NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The rally began, innocuously enough, with a goal late in the third quarter that got the Yale women's lacrosse team within four goals of Penn and snapped a stretch of more than 12 minutes without scoring for Yale. It ended with a dramatic late goal and a defensive stand that left the Bulldogs celebrating a momentous 11-10 victory over their Ivy League rivals – Yale's first victory against the Quakers since 2004. First year attacker
Jenna Collignon proved pivotal, scoring four goals – including two in the final 6:23 to get Yale the lead. Junior goalkeeper
Clare Boone made nine saves, none bigger than the one with three seconds left that denied the last chance to tie the game for Penn.
Yale (5-2, 2-0 Ivy League) trailed 9-4 midway through the third, with Penn's traditionally strong defense holding tight. The Quakers had contained the Bulldogs' leading scorer, senior attacker
Olivia Markert, to that point. But when Markert broke free for a goal with 2:39 left in the third, her first of the game, it proved to be just the spark that Yale needed. After a draw control win by Collignon, first-year midfielder
Sophie Straka scored with a nice one-on-one move to bring Yale within three. The score remained that way heading into the fourth.
Penn (3-6, 0-2 Ivy League) scored the first goal of the fourth, converting on a free position. But Collignon answered with a free position goal of her own with 12:01 left to pull the Bulldogs within 10-7. Markert then scored after a Penn turnover, prompting a Quaker timeout with 10:52 left.
The timeout did little to slow the Bulldogs. Yale's dynamic first-year midfielder duo of
Taylor Lane and
Fallon Vaughn combined for a goal at 9:14, with a great pass from Vaughn finding Lane in front of the net to make it 10-9. Collignon later drew a free position attempt and went low to tie the score 10-10 with 6:23 to play.
Partly sunny skies predominated throughout the early part of the game, but rain started pouring down late in the fourth to add to the drama. After Penn killed off a penalty with less than four minutes to play, the Quakers could have regained momentum – but Boone got low to deny a Penn shot with 3:15 to play.
The game-winning goal showcased Collignon's skills, as she got the ball near the top of the arc, drove right and fired a shot just inside the far post with 1:27 to play.
Yale still had to survive a wild final 90 seconds that included a yellow card on the Bulldogs, three Penn turnovers and one Yale turnover. Boone's save on a shot from point-blank range by attacker Taylyn Stadler in the final seconds sealed the win, and the Bulldogs rushed the field to celebrate.
Coupled with the win at Dartmouth three weeks ago, the Bulldogs have now knocked off two of the Ivy League's traditional powerhouses and vaulted themselves to the top of the league standings as the only team that is 2-0 in Ivy play. The fact that they have done so with a lineup composed of multiple first years – eight of 11 goals Saturday came from that class – indicates that the future is also quite bright for the program.
"I am happy with how our team competed and stayed the course today," said
Erica Bamford, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse. "Our defense, led by captain
Kelsey Dunn and goalkeeper
Clare Boone, did an outstanding job competing and executing against a strong Penn offense. Credit to Penn's defense and goalkeeper, Krissy Kowalski -- it took us a while to gain any ground on the offensive end. We have a lot of season left, and we are looking forward to getting back to work in preparation for another tough Ivy opponent in Brown next Saturday."
Collignon led Yale with four goals, while Markert had two goals and three assists. Vaughn (one goal, one assist) also had a multiple-point outing. Lane, Straka, first-year attacker
Taylor Everson and junior attacker
Olivia Penoyer accounted for Yale's other goals. Lane led the team with three caused turnovers, while junior defender
Ali Anderson led the team with three ground balls.
Yale hosts Brown next Saturday at noon.
