ITHACA, N.Y. – The Yale women's lacrosse team found multiple ways to make history on a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. The Bulldogs' 15-9 win over the Big Red marked their first win at Cornell since Apr. 24, 2004 (11-8) and their first win against the Big Red anywhere since a victory in New Haven on Apr. 21, 2007 (13-8). The win moves Yale to 5-0 in Ivy League play for the first time in school history, and clinches a spot in the Ivy League Tournament for the first time.
The game started out as a back-and-forth affair, with neither team leading by more than two goals at any point in the first quarter. But the Bulldogs began pulling away in the second, scoring five straight goals – including three by first-year attacker
Taylor Everson. Cornell ended a span of 13:28 without a goal when midfielder Genevieve DeWinter scored shortly before halftime. But Yale first-year goalie
Cami Donadio came up with a big save on a free position shot in the final seconds of the second quarter, preserving a 9-6 lead.
Cornell (7-6, 3-2 Ivy League) got within 9-7 early in the third before the Bulldogs ended the quarter with a 3-0 run that included a pair of goals by first-year midfielder
Fallon Vaughn, including her 20th of the season.
The fourth quarter proved to be more of the same. Cornell scored early to get within 12-8, but three straight goals by the Bulldogs – including two more by Vaughn – put the game out of reach. One last goal by the Big Red made the final 15-9.
Donadio (six saves) backstopped a Yale defense that allowed only four goals in the final three quarters. Midfielder
Taylor Lane had a game-high three caused turnovers, while senior defender
Kenya Boston led the Bulldogs with three ground balls.
Junior attacker
Olivia Penoyer led Yale in points (1-4-5), reaching a new career high in single-season assists (23). Four players had four-point games: Vaughn (4-0-4), Lane (3-1-4) and senior attacker
Olivia Markert (2-2-4). Markert's 32 goals for the season have her two away from her single-season high. Everson finished with three goals and first-year attacker
Caroline Burt added two, including another one of her acrobatic backhand goals in the first quarter when Yale trailed 4-2.
Yale enjoyed a 17-11 advantage in draw controls, led by nine from Lane and four from first-year midfielder
Sky Carrasquillo. Markert had three draws.
Yale (9-2, 5-0 Ivy League) is the only 5-0 team in the Ivy League. No. 12 Princeton beat Dartmouth Saturday to move to 3-0. Every other team in the league has at least two losses in league play. The top four teams make the Ivy League Tournament, which is hosted by the top seed May 6 and May 8.
Yale's 1980 and 1978 teams started the season 4-0-1 in Ivy play, which had been the best Ivy start for the Bulldogs prior to Saturday's historic win. Yale is now 9-2 overall for the first time since 2002.
"I am extremely pleased with the way our team competed and put together a complete game," said
Erica Bamford, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse. "We had contributions from so many women, which was special. Winning on the road in our league is never easy and to do it at a place we haven't had success since 2004 is particularly rewarding."
Yale has five wins in a row, the first time the Bulldogs have accomplished that within a season since starting the 2014 season with five straight wins. The Bulldogs host No. 16 UConn Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.
