The Yale women’s lacrosse team headed to the suburbs of New Jersey this past weekend, where the potent offense of No. 11 Princeton overwhelmed the Bulldogs in their most severe loss of the 2016 season.
Yale (5–7, 2–2 Ivy) was on the defensive all game as Princeton (8–2, 3–0) attacked with an onslaught of shots from the outset of the contest. The 16–5 loss marked the third defeat in a row for the Elis, who had won three in a row prior to this losing streak.
“It just wasn’t a good game across the board, on all areas of the field, because we weren’t playing for each other,” goalie Sydney Marks ’18 said. “That’s the biggest part; that’s when we truly don’t play well. The whole game was incredibly frustrating for everyone and we just couldn’t buckle down and get the job done this time.”
Marks, despite noting that all areas of the field were deficient on Saturday, had a career day in goal. Against a nearly inconceivable 50 shots, Marks saved 54.3 percent of the 35 that were on net for a career-best 19 saves.
The sophomore, who is in her first season starting for the Bulldogs, played a large part in keeping the game from getting even more out of hand than it did.
“Sydney had an absolutely amazing game,” defender Victoria Moore ’17 said. “She has been so consistent in the net for us this whole season. She works extremely hard day-in and day-out and it is so nice to see her executing in the net and playing so well.”
The Tigers floored it from the drop of the flags and never let their foot off the gas pedal, scoring six straight goals within the game’s first 17 minutes.
Bulldog attacker Tess McEvoy ’17 momentarily stemmed the tide with Yale’s first goal before Princeton netted two more. McEvoy then scored once again with less than a minute left in the half.
McEvoy scored multiple goals for the 10th time in the team’s first 12 games and her seventh in a row. She now has 23 goals in those seven.
“Tess has continued throughout the season to run the offense, even when guarded by our opponents’ top defenders,” captain and defender Kate Walker ’16 said. “She has an incredibly fast shot, a really high field IQ and the sheer speed needed to dodge effectively and put the ball in the back of the net.”
At half and down six, Yale still stood a chance, however small, of coming back. After Princeton pushed the deficit to seven less than a minute into the second half, the team would not quit, as midfielder Lily Smith ’18 and attacker Emily Granger ’18 scored back-to-back goals to bring the game within five.
But the floodgates opened after that, and Princeton poured on its second offensive blitz. The game’s next six goals belonged to the Tigers, and, at that point, so too did the game.
Yale went on to score one more goal, to which Princeton replied with one more meaningless goal of its own — with one second left to play.
The Bulldogs are now fifth in the Ivy League with a 2–2 record. Three games remain for Yale to bump itself into to the top four teams, which earn a berth into the Ivy League postseason tournament. The first of those will be at Dartmouth next Saturday at 3 p.m.
“We have to move on and learn from [the loss],” Marks said. “After all, it’s on to Dartmouth now.”