross, Jacksonville, Johns Hopkins, Lafayette, Lehigh, Loyola, Manhattan, Marist, Marquette, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mercer, Michigan, Mount St. Mary’s, Navy, UNC, Notre Dame, Ohio State, UPenn, Penn State, Princeton, Providence, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, Rutgers, Sacred Heart, St. Joseph’s, Siena, Stony Brook, Syracuse, Towson, UMBC, Vermont, Villanova, Virginia, VMI, and Wagner! That’s everyone!