Box Score Pioneers End Game with 4-1 Run
DENVER, Colo. - The Yale women's lacrosse team spent most of Tuesday afternoon at Barton Lacrosse Stadium battling back from deficits against Denver -- in fact, there were five times when the Bulldogs trailed and then rallied to tie the game. But they were never able to take the lead, and ultimately the Pioneers were able to put the game away with a late 4-1 run for a 9-6 win.
"For 57 minutes we played extremely well," said Anne Phillips, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse. "Down one goal late, we got the turnovers we needed to give us opportunities, but we could not capitalize. We gave them the ball back."
The first meeting between these two programs -- and Yale's furthest trip west since a visit to California in 2005 -- saw sunny skies and temperatures in the 50s in the Mile High City. The first half was a back-and-forth affair in which Denver took an early lead but could not shake the Bulldogs. After Pioneers attacker Jill Remenapp set up midfielder Kiki Boone for a goal at 24:44, the Bulldogs responded just over a minute later. Junior attacker Nicole Daniggelis curled around the cage and snuck one in low to tie the game.
Boone scored again at 22:36, this time on a free position, but shortly after that back-to-back saves at point-blank range by senior goalkeeper Erin Mullins kept the Pioneers from extending the lead. Shortly after a Yale timeout, sophomore attacker Tess McEvoy drove in from the right side for a goal that tied the game 2-2 at 16:15.
Denver (5-2, 1-0 MPSF) went ahead again at the 12:48 mark on a goal by attacker Rachael McKinnon. But Mullins and the Yale defense shut the Pioneers down for the remainder of the half, and the Bulldogs capitalized on a free position to tie the game again with 7:38 left. Senior attacker Erin Magnuson set up senior midfielder Christina Doherty for a goal that made the score 3-3, and it remained that way into halftime.
Denver went ahead again early in the second half but Yale (4-4, 1-1 Ivy League) once again responded. Just 23 seconds after Boone put Denver up 4-3, the Pioneers had a costly turnover in front of their own net during a clear as Hanley intercepted a pass and quickly turned it into a goal.
The Pioneers went back ahead three minutes later on a goal by Remenapp, a second team All-American last year, but two minutes after that Magnuson scored on a free position attempt to knot the score 5-5 with 23:32 to play. It would be the fifth and final tie of the game.
The defenses then took over as both teams went scoreless for 7:36, the second-longest such stretch of the game to that point. Boone finally solved the Bulldog defense with a goal at 15:56.
Mullins made a save on McKinnon shortly after that to keep the Pioneers' lead at one, but a Yale turnover gave the ball back to Denver and Remenapp then scored for the first two-goal lead of the game, 7-5 with 14:37 to play.
After a timeout Yale had multiple chances to score over a stretch of several minutes, but sent one shot high, came up empty on a free position and had two more shots stopped by Pioneers goalie Hannah Hook, who showed why she is on the watch list for the Tewaaraton Trophy. The Bulldogs finally got one past her when Doherty and McEvoy worked a give-and-go to perfection, with Doherty finishing to make it 7-6 with 6:57 to play.
Denver then got the draw and called timeout, but sent a free position shot wide with less than six minutes to play. The Pioneers eventually turned the ball over with a bad pass in the Yale zone and Mullins scooped up the ground ball with 4:30 left. But before they could set up for the chance to tie, the Bulldogs turned the ball over on the clear.
Mullins came up with a crucial save on a shot by attacker Monica Lucas with 2:30 remaining, but the Bulldogs once again turned the ball over before they could get off a shot to tie the game. This time around, though, junior defender Kate Walker caused a turnover deep in the Yale zone with 90 seconds left to give the Bulldogs another chance. But a turnover in the midfield during the clear attempt gave Denver a chance to put the game away, and the Pioneers did so by getting a goal by Boone assisted by Lucas with 47 seconds remaining.
Yale got the draw control but turned the ball over with 23 seconds left, enabling Denver to add one more goal (Boone from Lucas) as time expired. That made the final 9-6. Denver is now 54-10 since the start of the 2012 season.
Adding to the intrigue for Tuesday's game was the fact that both teams played without their leading goal scorers -- Denver without attacker Nicole Martindale (11 goals) and Yale without senior attacker Kerri Fleishhacker (13 goals), the team captain.
"Those things happen, and that's why you have a team," said Phillips. "Martindale was hurt and didn't play, and she's their leading goal scorer. Kerri was hurt and didn't play, and she's our leading goal scorer. You have to find a way to win in those situations. That's the next step for this team."
This was just the second time this season Denver had been held to nine goals or fewer. Sophomore defender Emily Markham finished with three ground balls, most among any field players. Mullins made eight saves.
"The defense played extremely well, and the transition game was excellent," said Phillips. "They did have a very good goalie that we had trouble solving. We matched up very well with their attack, but for the second game in a row they had a player [Boone] step up [after midfielder Rachael Dillon had scored four goals in Sunday's 8-6 DU win vs. New Hampshire]."
Despite the loss, Phillips sees positives coming from the trip, which started after Saturday's 8-3 win at Brown.
"Denver was a great team for us to play," said Phillips. "We had to put together a game plan on the road. From the team perspective, I thought we did a great job dealing with living in a hotel and having odd practice times for a few days. A side benefit when you a play a game like this is that, even when it's a loss, it can give you momentum from being on the road together for four days. There was lots of team bonding, and hopefully that will help us in our next game and for the rest of the season."
Yale returns to the East Coast and plays at Columbia on Saturday.
Report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity
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