STANFORD, Calif. – A top 10 women's lacrosse matchup in California lived up to its billing Sunday afternoon as No. 8 Stanford held on for an 11-10 win over Yale at Maloney Field. The Bulldogs trailed by as many as five goals but held the Cardinal scoreless for the final 18:07 and fought to make a comeback. Yale's rally fell just short thanks to a last-minute save by Stanford goalkeeper Lucy Pearson, who finished with 15 stops. The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for Yale.
Yale (7-1, 1-0 Ivy League) fell behind 4-0 but rallied to get within one, 5-4, by halftime. After Stanford (9-1, 3-1 ACC) went ahead 6-4 the Bulldogs scored two to tie it up, but the Cardinal answered with five straight.
The Bulldogs chipped away and got within 11-10 midway through the fourth quarter, but a save by Pearson on a shot by senior attacker
Jenna Collignon with 7:16 left kept Stanford in the lead. Yale first-year goalie
Niamh Pfaff then came up with three huge saves – including two on free position shots and one on a point-blank shot from midfielder Lindsey Devir with 3:25 to play – to keep the Bulldogs within a goal and set up a tense finish.
A desperation shot helped Yale narrowly avoid a shot clock violation on its next possession, and senior midfielder
Taylor Lane came up with a crucial ground ball. That gave the Bulldogs one final chance, but after Pearson made the save with a minute left she controlled the ball. The Cardinal called timeout and were eventually able to clear the ball and run the clock out.
GOALS-ASSISTS-POINTS
OTHER STATISTICAL LEADERS
- Collignon had a game-high (tie) four draw controls. Lane and Vaughn added three each.
- Lane had a game-high four ground balls.
- Senior defender Molly McGuckin had a game-high (tie) three caused turnovers.
- First-year goalkeeper Niamh Pfaff, who came on in relief, made five saves on 12 shots in 44:01.
TURNING POINT
- After Yale rallied to tie the game 6-6 at 10:02 of the third, Stanford scored five goals in a span of 5:06 and never surrendered the lead.
KEY STAT
- The Bulldogs were held to their second-lowest shots on goal total of the year (25). Only then-No. 4 Michigan held Yale to a lower total (24 in Yale's season-opening win).
NOTES
- When Yale fell behind 1-0 at 10:47 of the first, it marked the first time all season that the Bulldogs have trailed.
- Yale would have led 1-0, but a goal by Carrasquillo at 11:58 of the first was disallowed for a dangerous follow-through.
- Carrasquillo reached the 100 career point mark, finishing with 102 (86-16-102).
- Lane reached the 100 career ground ball mark, finishing with 103.
- Stanford has won 20 straight home games, the longest such streak in the nation right now.
- Yale had been one of only four unbeaten teams left in the country.
WHAT'S NEXT
- Yale returns to Ivy League play with a game at Brown Saturday at 1:00 p.m. ET.
