NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's lacrosse team showcased its scoring depth in a big way Tuesday afternoon at Reese Stadium, snapping Army's 10 game winning streak in the process. Four Bulldogs had hat tricks as Yale improved to 5-0 at home with a 20-15 win. That was the most goals in a game for Yale since a 21-3 win vs. Quinnipiac Feb. 21, 2017.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair in which Army rallied back to tie the score after Yale jumped out to a 3-0 lead. But in the second quarter the Bulldogs asserted themselves, outscoring the Black Knights 7-1. First-year midfielder
Taylor Lane was the first Bulldog to record a hat trick, notching her third goal at 12:43 of the second.
Army (10-3, 5-0 Patriot League) crept closer in the third, outscoring Yale 4-3 and peppering the Bulldogs with a flurry of late chances before the quarter ended. The Black Knights then scored the first goal of the fourth to get within 16-12. But with Army threatening to get within three, first-year Bulldog goalkeeper
Cami Donadio denied attacker Moira Callahan at the doorstep and junior midfielder
Payton Vaughn got the ground ball. First-year attacker
Jenna Collignon then scored on a free position shot – her fourth goal of the day – to give Yale (7-2, 3-0 Ivy League) some further breathing room. Forty-nine seconds later, after winning the draw control, senior attacker
Olivia Markert made it 18-12 with 9:52 to play. Army got no closer than four the rest of the way, as Donadio finished with five saves in 24:22 of relief work following junior goalkeeper
Clare Boone (five saves in 35:28).
Collignon (5-1-6) led Yale in scoring and now has 16 goals in the last four games. Markert (4-0-4) had her fourth hat trick of the season, while Lane (3-1-4) and first-year midfielder
Fallon Vaughn (3-1-4) also had hat tricks. Junior attacker
Olivia Penoyer (2-3-5) led the team in assists. First-year attacker
Taylor Everson (2-1-3) and first-year midfielder
Sophie Straka (1-0-1) also scored.
Collignon (eight draw controls), Markert (eight) and Lane (five) helped Yale to a 22-17 advantage on the draw. The Bulldogs went 3-for-6 on free position shots, with Collignon scoring on both of her attempts.
Boone and Donadio backstopped a Yale defense that also saw a standout effort by junior defender
Ali Anderson, who helped limit Army midfielder Jolie Riedell to two goals on five shots. Riedell was coming off a six-goal game Saturday in the Black Knights' 17-14 win vs. American, and she had totaled 39 goals in the first 12 games.
The Bulldogs' 7-2 start is their best nine-game start to a season since also going 7-2 to start 2003. Yale hosts Harvard Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
