NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The No. 23 Yale women's lacrosse team has delivered a number of memorable victories this season, advancing all the way to the Ivy League Tournament Championship Game. But in the title game Sunday, the Bulldogs ran into a red-hot No. 12 Princeton team, playing what could have been the final home game for legendary head coach Chris Sailer. The Tigers denied the upstart Bulldogs, claiming a 19-9 win that sends Princeton to the NCAA Tournament with the Ivy League's automatic bid.
Yale (11-6, 6-1 Ivy League) had come through with a decisive 16-6 win vs. Cornell in the semifinals in pouring rain on Friday. The Bulldogs, the No. 2 seed, held the No. 3 seed Big Red to a season-low goal total. But on Sunday Princeton (14-3, 7-0 Ivy League) scored six goals in the game's first 11 minutes and never looked back. The Tigers were able to negate one of Yale's greatest strengths, winning 21 of 31 draw controls, to maintain the lead after building an 8-2 advantage in the first quarter.
Yale had shut out Cornell in two of the game's four quarters Friday. On Sunday in the second quarter the Bulldogs had the tables turned on them, as Princeton outscored Yale 7-0 to extend its lead.
Yale fought back with three of the first four goals in the third, all from first years: midfielder
Fallon Vaughn, attacker
Taylor Everson and attacker
Jenna Collignon. But Princeton allowed Yale just three more goals in the game's final 16:20, as goalie Sam Fish finished with 10 saves. This was Princeton's fourth straight Ivy League Tournament title.
Collignon (3-0-3) and Everson (3-0-3) finished as Yale's leading scorers. Senior attacker
Olivia Markert (1-1-2) also had a multiple-point game. Vaughn (1-0-1), junior attacker
Olivia Penoyer (0-1-1) and first-year midfielder
Taylor Lane (0-1-1) each had one point. First-year midfielder
Sky Carrasquillo had six draw controls.
First-year goalkeeper
Cami Donadio had nine saves in relief. She was part of another strong effort by Yale's rookies, as the first-year class accounted for seven of Yale's nine goals.
Everson, Markert and Penoyer were named to the All-Tournament Team.
