March 12, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - A dominant defense that allowed only three goals. A balanced offense that included seven different goal scorers and assists from five different people. Everything clicked for No. 13 Yale (4-1) in Wednesday afternoon's 10-3 win at UMass.
This was the first time that UMass (1-5) had been held to that low a goal output since a 14-2 loss to Temple Apr. 21, 2002 -- a span of 94 games in which the Minutewomen scored four or more goals. It was also just the second time in the all-time series (21 games) that Yale held UMass under four goals.
The sterling defensive effort started in goal, where senior goalkeeper Ellen Cameron made eight saves and also grabbed three ground balls.
"Ellen was tremendous," said Laura Field, Yale's Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse. "She made some point blank saves and helped us get some turnovers. She was a very active goalie, which is what we need."
Cameron made four of her saves in a first half that was dominated by both defenses. Neither team scored in the opening 10 minutes, and even after UMass midfielder Kaytlin McCormick gave her team a 1-0 lead goals remained hard to come by.
Five minutes after McCormick's goal the Bulldogs set up shop in the UMass zone and patiently waited for the chance to tie the game. It came when sophomore attacker Jessica Sturgill cut to the goal and rifled home a feed from behind the net by senior midfielder Lauren Taylor.
Five minutes after that sophomore attacker Jenna Block got the ball to junior midfielder Jenn Warden down low, and Warden ducked around a defender to bounce the ball past UMass keeper Colleen Speth.
Senior midfielder Kat Peetz then took a feed from behind the net by senior attacker Meredith Callahan and gave Yale a 3-1 lead with five minutes remaining in the half. UMass controlled the ball for several minutes at the end, but its last-second scoring attempt was disrupted by a caused turnover from senior defender Jess Champion.
Champion finished with three ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Just as importantly she shut down McCormick, who had 12 goals coming into the game. McCormick scored her only goal of the game during one of the few times that Champion was not marking her.
"Jess Champion played tremendous team defense," said Field. "We felt that Kaytlin McCormick was a real offensive threat, but she was able to contain her."
Yale reeled off the first three goals of the second half to take control of the game, as Block, Taylor and Callahan all tallied. Typical of the Bulldogs' unselfish approach, Taylor's goal came when Peetz had a free-position shot. Instead of taking the shot Peetz opted to pass to Taylor, who was unmarked low on the other side of the crease. That was part of the reason why the Bulldogs finished with eight assists, their highest total in a game in two years.
"That assist total is evidence of how hard we're working as a unit," Field said. "We are finding each other all over the field, and getting all different types of assists."
After a UMass timeout Julie Pasquantonio momentarily disrupted the Yale momentum by scoring with 15:59 left in the game. But Peetz chased down the draw control after that goal. She passed to junior midfielder Taylor Fragapane and Fragapane quickly worked it ahead to junior midfielder Linden Ellis for another Bulldog goal.
"Today was a real breakthrough in terms of those hustle plays," Field said. "That is how we need to define ourselves. It came from every player. We brought in people off the bench such as [sophomore midfielder] Sarah David, [sophomore defenseman] Claire Eliasberg and Linden, and they played well."
UMass attacker Melinda Zwick had a free-position shot blocked with 15 minutes left and Fragapane grabbed the ground ball. Two minutes later Cameron made a save on midfielder Holly Drown right in front of the cage after taking a pass from attacker Stephanie Hopkins on a free-position attempt.
Taylor, Callahan and Peetz then stretched the Yale lead to 10-2, and the Bulldogs began sending in subs. Cameron made a big save on a free-position shot by midfielder Merritt Cosgrove and then came out with 1:38 to play so that freshman Katie Janian could see her first varsity action in goal. Other freshmen making their varsity debuts included attacker Sarah Ballatori, attacker Courtney deFeo, midfielder Logan Greer, defender Augusta Hixon, defender Fielding Kidd and midfielder Ariana Papier.
Attacker/midfielder Jill Liposky scored on a free-position shot for UMass with 24 seconds left to cap the scoring.
The game marked the conclusion of Yale's brief swing through Massachusetts for Spring Break, as the Bulldogs stayed in the Bay State after winning 11-8 at BC Saturday. Yale returns home to host Penn, the defending Ivy League champion, in the Ivy opener Saturday at Noon.
report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity
