PHILADELPHIA – It all started with a ride. Senior attacker
Jenna Collignon's game-winning goal with 12 seconds left in the second half of the second overtime Saturday at Franklin Field will go down as one of the biggest goals in Yale women's lacrosse history. It made the final score 10-9 and capped an epic comeback for the No. 8 Bulldogs, who trailed by as many as five goals twice. It also gave Yale its first win at Franklin Field in 22 years. But the game-winner was set in motion by the type of play that often gets overlooked.
After a Yale shot hit the post with 30 seconds left in the second half of the second overtime, Penn goalie Orly Sedransk grabbed the loose ball and the Quakers set up to clear. Collignon applied heavy pressure just in front of the cage on the ride, using all of her 5-foot-10 frame to make passing difficult. It worked. She had her left arm outstretched just enough to get a piece of Sedransk's pass with the top of her stick, deflecting the ball to the turf. Collignon then raced back to the top of the 8-meter arc and gathered up the ground ball. She turned back towards the goal and headed in.
The Quakers doubled her as she got near the crease, but she spun through both of those defenders. A third came to greet her at the doorstep, but Collignon spun her way around her also. A fourth defender was on the way, but Collignon quickly lifted up her stick and tucked the ball inside the post to her right to finish off the wild sequence. Her teammates mobbed her.
For much of the game a win by Yale (10-3, 3-2 Ivy League) seemed improbable. On a cold and rainy day, No. 16 Penn (6-5, 2-2 Ivy League) held Yale scoreless until 11:24 of the second quarter. The Quakers led 6-1 in the second and 7-2 in the third. But the Bulldogs chipped away, limiting Penn to one goal in the final 19:34 of regulation. Senior midfielder
Caroline Burt's goal at 5:13 of the fourth tied the game 9-9, setting the stage for Collignon's heroics.
Penn won all four draw controls in the overtimes (one at the start of each half), but all four of those possessions ended in turnovers. The Quakers' lone shot on goal in the extra sessions came with 17 seconds left in the first half of the second overtime, and first-year goalkeeper
Niamh Pfaff made the save. Six of her eight saves on the day came in the second half/ overtime, making her another key figure in the victory.
GOALS-ASSISTS-POINTS
OTHER STATISTICAL LEADERS
- Senior midfielder Sophie Straka had a team-best four ground balls.
- Collignon had a team-best four draw controls.
- First year goalkeeper Niamh Pfaff made eight saves on 17 shots (.471).
TURNING POINT
- After Penn went ahead 7-2 with 12:37 left in the third, Collignon scored twice in a span of less than a minute midway through that quarter. Penn scored again with 4:34 left, but the Quakers scored just once more after that.
KEY STAT
- Yale limited Penn to one shot on goal in 11:48 of overtime play.
NOTES
- This was Yale's first road win against Penn since a 10-8 victory Mar. 22, 2003.
- Yale has now won three straight in the series against Penn for the first time since winning 10 in a row from 1995 through 2004.
- Burt's three points were a season high for her.
- This was the first time this season that Yale won a game in which it scored fewer than 12 goals.
QUOTING ERICA BAMFORD, YALE'S JOEL E. SMILOW, CLASS OF 1954 HEAD COACH OF WOMEN'S LACROSSE
- "I'm proud of the resilience of our team to battle from behind on the road against a really good Penn team that has been one of the Ivy's best programs over the last two decades. In particular, our defense did a phenomenal job preparing and executing in-game to limit Penn's opportunities, especially in overtime."
- "With two important regular season games remaining, we need to continue to grow as a group to finish the season strong so we can earn the opportunity to make a postseason run in May."
WHAT'S NEXT
- Yale plays at Harvard next Saturday. The Bulldogs are currently tied for third in the Ivy League with Cornell, one game behind second-place No. 17 Brown.
