Lions Thrash Princeton, Yale Next! (Copy)
Dear Columbia Men’s Lacrosse alumni and friends,
Thank you again for your support of our team! Make It 8 congratulates the Columbia Men's Lacrosse Club on winning its first major trophy since the 2007 national championship! The Lions took the field on Sunday, April 28 at St. Joseph High School needing two wins in a round-robin with Dartmouth and Yale to take home the 2024 Founders' Cup. With some stout defense and timely goal scoring they did just that! The Lions rolled over the Big Green in the opener 6-1 before turning back a late rally by Yale to edge the Bulldogs 6-5 for the Cup!
The day opened with the Lions shutting out Dartmouth for three quarters while building a 6-0 lead. A stout defensive effort led by Defensive Player of the Year Kyle Cash '25 and graduating senior defenseman Jordan Naidus '24 forced numerous Dartmouth turnovers and shots that sailed out of bounds. On the other end Jake Bernstein '24 and John Drotos '25 keyed the offense, putting the Lions up 4-0 at halftime and 6-0 before Dartmouth scored its lone goal in the fourth quarter. Cash made six saves to seal the win.
The second contest began in the same way as the first, with the defense stifling Yale's offense and the attack building a lead. The Lions had a 4-2 advantage at halftime and added a fifth score midway through the third quarter. Yale would not go quietly though, taking advantage of an early fourth quarter man-up advantage and a fast break to get within a goal. They would tie the game at 5 with six minutes remaining. That rally served as a prelude to one of the most famous goals in recent Columbia Men's Lacrosse history! With three minutes left attackman John Drotos '25 took a feed at the top of the box, drove to his left and fired a laser of a shot past the Yale goaltender that put the Lions back in front! Goaltender Cash and the defense prevented any further scores from Yale and the Lions claimed their first ever Ivy Club Lacrosse Championship!
The Founders' Cup win caps a season of superlatives for the Lions. The win over Dartmouth in the opener was the Lions' first ever against the Big Green while the victory over Yale extended the Lions' record to 10-0 over the Bulldogs in a series first played in 2001. These wins came on top of a victory over Princeton that was the Lions' first since 1994 and wins over two nationally ranked club teams in City College of New York and Sacred Heart University! The Lions captured their first championship of any kind since winning the New York Metro Division of the National College Lacrosse League in 2013 and recorded their highest winning percentage since the 2009 Lion laxers went 14-2!
On Thursday, April 25 we honored the best of our team's players along with the graduating seniors and the first-ever Columbia Men's Lacrosse Hall of Famers at the Second Annual Columbia Men's Lacrosse Banquet. In front of nearly the entire team, alumni and the family of the late Chad Steele '92 we handed out the following awards:
Offensive Player of the Year: Colin Servoss CC '25
Defensive Player of the Year: Kyle Cash SEAS '25
Most Valuable Player: Brian Choi SEAS (MS) '25
The Chad Steele Scholar-Athlete Award and Scholarship: Curran Murphy SEAS '23 SPS '25
Special thanks to the Steele family, pictured here with Curran and Coach Austin Scronce '22, for creating this award, which will be handed out each year to the undergraduate player who shows a demonstrated record of academic excellence and devotion to the sport of lacrosse at Columbia, just as Chad did! This year, through the generous donations of the Steele family, the scholarship has been doubled to $1,000!
The 2007 Columbia Men's Lacrosse team members were honored at the Banquet as the first ever inductees to the Columbia Men's Lacrosse Hall of Fame! With a record of 18-1 the 2007 Lions ran through the National College Lacrosse League playoffs, avenging their only defeat of the season against Millersville University of Pennsylvania in the second round of the 16-team national playoff before edging Lynchburg College by a goal in the semifinal and rolling over Cortland State in the final to claim the Lions' only national championship trophy in lacrosse to this day. Representing the team at the dinner were (left to right) Julien Barbey '09, Mike Vieten '09, Make It 8 President Matt Reuter '07, Mike Wojicieszek '10 and Chris Dugan '09! Cheers to the 2007 team and we hope to see you back at future Annual Banquets!
Also honored were our seven graduating seniors, joining this email list for the first time. Welcome to the alumni family guys!
Jake Bernstein CC '24
Jordan Naidus CC '24
Joe Pellegrino SEAS '24
Alex St-Cyr GS '24
Jason Vincze BUS '24
Will Wang SEAS '24
Rory Wilson CC '24
Make It 8 remains active in building connections with the lacrosse community in greater New York City! Board members attended the CityLax Annual Gala on May 8 and the street lacrosse event headlined by Premier Lacrosse League President and lacrosse legend Paul Rabil on May 11!
We will be back with another exciting year in 2024-25 headlined by the reigning champion Lions seeking to defend the Founders' Cup in another exciting competition against their Ivy peers! For more news and information concerning the team and our continued efforts to promote it to the eighth entry in Ivy Men's Lacrosse follow us here: http://www.instagram.com/makeit8lax Special thanks to photographer Brandon Hill for the photos in this message and throughout the season!
TIt is our goal to boost the Founders' Cup to a nationally recognized competition that will serve as a significant stepping stone to a varsity team at Columbia by the end of the 2020s. To support the Founders' Cup, and all of our initiatives to Make It 8 in Ivy Men's Lacrosse, donate here: Make It 8 2024 Campaign
Thank you again for your tremendous support!
Sincerely,
The Make It 8 Board
