Report: Virginia Lacrosse Adds Harvard Grad Transfer Chase Yager

An offseason of significant roster turnover for the Virginia men's lacrosse program has officially begun. The Cavaliers are losing a substantial number of key contributors to graduation, and now the chaos of the transfer portal has begun to have an impact as well. 

Inside Lacrosse's Ty Xanders reported on Tuesday that Virginia senior defensive midfielder Danny Parker was one of four players to transfer to the newly-crowned national champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Xanders also reported that UVA added a transfer on Tuesday in Harvard senior midfielder Chase Yager. 

A senior short-stick defensive midfielder from Mount Sinai, New York, Danny Parker appeared in 22 games over the last three seasons at UVA, but missed significant time with injury troubles throughout his career. He played in only one game in the 2021 season and missed the entire 2023 season with an injury. In 2022, Parker was an important piece of Virginia's short-stick defensive midfield unit, appearing in 15 games and collecting 27 ground balls. Parker also represented Team USA at the U-21 World Lacrosse Championship in Ireland last summer. 

Parker's departure means that the Cavaliers will be losing four short-stick/two-way midfielders with extensive playing experience from their 2023 roster as Jeff Conner, Grayson Sallade, and Evan Zinn each concluded their collegiate careers with Virginia's overtime loss to Notre Dame in the semifinals on Saturday. 

That makes the addition of Harvard graduate short-stick defensive midfielder Chase Yager even more important. A native of Virginia Beach, Yager returns to his home state to play his final season of college lacrosse. After beginning his career at Amherst College, Yager transferred to Harvard and was an All-Ivy League honorable mention in each of his two seasons playing for the Crimson. 

In Harvard's 2023 season-opener at Virginia back in February, Yager recorded three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Yager posted three goals, two assists, 27 ground balls, and 14 caused turnovers this season and totaled 50 ground balls, 27 caused turnovers, and seven points over the last two seasons. 

Virginia also has another player in the transfer portal, as freshman faceoff specialist Mac Eldridge entered the portal back in early May. 

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