NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's lacrosse team has been perfect at home this season, posting a 6-0 record. The Bulldogs will now try to translate that success to the road for an Ivy League game at Cornell this Saturday (12:00 p.m.,
ESPN+,
Live Stats) that has major implications for the top of the league standings. The Bulldogs are 4-0 in Ivy play, with the Big Red close behind them at 3-1. Princeton is 2-0 in Ivy games.
Last Game
Yale (8-2, 4-0 Ivy League) found itself locked in an 11-11 tie with Harvard late in the game this past Saturday at Reese Stadium, but a pair of first years delivered for the victory. Goals by midfielder
Taylor Lane (Norwalk, Conn.) and attacker
Caroline Burt (Newtown Square, Pa.) in the final 5:25 broke the tie and the Bulldogs held on for a 13-12 win. The Crimson got within one with 88 seconds left, but junior midfielder
Payton Vaughn (Concord, Mass.) then came up with one of her biggest plays of the day, chasing down the draw control. That enabled the Bulldogs to run out the clock, ending the game with the ball safely in the stick of senior attacker
Olivia Markert (Centreville, Va.). Markert finished with six goals and five draw controls.
Markert Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week
Senior attacker
Olivia Markert (Centreville, Va.) has been named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week. The league announced the award on Monday. Markert started the week with four goals on six shots in Tuesday's 20-15 win vs. Army at Reese Stadium. Her eight draw controls were a game high, and she also had a pair of ground balls and a caused turnover. The 20 goals Yale scored in that game represented the most goals in a game for the Bulldogs since a 21-3 win vs. Quinnipiac Feb. 21, 2017. Markert followed that up with a dazzling six-goal performance against Harvard at Reese on Saturday as the Bulldogs won 13-12. She shot 6-for-7 (.857) and added five draw controls and a ground ball. She was 4-for-4 on free position attempts. Markert is tied for second in the Ivy League in goals per game (3.00) and is second in points per game (3.50).
Penoyer Closes in on Assists Mark
Junior attacker
Olivia Penoyer (Manlius, N.Y.) has 19 assists, two away from her career high (21 in 2019). She has had two or more assists in a game six times this season, including each of the last three games. She is leading the Ivy League in assists per game (1.90).
Four Straight Weeks Receiving Votes in National Poll
Yale has been among the teams receiving votes in the IWLCA national poll for four straight weeks (Mar. 21, Mar. 28, Apr. 4, Apr. 11). The Bulldogs thus sit just outside of the national top 25. The Bulldogs' remaining schedule includes No. 5 Stony Brook, No. 12 Princeton and No. 16 UConn.
Drive for Five
Yale is 4-0 in Ivy League play for the first time since 1995 and just the fourth time in school history (1995, 1985 and 1984). Yale has never started an Ivy season 5-0 – the 1980 team was 4-0-1, as was the 1978 team. Since the Ivy League tournament began in 2010, no team with five or more league wins has not made the tournament. The Bulldogs' 8-2 overall start is their best 10 game start to a season since going 8-2 to start 2002. That team made it to 9-2 before suffering its third loss in the next game.
Accuracy is Key
Yale is second in the Ivy League in shooting percentage in Ivy games (.459). Cornell (.479) is the only team more accurate than the Bulldogs.
A Clear Advantage
Yale's clearing percentage this season is .894. The Bulldogs are holding their opponents to a .792 clearing percentage.
Quick on the Draw
Yale leads the Ivy League in draw controls per game with 15.70. That ranks 24th in the nation. Three Bulldog first years – midfielder
Sky Carrasquillo (Alpharetta, Ga.) (4.67, fifth), midfielder
Taylor Lane (Norwalk, Conn.) (3.10, eighth) and attacker
Jenna Collignon (Hinsdale, Ill.) (2.75, 10th) are among the Ivy's top 10 in draws.
Multiple First Years Among Team's Goals Leaders
The first-year class has provided the bulk of Yale's scoring – 83 of 134 goals (62 percent). That class includes three of the team's top four goal scorers: midfielder
Fallon Vaughn (Concord, Mass.) (19 goals, second), attacker
Jenna Collignon (Hinsdale, Ill.) (18 goals, third) and midfielder
Taylor Lane (Norwalk, Conn.) (14 goals, fourth). Senior attacker
Olivia Markert (Centreville, Va.) (30 goals, first) is the only non-first year among Yale's top four goal scorers.
Scouting Cornell
Cornell (7-5, 3-1 Ivy League) has won four of its last six games, with its only losses coming to nationally ranked teams (10-9 to No. 23 Jacksonville and 20-9 to No. 4 Syracuse). The Big Red has scored 58 goals in Ivy League games – the best total in the league. Goalie Katie McGahan is second in the league in save percentage (.553).
