NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's lacrosse team's defense delivered one of its best performances of the year Sunday afternoon at Reese Stadium, holding Dartmouth to six goals. Only BC – ranked No. 1 in the country when the Eagles beat the Big Green 16-3 on Mar. 4 – has held Dartmouth to fewer goals in a game this year. Dartmouth was able to keep Sunday's game close well into the second half, but the Bulldogs eventually pulled away with a six-goal run and finished with a 12-6 victory.
Yale (9-3, 2-2 Ivy League) never trailed, but Dartmouth (7-4, 1-3 Ivy League) was within three goals of the Bulldogs at all times during the first half. The third quarter turned into a defensive battle, with each team conceding just one goal. Yale scored the first five goals of the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
GOALS-ASSISTS-POINTS
OTHER STATISTICAL LEADERS
- Senior defender Becca Gill had a game-best five ground balls.
- Collignon and sophomore midfielder Katie Clare tied for the team lead with a pair of draw controls.
- First year goalkeeper Niamh Pfaff made eight saves on 14 shots (.571).
TURNING POINT
- After Dartmouth got within 6-5 at 5:05 of the third, the Bulldogs held the Big Green scoreless for the next 19:16 while running up a 12-5 lead.
KEY STAT
- Yale had seven different players with a caused turnover.
NOTES
- Lane has 25 points (14-11-25) in the last six games, including two straight games with five or more points.
- Collignon has passed the 40 goal mark for the season. She finished the game with 42. That is the third time in her career she has surpassed the 40 goal mark.
- This was Vaughn's second straight five-goal game.
- Pfaff allowed just 12 goals in 105 minutes of work this week (two games), a 6.86 GAA. She had a .571 save percentage for the week.
- Yale had a season-high six free position goals. The Bulldogs have 11 FPGs in the last two games.
- Yale is now 9-0 when scoring 12 or more goals – and 0-3 when scoring 11 or fewer goals.
QUOTING THE BULLDOGS
- Vaughn, on following up Wednesday's win vs. No. 6 Syracuse with a win vs. Dartmouth: "I'm incredibly proud of our team this week. We had two tough games, and we came out on top in both. Dartmouth really pushed us to earn every goal, but our defense, along with our freshman goalie, stepped up big and made some key plays when we needed them most."
WHAT'S NEXT
- Yale plays at No. 14 Penn next Saturday. The Bulldogs are currently part of a three-way tie for fourth in the Ivy League standings, a half-game behind the third-place Quakers.
