March 7, 2004

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New Haven, CT - Yale took control of a 3-3 game with a 7-1 run, then hung on to beat UConn 11-8 in women's lacrosse action at Johnson Field Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs (2-1) got three goals each from Aly Croffy, Sophie Melniker and Miles Whitman. Six different players scored for the Huskies (0-2), including two goals apiece from Shannon Burke and Jacqui Hamilton.

Yale got the scoring started right away, as Melniker tallied off an assist from Whitman just 21 seconds in. Whitman then assisted on a Croffy goal 75 seconds after that. A goal by Whitman was waved off for a Yale player being in the crease minutes later, and the Huskies quickly tied the score on goals by Tracy Mullaney and Tammy Michel at 18:33 and 17:37. Whitman scored unassisted at 14:02 to get the lead back, but Burke tied the game again a mere 36 seconds later. Katherine Sargent just missed putting the Bulldogs ahead at 8:17, hitting the post, but 23 seconds later Croffy scored for the 4-3 edge. Whitman scored again 19 seconds after the Croffy goal to give Yale a 5-3 lead at halftime.

The Huskies got the first goal of the second half, from Abby VanDeusen at 26:59, but Yale responded with five straight goals - the first two coming from Melniker off of assists from Sarah Driscoll. Up 10-4, the Bulldogs nonetheless had to hold off a late UConn charge. Hamilton scored two goals and Burke added another before Croffy picked up an insurance goal with 4:47 to play. UConn's Tanya Kotowicz scored with 2:40 remaining, but Yale goalie Lonnie Sarnell picked up her 14th and final save of the game with 1:55 to play to end the Huskies' last threat.

"Defensively, Lonnie came up big," said Bulldogs head coach Amanda O'Leary. "That's the best she's played all year - she made some big saves."

The back-and-forth momentum swings on Sunday were similar to Yale's first two games. In the season opener, James Madison went on a 5-1 run in the second half to pull out a 9-7 win. In the Bulldogs' second game, New Hampshire scored six straight goals after Yale had taken an 8-0 lead, and the Blue had to hang on to win 13-10.

"We answered when we needed to, but it was a little frustrating," said O'Leary. "It's something we're trying to work on."

Yale travels to Vanderbilt next Saturday for its first road game of the season, then begins Ivy League play against Penn at Johnson Field on March 20 at 1:00.

report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity Department