Box Score Defense Holds Terriers Scoreless for 30:37
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - It was Hat Trick Day at Reese Stadium Wednesday afternoon, as three different players on the Yale women's lacrosse team scored three goals each to help the Bulldogs earn a 14-6 win vs. BU. That included the first career hat trick for freshman midfielder Maggie Pizzo, along with three-goal outings from senior attacker Kerri Fleishhacker and sophomore attacker Tess McEvoy. The Yale defense, meanwhile, held BU to its second-lowest goal total of the season -- including one stretch of 30:37 in which the Terriers did not score at all. Senior goalkeeper Erin Mullins finished with eight saves.
Coming off two losses and three straight road games, Yale (5-5, 1-2 Ivy League) quickly established control of this game on its home turf. Highlighted by Pizzo scoring only 42 seconds into the game -- her first career goal -- the Bulldogs jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first 6:44. Those goals came from five different players, including Fleishhacker, McEvoy, Pizzo, sophomore attacker Hope Hanley and senior attacker Erin Magnuson. Fleishhacker also had a pair of assists in that span.
"We talk about key points in the game, and one of them is we want to win the first draw control and get on the board first," said Anne Phillips, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse. "Maggie scoring her first collegiate goal 42 seconds in was a big momentum shift and gave us confidence."
BU (4-5, 2-1 Patriot League) eventually scored twice in the final 18:52 of the first, but the Bulldog defense very nearly scored one of its own in that stretch -- with 14 minutes left sophomore Victoria Moore caused a turnover in the Yale zone, grabbed the ground ball and raced up the field. With no Terriers able to catch her, she tried her first career shot but hit the post.
"Victoria Moore had a great day, with ground balls and caused turnovers -- and she almost scored," said Phillips. "She hustled and really wreaked havoc on BU's offense."
With one more goal from McEvoy, Yale held a 6-3 lead at halftime.
The dark skies in New Haven started producing rain and sleet as the second half got underway, but the Bulldogs were unfazed. Mullins made two big saves in the first three minutes of the second, denying BU's two leading scorers: midfielder Ally Adams and attacker Mallory Collins. Collins, who had 21 goals entering the day, would tally just two on Wednesday.
"We had a matchup on Mallory Collins," said Phillips. "We put [sophomore defender] Emily Markham on her, and Emily made it very difficult for BU to get the ball to her. That took away a big piece of their offense."
The Bulldogs then went on a 5-0 run that put the game well out of reach. After a shot by Hanley on a free position hit the post, Magnuson scooped up the ground ball and fired in a high shot at 23:38 to start the run. Four minutes later Fleishhacker curled in front of the cage to make the score 8-3, and free position goals by McEvoy and Pizzo got the lead to 10-3 with 14:49 to play.
After Magnuson set up senior midfielder Cathryn Avallone for a goal that made it 11-3 with 13:53 remaining, BU sent Christine Laible in to play goal in place of starter Caroline Meegan (five saves). Laible, making just her second career appearance, would finish with two saves.
BU was able to make one last run to close the gap, scoring three times in a span of 2:30 late in the second. But with three minutes to play and the Terriers looking to get within four goals, junior defender Kate Walker caused a turnover and got the ground ball near the restraining line in the Yale end to neutralize the threat.
With BU pressuring out in the final minutes, the Bulldogs got empty-net goals from senior midfielder Christina Doherty (assisted by Magnuson) and Fleishhacker. Doherty has now tied her career high in goals (12). Pizzo then finished her hat trick with a goal in the last minute to make the final score 14-6.
"Maggie had a great fall, then had been battling some setbacks to get back in the lineup," said Phillips. "She had a breakout game today. She handled the ball with confidence, shot well, and was a big piece of our offense."
Fleishhacker finished with a game-high five points (3-2-5). Junior attacker Nicole Daniggelis contributed a team-high four draw controls. BU was without its draw control leader, midfielder Jill Horka (26 draws for the season), as she had received a red card in the Terriers' previous game.
The victory snapped a four-game winning streak in the series for BU. This was the fourth time in a row that Yale held its opponent to its lowest or second-lowest goal total of the season; the Bulldogs have allowed only 20 goals in the last four games.
"It was nice to be home, and nice to see our team rebound from a tough loss at Columbia last Saturday," said Phillips. "With the weather changing to rain and sleet in the second half -- that was an uncontrollable. We controlled what we could control, paid attention to the little things and won the little battles. The attack shared the ball really well and our transition game looked amazing. Defensively it was another great effort. We may have played our best game of the year last Tuesday at Denver but lost (9-6); this game today exceeded that."
Yale returns to action on Saturday night with its first game ever against San Diego State. In addition to being streamed on the Ivy League Digital Network, that game will also be viewable on ESPN3.
Report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity
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