The Yale women’s lacrosse team earned its second win of this season this Sunday despite an early deficit and snowy conditions.
The Bulldogs (2–1, 0–0 Ivy) defeated Canisius (0–4, 0–0 Metro Atlantic) after a strong first half that established an Eli lead throughout the game. Yale retained its perfect home record this week after earning a decisive win against Quinnipiac in its home opener last Wednesday.
“Today’s game was a great one on both ends of the field,” attacker Hope Hanley ’17 said. “Our defensive unit was very strong and came up with some huge stops, and our attack played confidently under pressure. [We] played very unselfishly and adapted well to playing in poor conditions.”
The game got off to a quick start, with a goal by attacker Tess McEvoy ’17 less than three minutes into the contest. McEvoy leads the teams in goals this season with seven, three of which were against Canisius.
However, the Golden Griffins also came out fighting. Canisius went on a three-goal run during the first 10 minutes of the contest to push ahead of Yale, 3–1. The Bulldogs countered with a streak of their own, as they dominated the rest of the half by scoring six goals and pitching a shutout, preventing the Canisius offense from mounting a comeback.
According to midfielder Madeleine Gramigna ’18, the team’s quick recovery to retake the lead was crucial in maintaining momentum for the rest of the game.
“We started off a bit slow, but after … get[ting] into a rhythm and understand[ing] the type of defense they were playing, we were able to break it,” captain and attacker Kerri Fleishhacker ’15 said. “Canisius played a zone defense, which we needed to adapt to. We were able to pick them apart and capitalize off of their mistakes.”
The Elis’ stretch of scoring continued after the break as well, with three goals for Yale within the first 10 minutes — two of which were scored by Hanley — to bring the score to 10–3 in favor of the Bulldogs.
Yale, however, could not hold that large of a lead for very long, as Canisius’s offense tried to get the team back into the game. The Golden Griffins went on an offensive run where they found the back of the net four times in three minutes, including three goals by Canisius attacker Taylor Giglio, who scored five of the team’s eight goals on the afternoon.
Although the Golden Griffins closed the Elis’ lead to just three points, they were never able to draw even in the second half, as the Bulldogs secured an even safer margin with a pair of goals midway through the second half. Canisius scored one last goal a few minutes later to bring the final score to 12–8, but the Elis kept the Golden Griffins off the scoreboard for the final 9:29 of action.
According to midfielder Lauren Wackerle ’16, the visibility during the game was poor, but Yale compensated by making shorter passes to limit turnovers, which have been a problem for the team, as the Elis have averaged 14 per game.
“We did a good job today, but we haven’t in the past,” Wackerle said. “[We are working on] lowering the turnovers and taking our time on offense to work the ball and work the defense, not just take the first shot available.”
Wackerle also noted that improving the number of draw controls will be important, seeing as the Bulldogs had 10 compared to Canisius’s 12.
Despite a rough start to the season against the George Washington Colonials, the team is headed in a positive direction and wants to achieve similar success against Bryant, its next opponent, players said.
“[Bryant is] very scrappy,” Wackerle said. “They go for every 50–50 ball. In years past, that has really been a strength of theirs. It will be our preparation for our first Ivy League game against Cornell.”
The game against Bryant starts at 3 p.m. on Wednesday at Reese Stadium.