Steve Musco
Recently ending a four-game losing streak with a 17–11 win over UConn on Wednesday, the Yale women’s lacrosse team will look to parlay that momentum into another victory this Saturday against Ancient Eight foe Columbia.
Despite dropping their Ivy home-opener by six goals to Cornell last Saturday, the Elis (4–6, 0–4 Ivy) quickly regrouped in their blowout victory over the Huskies to get back on the winning track. Now, last-place Yale hits the road to face off against the seventh-place Lions (4–8, 1–3) with three conference tilts remaining. After falling behind 9–3 to Columbia in 2018, it will be pivotal for the Bulldogs to get off to a hot start in order to rejuvenate their final stretch of the season.
“We are coming off a great win to in-state rival UConn, and we hope to continue with this momentum into the weekend,” attacker Isabelle Webster ’21 said. “Columbia is a very fast team, and we intend to utilize the possession clock and execute our game plan on Saturday.”
Wednesday’s victory provided a boost of confidence to the Bulldogs, whose triumph allowed them to maintain their perfect 10–0 record against their in-state rival. Attacker Addie Zinsner ’19 propelled her team to success with a career-best five goals, while Zinser and midfielder Sam Higgins ’21 scored four of the first five goals of the match to give Yale an early lead that it never relinquished.
After heading into halftime with a comfortable 7–4 lead, Zinsner expanded Yale’s cushion with a pair of goals at the start of the second half. While the Huskies put up a tough fight and scored three of the next four goals, they failed to tighten the margin to less than three for the rest of the game, as Yale finished the match on a 5–2 scoring run. The Bulldog defense was just as polished, goalkeeper Amelia Drake ’21 made three saves in the latter half of the game to keep the Elis on top.
Having already broken the Ivy League career record for draw controls, attacker and captain Izzy Nixon ’19 made 14 more against the Huskies to power Yale to a 19–11 advantage in the faceoff circle. Meanwhile, Higgins’s six assists marked the highest single-game total by any Bulldog this season. Nixon and attackers Olivia Penoyer ’22 and Anna Bowers ’22 also contributed goals in the Elis’ midweek conquest.
Meanwhile, Columbia has endured a difficult spring season, particularly against the Ivies, having lost to No. 16 Princeton and Dartmouth by 18 and 19 point margins, respectively. Despite the setbacks, the Lions were buoyed last week by an exciting 15–14 win against Harvard, indicating that Yale should not underestimate their opponent heading into the clash at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium.
If the Elis can play to their full potential this weekend and defeat the Lions, they will be well-positioned to close out the remainder of the spring on a high note. With fewer than three weeks of competition left on their schedule, the Bulldogs have yet to take on the Tigers and Big Green, who come to Reese Stadium in the final two weeks of the season.
Yale faces off against Columbia at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Alex Reedy | alex.reedy@yale.edu .