NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The Yale women's lacrosse team did plenty of things right on Wednesday afternoon -- things like winning the ground ball battle (16-12) and getting more draw controls than their opponent (15-13). Those sorts of numbers might have added up to a win against most teams, but unfortunately for the Bulldogs Wednesday's opponent was No. 11 Boston College -- and the opportunistic Eagles showed why they are one of the top teams in the country by overcoming a solid effort by Yale and posting a 15-11 win.

"When you play a team like BC, they are going to capitalize on your smallest mistakes," said Erica LaGrow, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse. "They are well-coached, competitive and talented."

After Yale (5-6, 2-1 Ivy League) opened the scoring on a goal by sophomore midfielder Taryn Gallagher at 29:23, the Eagles made the first big move of the game. They outscored Yale 6-0 in a span of less than 16 minutes, getting goals from five different players.

"The first few minutes we wanted to see what we could get off transition," said LaGrow. "BC has a great defense, so we were hoping for high-risk, high-reward type of transition goals. Unfortunately we didn't find as much success with that as we would have liked."

That BC run changed the complexion of the game, but the Bulldogs did not go away easily. On her way to a six-point (4-2-6) day, junior attacker Tess McEvoy ended BC's run by driving in to score at 10:42 of the first. This was McEvoy's sixth straight game with at least three goals.

"Tess is a quick and fast, and she has a competitor's mentality," said LaGrow. "She also has some wonderful players around her that help create space, and some great defenders that she goes up against in practice. That has helped make her such a great player."

A BC turnover then allowed Yale to score on a fast break, as sophomore midfielder Lily Smith set up her field hockey teammate, sophomore attacker Kiwi Comizio, for a goal at 6:47.

The teams then traded goals in the final three minutes of the half, with a tally from sophomore midfielder Madeleine Gramigna (assisted by senior midfielder Lauren Wackerle) sending Yale into the break down 7-4.

The second half turned into a back-and forth battle, with neither team going on a run of more than two goals before the other answered. The Eagles stretched their lead to 9-4 early in the half, but Comizio and McEvoy scored to pull the Bulldogs back within striking distance.

BC (7-5, 1-4 ACC) then scored three of the next four goals, with Yale's tally coming from junior attacker Hope Hanley off an assist by sophomore midfielder Emily Granger.

A pair of goals by BC attacker Tess Chandler in a span of 2:30 gave BC a 12-7 lead with 20:46 to play, but the Bulldogs kept chipping away. They scored two of the next three goals (Hanley from McEvoy, then Granger unassisted).

After BC went back ahead by five on a goal with 11:51 left, sophomore goalie Sydney Marks got low to make one of her best saves of the day, denying attacker Kayla O'Connor with less than nine minutes to go. Marks would wind up with eight saves, keeping a powerful BC offense that had scored 17 goals in a game four times this season in check for much of the day.

McEvoy scored twice in the final seven minutes, but it was not enough for Yale to pull off the upset. A BC goal with 2:31 to play made the final 15-11.

Junior defenders Emily Markham and Victoria Moore tied for the team lead with three ground balls each, and senior attacker Nicole Daniggelis contributed eight draw controls.

"This is really bittersweet, because we wanted to come away with the win," said LaGrow. "For this game, our focus was on the little things -- ground balls, draw controls. We wanted to get back to focusing on the process. Our assistant coaches, Alyssa Murray and Sloane Serpe, prepared both units for every situation that could have come about. We matched BC's shots (28 to 28) and competed hard for 60 minutes, but didn't come out with a victory."

Yale plays at No. 11 Princeton Saturday.

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