Welcome to 2022: The Ivy League
White collar in the streets, but blue collar elites
In March 2020, the Ivy League looked ready to challenge and pass the B1G as the second-best conference in D1.
The league had three teams in the Top 5 and five teams in the Top 20 overall.
The Ivy was home to some of the top and most exciting players in 2021. Michael Sowers (Princeton), Jeff Teat (Cornell), and Matt Gaudet (Yale) were all off to hot starts.
What could’ve been? Three teams playing Memorial Day weekend? An all-Ivy championship?
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to find out.
The pandemic brought an abrupt end to the 2020 season.
In 2021, most of the D1 men’s lacrosse conferences decided to play. Some only played conference games, while others added a limited nonconference schedule. It wasn’t always pretty, but we still had a nice season.
The players in the Ivy League had to wait. While other conferences and teams worked to put together a season. The Ivies were left with limited options.
The narrative around the Ivy League’s decision to cancel was not well received by the greater lacrosse community. I saw many tweets saying that this will be the end and demise of Ivy League lacrosse. No top recruits would ever commit or play for a school/conference that didn’t value athletics. There would be an exodus of coaches to other jobs.
Like many opinions on Twitter, these proved to be more sensational than substantial.
Rather than waiting to see if the league changed its mind, some of the top Ivy League players hit the Transfer Portal.
Michael Sowers took his talents to Durham. Kyle Gallagher to South Bend. Jackson Morrill, Lucas Cotler, and TD Ierlan all went West to Denver.
We never did get to see Jeff Teat play a college lacrosse game again. Instead, he tried his hand in the PLL (it worked out).
(editor’s note: JEFF YEET!)
Three teams, Brown, Penn, and Dartmouth all were able to play at least one game. Some of the teams still worked out and practiced together. While others took a gap year.
I am not here to debate the merits of the league’s decision in 2021. I am here to say one thing: they’re back.
Rumors of the Ivy League’s demise were greatly exaggerated.
Yale, Penn, and Cornell were ranked in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Preseason Top 20.
The league lost one coach, Peter Milliman to Johns Hopkins.
Recruiting? The league brought in 42 four and five-star players from the 2021 class.
To the athletes, coaches, and support staff let me say: Welcome back! We’ve missed you!
2022 Outlook
Rather than focus on who left, let’s look ahead. Here are the top players and storylines for each program heading into 2022.
Yale
The Elis are the favorites to win the Ivy this year. The Bulldogs are led by 2018 National Champions Jack Starr (Goalie), Chris Fake (defense), Matt Brandau (attack), and senior midfielders Christian Cropp and Brian Tevlin. Yale cleaned up on the recruiting trail in 2021, bringing in seven players with at least a four-star ranking from Inside Lacrosse. Andy Shay has been prepping for Yale’s return since last summer in his new digs: The Joe Tsai Field House.
Penn
The Quakers are picked to finish second in the Ivy. Penn will be led by midfielder Sam Handley and attackman Dylan Gergar. Handley had a breakout freshmen year in 2019 setting a freshman record with 61 points (35g, 26a). Gergar was off to a hot start in 2020 with 19 goals in his first five games. Penn reloaded with eight 4-star recruits in the 2021 class.
Cornell
Cornell will boast one of the more impressive attacks in the country led by John Piatelli. Piatelli is a scoring machine and finished on the Tearaton Watch List in 2020. The Big Red also brought in four 4-star recruits from the 2021 class.
Princeton
Happy Lunar New Year! 2022 is the year of the Tiger. Princeton is young and talented. Princeton has seven freshmen on Inside Lacrosse’s Class of 2021 Power Rankings. The young tigers will be led by preseason All Americans George Baughan (defense) and Jake Stevens (midfield).
Brown
Mike Daly’s Bears were one of three Ivy League teams that played one game in 2021. They dispatched BU 12-5. Bruno plays fast and has caught teams by surprise, ask Virginia. Look for them to pull a few surprises in Ivy League play.
Harvard
After 16 seasons leading Notre Dame’s defense, Gerry Byrne left to take over the Crimson in November 2019. He will finally get to coach a full season with Harvard in 2022. Byrne has done well on the recruiting trail bringing in five 4-stars in 2021.
