Flatley Scores Both Yale Goals

PRINCETON, N.J. – For nearly 30 minutes Saturday afternoon, Yale was locked in a close battle with Princeton. But attacker Kristin Morrison's goal 90 seconds before halftime gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead, and they slowly started pulling away in the second half. By the time they were done, they had run off 10 straight goals for an 11-2 win.

Yale (5-7, 2-3 Ivy League) spent the first five minutes of the game almost exclusively on defense, but three saves by sophomore goalkeeper Whitney Quackenbush – plus two shots that went wide and one that hit the post – kept the game scoreless. After junior midfielder/defender Kaitlyn Flatley was finally able to clear the ball for the Bulldogs, Princeton goalkeeper Erin Tochihara denied a shot by freshman midfielder Kristen Chapman.

A caused turnover by senior defender Michele Fiorentino ended another Princeton possession, and shortly after that the Bulldogs broke through on the scoreboard. Flatley drove in on the right side of the fan, stopped to get the defense off-balance, and then continued on for a shot that eluded Tochihara at 20:46.

Yale caught a tough break when senior attacker Jessica Sturgill hit the post with a shot a minute later, and the Tigers took immediate advantage by getting the game-tying goal from midfielder Jenna Davis at 18:56.

Flatley scored again on a drive at 17:10, but the Bulldogs once again had a chance to extend their lead denied less than five minutes later. Sturgill drove in hard to Tochihara's left and scored, but the goal was quickly waved off as Sturgill was called for a crease violation. The Tigers took immediate advantage, catching Yale in transition off that foul for a goal by Morrison at 12:15.

The score remained 2-2 for more than 10 minutes, thanks in part to a key sequence where the Yale defense denied Princeton what appeared to be an easy goal. After a Yale turnover in the Bulldogs' zone, the Tigers quickly fed the ball in front of the cage. But Fiorentino raced back to get in position to stick-check the ball loose, and junior defender Fielding Kidd scooped up the ground ball to end the threat.

The Tigers got their first lead of the game when Morrison scored on a free position attempt just before halftime. That momentum carried over into the second half, despite a nice save by Quackenbush on a fast-break chance for Morrison early on. Midfielder Cassie Pyle, sister of former Yale men's lacrosse player Bryce Pyle '09, scored at 20:41 to give Princeton the first two-goal lead of the game, and Block's attempt to respond 90 seconds later hit the post.

After that the Tigers got two goals in a span of 15 seconds -- one from Davis and one from Pyle -- to start pulling away. Sophomore attacker Caroline Crow got the draw control after a Yale timeout following Princeton's sixth goal, but the Bulldogs turned it over. Princeton then scored four times in a span of less than six minutes to negate any chance of a Yale comeback. Attacker Sam Ellis, sister of former Yale men's lacrosse player Jordan Ellis '07, scored with 25 seconds left to make the final 11-2.

Princeton (5-6, 3-1 Ivy League) wound up out-shooting Yale 34-11, including 21-4 in the second half. The Bulldog defense was mostly able to negate midfielder Lizzy Drumm, who had a team-high 26 goals coming into the game. She finished with just one point, an assist. But Ellis, who had three goals in five games prior to Saturday, finished with a hat trick while Davis, Morrison and Pyle had two goals each. Quackenbush finished with nine saves while Tochihara had five.

Despite the loss Yale remains in control of its chances for a playoff spot in the inaugural Ivy League Tournament, which will determine who gets the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Cornell's 9-6 loss to Dartmouth Saturday, combined with Brown's 14-12 win over Columbia, leaves Brown, Cornell, Harvard and Yale all with three losses in the league -- meaning that at least one of those teams will make the playoffs.

The Bulldogs have already beaten Brown and Harvard, so wins in their final two Ivy League games -- vs. Columbia next Saturday and at Cornell Apr. 25 -- would give Yale the tiebreaker edge needed to guarantee a spot in the tournament.

Television Information

The Yale-Princeton game is scheduled to air on a tape-delay basis on FiOS1. Viewers must subscribe to Verizon FiOS TV in order to see FiOS1. Verizon FiOS1 is a hyper-local content channel that provides Verizon FiOS TV subscribers in Long Island, New Jersey and Washington D.C. with local news, traffic, weather and other community programming. For details visit http://www.fios1news.com/

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