NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Five games against NCAA Tournaments teams from 2022, including a trip to Duke, highlight the
2023 schedule for the Yale women's lacrosse team. The schedule was announced Monday, with the season opener set for Feb. 18 vs. Vermont at Reese Stadium.
The 15-game slate includes seven Ivy League games and eight non-league games. The Ivy League women's lacrosse tournament, in which the top four teams in the regular season standings compete for the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, takes place May 5 and May 7 at the site of the No. 1 seed.
The Bulldogs aim to build on last year's accomplishments, which included being ranked as high as No. 23 in the nation. Yale set the team records for goals (236), points (323) and draw controls (276). The Bulldogs' 11 overall wins were their most since winning 11 in 2008. They tied the school record for Ivy wins in a season (six), finishing in second place and earning a spot in the Ivy League Tournament for the first time. They went on to beat Cornell in the semifinals for the first Ivy Tournament win in school history.
Yale returns 28 players from the 2022 season for 2023. The Bulldogs' captain is senior midfielder
Payton Vaughn (Concord, Mass.).
This is Yale's eighth year under
Erica Bamford, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse. Assistant coaches
Molly Hulseman and
Colleen Smith are back for their sixth and seventh years, respectively.
Here is a breakdown of the schedule:
- Yale's regular-season schedule consists of 15 games. That includes seven games against Ivy League opponents (Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn and Princeton).
- In addition to the Ivy League, Yale plays games against teams from eight other conferences:
- American Athletic Conference (Temple)
- Atlantic Coast Conference (Duke)
- America East Conference (Vermont)
- Big East Conference (UConn)
- Colonial Athletic Association (Stony Brook)
- Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (Quinnipiac)
- Northeast Conference (Central Connecticut State)
- Patriot League (Army)
- There are six regular-season home games and nine regular-season road games.
- Yale plays games in six different states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island).
- Yale plays five games against teams that were ranked or receiving votes in the final 2022 IWLCA national poll (No. 5 Stony Brook, No. 9 Princeton, No. 13 Duke, No. 21 UConn and RV Penn). Yale was ranked No. 25 in the final poll.
- The schedule includes five games against teams that played in the 2022 NCAA tournament: Stony Brook advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals; Duke and Princeton advanced to the second round; and UConn and Vermont lost in the first round.
- On Saturday Apr. 22 vs. Cornell Yale will host Senior Day, as the Bulldogs pay tribute to the members of the Class of 2023:
- The top four teams in the Ivy League regular season standings will take part in the Ivy League Tournament, which determines the team that receives the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. The semifinals are on Friday May 5 (No. 3 vs. No. 2 and No. 4 vs. No. 1). The championship game takes place on Sunday May 7. The No 1 seed hosts.
- The Ivy League receives an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Selections for the NCAA tournament will be announced on Sunday May 7. The first round (May 12), second round (May 14) and quarterfinals (May 18) take place on campus (subject to change). The semifinals (May 26) and championship (May 28) take place at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C., and are hosted by UNC.
- Live video of home games and select road games is scheduled to be available on ESPN+.
- Links to live stats for all games will be posted on the schedule page of yalebulldogs.com when available.
- The schedule is subject to change. Check yalebulldogs.com for updates.
