Five Goals for Fleishhacker

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Yale women's lacrosse team entered the 2015 season with a veteran core of seven seniors, including four who have played 40 or more games for their careers. So it was no surprise that, in their efforts to rebound from a 13-5 loss at George Washington in last Saturday's season opener, the Bulldogs turned to their seniors to right the ship in Wednesday afternoon's home opener vs. Quinnipiac -- and they delivered. Senior attacker Kerri Fleishhacker, the Bulldogs' captain, led the way with five goals and three of her classmates -- midfielders Cathryn Avallone, Christina Doherty and Erin Magnuson -- combined for seven additional goals to help the Bulldogs to an 18-6 win vs. the Bobcats at Reese Stadium. Doherty, Magnuson and sophomore attacker Tess McEvoy all scored three goals each.

"I think the senior class was very frustrated after the George Washington game, because it wasn't representative of how we can play," said Anne Phillips, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse while noting the snow and cold that hampered the team at GW. "They were determined to show, today, that this is the level we can play at. We played 60 minutes and were relentless. The senior class stepped up and did it. This is a special class of seniors, and I'm so happy for them."

Fleishhacker set the tone for the day by coming around the cage and shooting low to sneak one past Quinnipiac goalkeeper Kyle Larkin just 41 seconds into the game. Doherty then scored on a free position shot two minutes later for a 2-0 edge.

After Quinnipiac (0-2, 0-0 MAAC) answered with a pair of goals in a span of 34 seconds to knot the game 2-2 at 24:14, the Bulldogs re-took control thanks to a 6-0 run that started with a goal from Doherty and also included free position goals from Fleishhacker and McEvoy. Fleishhacker's free position goal -- one of two goals for her during that run -- came after a big save by senior goalkeeper Erin Mullins and a ground ball by junior defender Flannery Carney. Avallone (assisted by Magnuson) and Magnuson (assisted by Doherty) also scored during the run, with Avallone's goal making the score 8-2 Yale with 9:39 left in the first.

After Quinnipiac scored a pair to trim the Yale lead to 8-4, the Bulldogs answered with 3:51 left in the first by catching Quinnipiac in transition, as a nice feed from Fleishhacker enabled sophomore attacker Hope Hanley to deposit her first goal of the season.

After an injury-plagued 2014 campaign, the Bulldogs are hoping that Hanley can stay healthy and contribute offensively. She was an All-American and scored 220 goals in high school.

"Hope is a kid that missed most of last year, but has come back and will be, I believe, a force on offense," said Phillips. "She has an ability to get open and score like no other. We are excited to have her healthy."

The Bobcats got the first goal of the second half, but after that it was all Bulldogs as Yale went on a 9-0 run. Fleishhacker got that stretch started by ripping one in high at 28:45, her fourth goal of the game. Two minutes later freshman attacker Kiwi Comizio scored her first collegiate goal, assisted by McEvoy.

Comizio has emerged as a starter early on in her career for the Bulldogs, a feat that Phillips attributes in part to the experience Comizio gained while playing field hockey for Yale in the fall (she started all 17 games in that season).

"I think the huge benefit of Kiwi playing field hockey in the fall is that she plays like she's older for us now," said Phillips. "She was already up to Division I speed, and she is working really well with some of our other players."

After junior attacker Nicole Daniggelis got the ensuing draw control the Bulldogs pushed the ball up quickly for a goal by Magnuson just 14 seconds after Comizio's.

That prompted a QU timeout, but that did little to slow the Yale onslaught. After Magnuson scored on a free position shot, McEvoy and Fleishhacker both went top shelf and got the game to running time, as Yale took a 15-5 lead with 20:10 to play.

Daniggelis was primarily a draw control specialist on Wednesday -- she led all players by getting six draws Wednesday -- but she also showed that she has not lost her scoring touch by scoring off a feed from Fleishhacker with 18:41 to play. The Bulldogs had held her out of the George Washington game due to the treacherous field conditions, as Daniggelis has dealt with multiple injuries during her Yale career.

"We're just using her very judiciously at this point," said Phillips. "We count on that draw control from her. She's getting back up to speed, and her best days are ahead."

A goal for Doherty (assisted by Fleishhacker) and a free position goal for McEvoy then made it 18-5 with 15 minutes to play, ending the day for Larkin as Quinnipiac brought in Samantha Tilts to play goal.

Yale (1-1, 0-0 Ivy League) spent most of the rest of the game playing ball control -- a relatively straightforward task, as the Bulldogs had a 16-10 advantage on draw controls and a 16-12 advantage on ground balls for the game. Junior defender Kate Walker finished with a team-high three caused turnovers and three ground balls, and added a pair of draw controls.

A late goal by Quinnipiac attacker Kyra Ochwat, her second of the day, made the final 18-6. Mullins finished with six saves, while Larkin made 10 in 45 minutes and Tilts made four in 15 minutes.

"Mullins did a great job on her clears today," said Phillips. "She got us up on the fast break a couple times, and she also made some key saves. Defensively we had some great matchups on the dangerous players for Quinnipiac. Kate Walker did a great job."

The relatively warm temperatures (in the 30s) on Wednesday were a stark contrast to the frigid and snowy conditions Yale has had to cope with so far in practice and in the GW game this season. The way the Bulldogs performed gives Phillips plenty of reason for optimism as the warmer weather starts to arrive.

"This was the best weather we have had, and our speed was awesome," said Phillips. "We have a lot of depth, and a lot of people contributed. With more practice and warmer temperatures it's only going to get better."

Yale faces another MAAC team, Canisius, on Sunday at noon. The Golden Griffins have won four straight MAAC Championships.

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