NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The No. 10 Yale women's lacrosse team checked an important item off its to-do list on Saturday afternoon at Reese Stadium, clinching a spot in the Ivy League Tournament with a 16-8 win vs. No. 22 Harvard.
The win moves the Bulldogs to 5-0 in league play and keeps them all alone in first place with two games to go. The top four teams make the Ivy League Tournament, which is hosted by the No. 1 seed.
With the win Yale improves to 11-1 overall for the first time in school history. Harvard falls to 8-3 overall and 3-2 in the league.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
- Junior attacker Jenna Collignon had a game-best six goals and seven points. That tied her career high in points, set Apr. 1, 2023 in a win at Brown. Collignon shot .857 (6-for-7) Saturday.
- First-year midfielder Ashley Kiernan added five points (4-1-5), the best offensive game of her young Yale career.
- Junior attacker Taylor Everson had a game-best three assists.
- Collignon and junior midfielder Fallon Vaughn had a team-best four draw controls each.
- Vaughn had a game-best five caused turnovers, tied for the most in a game by a Bulldog this season. Junior midfielder Taylor Lane added four caused turnovers.
- Vaughn and junior defender Molly McGuckin had a team-best three ground balls.
- First-year goalkeeper Laura O'Connor made seven saves.
TURNING POINT
- After Harvard grabbed an early 2-1 lead, Yale scored five straight goals from the 8:59 mark of the first quarter to the 13:07 mark of the second quarter. The Crimson never got closer than within three goals of the Bulldogs after that.
KEY STAT
- This was just the second time this season Harvard has been held to fewer than 13 goals in a game. Entering the game the Crimson were ranked fourth nationally in scoring offense (16.80 goals per game).
NOTES
- Yale was 5-for-5 on free position attempts. That marked a season high in free position goals and the first time this season the Bulldogs have been perfect on free positions.
- Yale has won seven straight home games, tied for the ninth-longest home winning streak in the nation. The Bulldogs have outscored their opponents 110-50 in those games.
- This was the second straight game in which a Yale player had seven points. Senior attacker Chloe Conaghan (4-3-7) reached that mark in the win vs. then-No. 7 Penn last Sunday.
- Yale is 11-1 for the first time in school history. The other best 12 game start for the Bulldogs came in 1980, when ties were possible and Yale was 8-1-3 after 12 games.
- Yale's last three games have all been decided by the score of 16-8. The Bulldogs are 2-1 in those games.
- In addition to clinching a spot in the Ivy League tournament the Bulldogs could have clinched at least a share of the Ivy League title Saturday, but No. 17 Princeton beat No. 25 Brown to remain within a game of the Bulldogs in the standings. The Tigers are 4-1, while Harvard and No. 12 Penn are tied for third at 3-2 in Ivy play.
WHAT'S NEXT
- The Bulldogs play at Cornell next Saturday at 3:00 p.m.