NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The Yale women's lacrosse team faced deficits of four or more goals twice in the season opener Sunday at Lehigh. And while the Bulldogs were able to rally to overcome the first one, they could not overcome the second one -- and the end result was a 9-7 win for the Mountain Hawks. Junior attacker Tess McEvoy led Yale with three goals and an assist, and sophomore goalkeeper Sydney Marks made seven saves.

Lehigh (1-1, 0-0 Patriot League) broke out to a 4-0 lead and had the first seven shots of the game before the Bulldogs started to rally. McEvoy hit the post at 20:09 with Yale's first shot, but shortly after that she set up midfielder Madeleine Gramigna for the Bulldogs' first goal. That sparked a four-goal run, with a point-blank save from Marks thrown in. McEvoy scored in transition off an assist from senior midfielder Lauren Wackerle at 15:20, then scored again on a free position at 10:23. A goal by senior attacker Nicole Daniggelis at 8:08 tied the game 4-4.

Marks came up with a save on a Lehigh free position shot with just over six minutes to play in the half, but the Mountain Hawks responded by scoring three straight goals to take a 7-4 lead just before halftime. Lehigh goalie Taylor Tvedt got low to deny a free position shot by McEvoy with 10 seconds left to keep that lead intact.

Daniggelis got the opening draw control of the second -- the Bulldogs' sixth straight draw, en route to getting 13 of 18 draws for the day -- but Tvedt made a save on McEvoy. Lehigh then had an apparent free position goal waved off as a yellow card was issued to the shooter, attacker/midfielder Haley Wentzel, with 25 minutes left. Thirty seconds later Yale (0-1, 0-0 Ivy League) had a goal by Wackerle waved off because of a foul on Lehigh earlier in the play, and Wackerle shot wide on the free position attempt.

The Mountain Hawks scored two more goals, including one that gave attacker Courtney Henig a hat trick at 14:53, to go ahead 9-4 -- what turned out to be their largest lead of the game. McEvoy brought Yale's scoring drought to an end with 12:08 to play, racing past the defense to score the Bulldogs' first goal in 26 minutes. That gave her a hat trick of her own.

Tvedt denied a Yale free position shot with 8:29 to play, and the Mountain Hawks took advantage of a Yale turnover to clear with seven minutes left. Lehigh then ran nearly two minutes off the clock before freshman midfielder Addie Zinsner forced a turnover. With 3:38 left sophomore attacker Kiwi Comizio fed midfielder Amanda Bosland for a goal that cut Lehigh's lead to 9-6.

Daniggelis got the draw control after Bosland's goal, and midfielder Taryn Gallagher quickly scored to pull Yale within 9-7 with 2:56 left. Junior attacker Hope Hanley then got the next draw control, which also featured a yellow card on Lehigh. But the Mountain Hawks defense clamped down after that, and the Bulldogs could not get a shot off until less than a minute remained. That one was blocked, and Lehigh defender/midfielder Mary Ellen Carron grabbed the ground ball. The Mountain Hawks then cleared and ran out the game's final seconds in the Yale zone. Tvedt finished with five saves for the win.

Daniggelis led all players with nine draw controls, while Zinsner had a team-best four ground balls. Senior defender Kate Walker, Yale's captain, had three ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers.

The game marked the debut of Erica LaGrow as Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse. The Bulldogs return home to face Quinnipiac on Wednesday (7:00 p.m., Ivy League Digital Network) at Reese Stadium.

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