NAPLES, Fla. – For the second straight weekend, a young Yale women's lacrosse team tested itself against one of the top teams in the nation Sunday. The Bulldogs traveled all the way to Florida for this one, taking on No. 16 Notre Dame at Paradise Coast Sports Complex in Naples. The previous game (at No. 1 Boston College) saw seven goals from the Bulldogs' first-year class, and Sunday's game vs. the Fighting Irish saw even more of the same. This time, first-year attacker
Jenna Collignon led the way, scoring four goals. Five of her classmates scored as well, and the first-year class as a whole scored nine. But ultimately the Notre Dame veterans made the difference. Attacker Maddie Howe, an All-American with 70 career games of experience, scored seven goals for the Fighting Irish as they came away with a 17-10 win.
Yale opened the scoring with a goal by first-year midfielder
Taylor Lane, but after a couple early saves from junior goalkeeper
Clare Boone the Irish put together a 5-0 run in a span of six possessions that forced a Yale timeout with just over five minutes left in the first quarter. Sophomore attacker
Bri Carrasquillo stopped that run by scoring off a feed from Lane, but Notre Dame tacked on a goal just before the quarter ended to take a 6-2 lead.
Notre Dame (4-5, 1-2 ACC) scored the first five goals of the second quarter, but the Bulldogs rallied behind three goals – two from Collignon and one from first-year midfielder
Sophie Straka – and a big save by Boone on a free position shot by Fighting Irish All-American midfielder Kasey Choma just before halftime. Notre Dame's lead was 11-5 at the break.
Collignon scored again to open the third quarter, earning her first career hat trick. After first-year attacker
Taylor Everson scored off a low backhand shot with her back to the goal, Notre Dame was compelled to call a timeout to stop the Bulldogs' five-goal run. Coming out of the timeout, a free position tally by Howe got the Fighting Irish lead to 12-7.
First-year defender
Marymegan Wright added another highlight for Yale late in the third when she grabbed a turnover, cleared the ball herself, drew a free position attempt and scored her first career goal. But Howe answered with her sixth goal of the day to get the score to 15-8 heading into the final quarter.
Collignon scored again early in the fourth, but Notre Dame responded with two more – including Howe's seventh – to put the game out of reach. Collignon finished with four goals, while Carrasquillo, Everson, Lane, Straka, Wright and first-year midfielder
Molly McGuckin had one each. Junior attacker
Olivia Penoyer had a pair of assists, while first-year attacker
Caroline Burt, Collignon, Everson and Lane had one each. Boone finished with 15 saves, a career high. First-year midfielder
Sky Carrasquillo had five draw controls.
Yale (4-2, 1-0 Ivy League) returns to Ivy League play next Saturday, hosting Penn at noon.
