March 1, 2008
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - In the past having senior midfielder Lauren Taylor limited to just one shot and no points would have spelled trouble for No. 13 Yale. But the Bulldogs are intent on being more balanced in their attack this year, and on Saturday against No. 12 James Madison at Johnson Field they showed that they are capable of getting scoring from many different sources. Led by four goals from junior midfielder Jenn Warden and five points from senior attacker Meredith Callahan -- along with eight saves from senior goalkeeper Ellen Cameron -- the Bulldogs held off the Dukes 10-9 for a key early-season win.
After JMU (0-2) opened with a 3-0 run, Warden got the Bulldogs on the board with an unassisted goal that extended her point-scoring streak to 24 games. The Dukes went back up by one before Yale (2-0) pieced together a 3-1 run in which Callahan figured in all three tallies -- assisting on goals by sophomore attacker Jenna Block and junior midfielder Linden Ellis and scoring off an Ellis assist
JMU pushed its lead to 7-4 before Yale rattled off the last three goals of the half. Warden scored two, including one assisted by senior midfielder Kat Peetz, and sophomore attacker Jessica Sturgill tied the game 21 seconds before halftime.
The Dukes went back ahead 18 seconds into the second half, but two minutes later Callahan tied it and five minutes after that Warden gave Yale its first lead.
That Yale lead was short-lived, as JMU's Julie Stone tied the game at nine with 21 minutes to play. Peetz put the Bulldogs back on top off a Callahan assist with eight minutes remaining, setting up a dramatic finish. JMU controlled the ball with 90 seconds left and patiently set up for an attempt at the game-tying goal. Cameron made her biggest save of the day by deflecting Kim Griffin's attempt away with her helmet as the final seconds ticked off.
"Ellen was amazing," said Laura Field, Yale's Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse. "She came up huge with that last-second save."
While Taylor's point-scoring streak came to an end at 26 games, she still was a major factor in the Bulldog attack.
"Despite the fact that she didn't have a point, Lauren Taylor was probably our best offensive player out there," Field said. "She moved the ball incredibly well and was a huge asset in drawing two or three defenders and creating a lot of chances for other people. She should be credited with a lot of hard work in a game where she didn't have any points."
This was the second game in a row that Yale had six different people score goals.
The Bulldogs host New Hampshire at Johnson Field Wednesday at 3:00 p.m.
report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity
