NCAA Men's Lacrosse Preview: Finding a New Alpha at No. 8 Yale

USA Lacrosse Magazine is beginning its countdown to Feb. 1 — the first day of the 2025 men's lacrosse season — by releasing one team preview per day beginning on Monday, Jan. 13.

We continue the countdown with No. 8 Yale, a team counting on a few guys returning from injury to carry it into its next era.

Yale is entering a new era — one that doesn’t include All-American and Tewaaraton Award finalist Matt Brandau, who tallied 360 points in his historic five-year run that felt like it lasted a decade.

“He carried the team last year, and he was a selfless leader,” head coach Andy Shay said. “He's a consistent, high-IQ player that made it easy for everyone around him, coaches and players alike. I don't have any idea what we're going to do without him — it's been a long time since we've had to worry about that.”

Luckily for the Bulldogs, they welcome back plenty of offensive talent — most of which did not factor into the 2024 season when Yale narrowly missed out on the NCAA tournament after a wildly competitive Ivy League season.

Among the various goals for 2025 is finding the new alpha on offense, one that can help make Yale a more well-rounded unit.

On defense, major losses to the rope unit via the transfer portal will have an otherwise veteran unit looking to fill holes quickly, before juggernauts like Cornell and Princeton come along later in the spring.

The Ivy League received one NCAA tournament bid in 2024, and if this spring falls similarly, Yale will have little margin for error.

TOP RETURNERS

Leo Johnson, A, R-Jr. (40G, 22A in 2023)
Chris Lyons, A, R-Jr. (62G, 12A in 2023)
Machado Rodriguez, FO, Sr. (.608FO%)

Johnson and Lyons were once freshmen phenoms working alongside Brandau on one of the nation’s more efficient offenses. Two season-ending injuries later, and the duo now looks to offset their former teammate’s production as leaders on the offense.

Rodriguez, too, suffered a season-ending injury in the middle of last spring, but he returns with a healthy faceoff win rate over 60 percent. If he can continue that same clip and give Johnson and Lyons more opportunities to gel with a new-look offense, Yale might be able to replicate the production of the past few years.

KEY ADDITIONS

Ben Friedman, G, Fr.
Greyson Thompson, M, Fr.
Luke Pascal, M, Fr.
Connor Gately, A, Fr.

Friedman joins an already packed goalie room and could battle for playing time at some point in the spring. Thompson and Pascal will add to a midfield that returns names like Max Krevsky and Brad Sharp but lost Pat Hackler.

NOTABLE DEPARTURES

Graduations: Matt Brandau, A
Transfers: Pat Hackler, M (Johns Hopkins); Jack Monfort, SSDM (Johns Hopkins)

X-FACTOR

Leo Johnson, A, R-Jr. (40G, 22A in 2023)
Chris Lyons, A, R-Jr. (62G, 12A in 2023)

As easy it is to say, Johnson and Lyons will be the top producers on offense for a team that will desperately need their services. With Brandau gone, Shay said he expects both Johnson and Lyons to see time at X, working to bolster an offense that has plenty of depth.

The junior duo combined for 136 points during their freshman season in 2023 and could easily surpass that number if they are successful in keeping the Yale offense humming. Honorable mention goes to Rodriguez, who could help the Bulldogs have even more possessions with which to work.

THE NARRATIVE

Yale certainly lost talent from the 2024 version of the program that finished with 11 wins despite a handful of starters going down with season-ending injuries. As a result, the holes could seemingly be filled with veterans returning from injury, rather than a talented Class of 2024.

The success of the Bulldogs’ season may very well boil down to how they handle the Ivy League season — with Princeton, Cornell and Penn stacking up as the biggest threats this spring.

“It’s a pretty scary lineup for us,” Shay said. ”Hopefully we can weather the storm. It’s going to be some of the best the league has ever been.”

If Yale can figure out how to handle the Ivy League season, it could be poised to advance to the final four for the first time since it fell in the national title game in 2019. The Bulldogs then had names like Brandau, Jackson Morrill, Brian Tevlin and Chris Fake leading the charge.

As the Bulldogs regroup and recharge, the prevailing questions around this team arise. Who will be the next in a line of Yale greats to make their impact in New Haven? Will Johnson and Lyons regain their form and help offset the loss of Brandau? Will the Bulldogs defense be able to keep high-powered offenses like Cornell and Princeton in check?

Shay will soon find out those answers and whether his team could be built for another late May run.