Dartmouth
Dartmouth played two games in 2021, losing to Tufts and beating Saint Anselm. They also brought in two top 100 recruits from the class of 2021, Joe Azelby (LSM) and Colin McGill (attack).
2022 Schedules
Below, we have the Ivy League schedules and a few notes on notable games this season. Lacrosse Reference has provided over/under win totals for each team. If you would like to join in on the fun click here.
Yale
The 2022 Schedule is Here! Bulldogs set to host seven regular season home games at Reese Stadium. Full Schedule ➡️ bit.ly/3zNV088 #ThisIsYaleNice, not thrilling, but nice. Denver, UMass, and Villanova are tasty…but where are the ACC teams? Where is Maryland? I would not be shocked to see the Elis drop an extra conference game or two because they weren’t adequately tested by out of conference opponents.
O/U 11.5: Over
Cornell https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vCFh7oDGVmmlSRM7ZxLsupIgsJsp325U/view?usp=sharing
The schedule is similar to Yale. Lehigh and Army pose the biggest threats in the nonconference. Beware of the hunter!
O/U 11.5: Over
Penn
Penn comes out running out of the gate with two top-five matchups against Georgetown and Duke. Mike Murphy and the Quakers should be looking at a .500 record before they open up Ivy League play against Princeton on March 19th.
O/U 6.5: Over
Princeton
Another top-notch nonconference schedule. Maryland, Georgetown, and Rutgers will provide Coach Madalon with insights on which of his young tigers are ready to contribute when Ivy League play begins.
O/U 7.5: Over
Brown
The 2022 schedule is here! 9️⃣ - home games 5️⃣ - road games 6️⃣ - Ivy League games 🗒️ - bit.ly/3J91zqi #GoBrunoI really like Coach Daly’s schedule. It is a good match-up with UNC and a handful of the upper-tier mid-major programs. I like Bruno to play their way into the Ivy League tournament in May.
O.U 7.5: Over
Harvard
Here is the road schedule. Early B1G games against Ohio State and Michigan should give Coach Byrne a good sense of where his young talent is at heading into Ivy League play. The Crimson will make their jump in 2023.
O/U 5.5: Under
Dartmouth
I can’t find three wins. Can you? Feel free to @me, Big Green.
O/U 2.5: Under
Week 1? 3? Picks
Despite having a game two weeks ago and a number of top ten teams playing last weekend, this week is Week 1? That may also explain my picks last week. Lines courtesy of LaxVegasLines. Picks are in bold.
UNC (-3) vs. Richmond (Friday)
Happy Hour starts early on Friday with an ACC doubleheader. Duke welcome Manhattan at 3:00 PM. This one, not this one. UNC will then take on the Spiders at 5:00 PM. UNC is talented but young at both the midfield and on defense. Richmond will be led at attack by Ryan Lanchbery and Dalton Young. Chris Gray will be the straw that stirs the drink and lead the Heels to their first victory.
Maryland (-3) vs. Loyola (Saturday)
Maryland came out on fire Saturday against High Point. Logan Wisnauskas had five goals and transfers Keegan Khan and Owen Murphy each had four. Loyola has reportedly struggled in preseason scrimmages. The eye in the sky, aka BTN+, will have the game for you Saturday at noon.
Penn State vs. Villanova (Saturday)
The good: #WeAre scored 20 goals on Saturday against Layfette. The bad: Lafayette scored 15. Villanova is always ranked in the upper tier of teams in Offensive Efficiency. That’s a recipe that doesn’t bode well for the Nittany Lions.
Georgetown (-4) vs. JHU (Sunday)
#WeWantMore had a nice opening win last weekend against Jacksonville. They were physical on defense and exerted pressure on the ride. The Jays had difficulty on offense though running by any Dolphin defenders. This will pose a problem against a stout Georgetown defense.
Virginia (-6.5) vs. High Point (Sunday)
The champs got off to a slow start on Saturday against Air Force. A relentless ride along with four goals from both Payton Cormier and Xander Dickson helped the Hoos cruise to an easy victory. The road remains tough for High Point with having to face the #1 team this week after falling last week to #2 Maryland.
Last week ATS: 2-3
Season: 2-4
Grab your 🍿 and enjoy the games!
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