NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's lacrosse team clinched at least a share of the Ivy League title with a dramatic 14-13 win over archrival Harvard Saturday at Reese Stadium.
This is Yale's second Ivy League regular-season title in the last three years; the Bulldogs have also won the Ivy League Tournament in each of the past two seasons.
The win required coming back from a 12-8 third-quarter deficit to tie the game – and then coming back again when Harvard went ahead 13-12 with 13:36 to play. First-year attacker
Kate Gould's fifth goal of the game tied the score 13-13 with nine minutes to play. Sophomore attacker
Kelly Holmes then delivered what turned out to be the game-winner with 5:05 left. On a Harvard clearing attempt, Holmes checked the ball out of a Harvard player's stick, scooped up the ground ball in Harvard's zone and put a shot on goal. Crimson keeper Emma Barkauskas got a piece of the shot, but it popped up behind her and had enough spin on it to roll into the goal.
Yale's defense handled it from there, with junior goalkeeper
Laura O'Connor making a save with 3:50 left. Harvard had one last chance to tie, getting the ball back after a Yale shot hit the post, but junior defender
Katie Clare caused a turnover deep in Yale's zone, got the ground ball and finished off the clear. Yale ran out the final seconds before a massive celebration erupted at Reese.
The celebration was doubly meaningful because Yale recognized its six seniors in a ceremony after the game:
Those six have now been a part of 56 wins in four seasons – the most in any four-season stretch in school history. They have helped Yale to four Ivy League Tournament appearances. That includes this season, with the Bulldogs having clinched the No. 1 seed thanks to Saturday's win. They also have been a part of two NCAA Tournament appearances, and both times the Bulldogs won two games to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals.
Yale improves to 12-2 (6-0 Ivy League) on the season while Harvard drops to 5-8 (1-5 Ivy League). The Bulldogs can win the Ivy League title outright next weekend with a win at Cornell or a loss by second-place Penn (5-1 in Ivy games) vs. Brown.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
- First-year attacker Kate Gould led Yale with a game-high five goals and seven points.
- Junior attacker Ashley Kiernan had a game-high four assists.
- Senior defender Emmy Pascal led Yale with five draw controls.
- Junior defender Katie Clare had a game-high five caused turnovers and four ground balls.
- Junior goalkeeper Laura O'Connor made five saves on six shots, playing the final 24:34.
TURNING POINT
- After Harvard gained possession and set up on attack with 90 seconds left and trailing 14-13, junior defender Katie Clare caused a turnover and got the ground ball to put an end to the Crimson's final threat. Clare then completed the clear.
KEY STAT
- Yale had just 12 turnovers, while Harvard had 17.
NOTES
- Yale has now won four straight in the series against Harvard.
- The Bulldogs have scored exactly 14 goals in each of their last three games against the Crimson.
AROUND THE IVY LEAGUE
- Dartmouth 19, Columbia 9
- No. 25 Penn 8, RV Cornell 7 OT
- No. 24 Princeton 11, Brown 9
WHAT'S NEXT
- Yale visits RV Cornell next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. A win would give the Bulldogs their second 7-0 Ivy League season in school history; the other came in 2024.
