The No. 19/18 St. John’s lacrosse team lost its first game of 2014 season falling to No. 13 Yale on the road Saturday afternoon by a 10-6 final.
The Bulldogs are known for their shutdown defense, ranking sixth in the nation last season in scoring defense with 7.94 goals against and Saturday was no different. St. John’s (1-1, 0-0) fought throughout the game to stay in
contention but Yale’s defense was too much for the Red Storm.
“I’m not sure we had our best stuff today,” St. John’s head coach Jason Miller said. “A lot of that had to do with a very good Yale team, solid in every aspect.”
Senior attackman and reigning Big East Offensive Player of the Week Kieran McArdle led the Red Storm with a game-high 5 points netting 2 goals and dishing 3 assists. Junior attackman Eric DeJohn scored his first goal of his St. John’s career while senior defender Drew Viscusi recorded a team-high four turnovers.
“Yale has a lot of strengths,” said Miller. “We’re not happy with the outcome by any stretch, but we can take some positives out of today and continue to work better.”
St. John’s started the game strong finishing the first quarter with a 2-2 tie. Despite the Johnnies best efforts, Yale continued to keep a multiple goal lead. St. John’s looked to have momentum heading into the fourth quarter after McArdle’s unassisted goal with 47 seconds remaining.
The Bulldogs sophomore attacker/midfielder Michael Bonacci squashed any hopes for a comeback with a goal with 8 seconds left in the third quarter giving Yale a 9-5 lead.
“We’re not where we want to be,” said Miller. “But I know our guys will be ready to get back to work on
Monday.”
After a shaky first career start for freshman Joseph Danaher, the young netminder rebounded nicely finishing the game with 10 saves.
“I thought Joe Danaher rebounded nicely against a pretty explosive Yale offense,” Miller said.
Despite last year’s 10-9 upset victory, the Red Storm have had a tough time facing the Bulldogs over the years, 1-7 all-time including 0-4 on the road.
St. John’s will look to bounce back against a tough Sienna team on March 1 at DaSilva Memorial Field at 1 p.m.
“This game is always close, always hard fought,” said Miller. “I expect no different next week.”
