NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- A torrential downpour at Reese Stadium Wednesday afternoon did not faze the Yale women's lacrosse team, as the Bulldogs scored the first six goals of the game en route to an 11-4 win vs. Quinnipiac. Junior attacker Hope Hanley led all scorers with four goals, and junior attacker Tess McEvoy had her second straight hat trick. Goalkeeper Sydney Marks made six saves in helping the Bulldogs to their first win of the season -- and also Marks' first career win, and the first career win for Erica LaGrow, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse.

"This win is huge for our team and our players," said LaGrow. "I'm excited and proud of them. They have been putting in a lot of work."

After falling behind 4-0 in the season opener Sunday, a 9-7 loss at Lehigh, Yale (1-1, 0-0 Ivy League) turned the tables on Wednesday. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first 18:19, thanks in part to McEvoy scoring three straight goals to turn a 1-0 lead into a 4-0 lead.

"Tess is a great player, and we definitely look to her on offense," said LaGrow. "We know she's going to draw the attention of the defense -- she was face-guarded today -- and she's also great at passing to her teammates."

The early lead came amidst a driving rainstorm that soaked Reese Stadium for most of the day.

"We have been practicing in these types of conditions, so our players were used to it," said LaGrow. "You've got to adjust your pocket, but other than that it didn't make a huge difference."

Quinnipiac (0-2, 0-0 MAAC) finally snapped the Yale scoring spree -- which, in addition to McEvoy's three goals, also included tallies by Hanley, freshman attacker Izzy Nixon and senior midfielder Lauren Wackerle -- with a goal by midfielder Aubrey Conti at 8:13. That was QU's first goal of the season, as the Bobcats had been shut out by UConn in the season opener.

After QU scored again to close within 6-2, the Bulldogs regained control of the game thanks to a pair of goals by Hanley in the final 5:09 of the first.

After attacker Allison Kuhn pulled Quinnipiac within 8-3 with 26:59 to play, the Yale defense clamped down -- as did Marks, who made one of the best saves of the day in denying midfielder Aileen Carey with less than 15 minutes to play. By then Hanley had extended Yale's lead to 9-3 with a nice wraparound goal, and freshman midfielder Addie Zinsner made it 10-3 with a free position goal at the 12:38 mark.

Freshman midfielder Amanda Bosland scored on a free position shot with 9:41 to play, and Quinnipiac attacker Kathleen DeVito concluded the scoring with a free position goal at 5:38. Marks came up with another big save, this one on DeVito, with 1:45 left to cap the victory.

Yale finished with a 32-14 edge in shots, and the Bulldogs also kept their turnovers to a minimum -- just six in the second half.

"[Assistant coaches] Alyssa Murray and Sloane Serpe did a great job game-planning today," said LaGrow. "That included possessing the ball. It was an overall great team effort. Quinnipiac is a good team, and they didn't let up. The first 10 minutes set the tone for the game, and that's something we want to do -- come out strong for each game."

Yale next plays at UMass Saturday at 12:00.

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