March 19, 2008
BOSTON - No. 15 BU jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first half, then held off No. 14 Yale the rest of the way for a 10-7 win Wednesday afternoon at a rainy Nickerson Field. The Bulldogs got within two goals of the Terriers at two points in the second half, but also committed nine of their 17 turnovers in the second to negate any chance of a comeback.
Yale (4-3) has trailed at one point in every game this season, and this marked the third time an opponent has opened up a lead of three or more goals on the Bulldogs in the first half. The Terriers started quickly in this one, as midfielder Molly Collins scored 44 seconds in.
The Bulldogs were hurt early on by failing to cash in on their first four free position attempts. That included a sequence where senior midfielder Kat Peetz had a goal waved off because she had been fouled; on Peetz' free position attempt she passed to sophomore attacker Jessica Sturgill, who was also fouled. Terrier goalie Rachel Klein then stopped Sturgill's free-position shot, and three minutes later midfielder Sarah Dalton scored to give BU a 2-0 lead.
After another pair of free position attempts for the Bulldogs came up empty, Sturgill took matters into her own hands by taking the ball low into the 8-meter fan, spinning right and then going back to her left to cut the BU lead to 2-1.
But BU (4-2) then ran off three straight goals, including one by Dalton and two by midfielder Lauren Morton. Yale finally regrouped when Peetz used her speed to draw another foul for a free position shot that she converted with 5:24 left in the half.
The Terriers' attempt to hold on for the last shot of the half was broken up by sophomore defender Michele Fiorentino, who drew a charge that got Yale the ball. That paid dividends when Taylor and senior attacker Meredith Callahan worked together for a goal with 21 seconds left in the half. Taylor backed down the defense in front of the cage, drawing the Terriers' attention before feeding the ball to Callahan. Callahan then got the ball right back to Taylor, who fired her first shot of the game past Klein to make it 5-3 BU heading into halftime.
BU re-established control early in the second half on a goal by Morton two minutes in. Callahan pulled Yale back within two by converting a pass from Peetz two minutes later, but after that the game gradually slipped away from the Bulldogs. Senior goalie Ellen Cameron made a save on midfielder McKinley Curro from right in front with 23 minutes left, and Fiorentino picked up the ground ball after the Terriers turned it over. But after Taylor sailed a free-position shot wide, BU got the ball on a turnover and came down the field for another Dalton goal to make it 7-4.
Yale got the draw control after that goal but turned the ball over, and that enabled the Terriers to work some time off the clock. Eventually Dalton scored again to make it 8-4 with 8:43 left in the game, and Curro scored a minute later to extend the lead to five.
The Bulldogs sent freshman Katie Janian in for Cameron with six minutes left, and a goal by Warden pulled Yale within four. After Klein came up with a big save on Sturgill off a Taylor pass with five minutes left, the Bulldogs maintained control of the ball and Taylor scored to get Yale within three.
Warden won the draw control after that goal -- Yale won eight of 10 draws in the second half after winning just three of nine in the first half. After Warden shot wide, however, the Bulldogs got the Terriers to turn the ball over but quickly turned it over themselves.
Yale did get the ball back in time for Warden to score again with 1:20 left, but after Klein made her sixth save of the game attacker Erica Baumgartner scored with 11 seconds left to put the game out of reach.
Yale returns to Ivy League play with a trip to No. 17 Dartmouth Saturday for a Noon game.
report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity