Courtesy of Yale Athletics

After a statement victory over Sacred Heart University last weekend, the Yale women’s lacrosse team will compete against the University of Albany on Saturday. 

This Saturday, the Bulldogs (1–0, 0–0 Ivy) will square up against the Great Danes (1–1, 0–0 AEC) at 6 p.m. at John Fallon Field in Albany, New York. With both teams coming off of blowout victories last week and hungry for more, it is sure to be a game to watch. 

“We are working hard this week to prepare and looking forward to the opportunity to compete against a strong, well-coached Albany team,” head coach Erica Bamford said.

Last week, Albany put on a show against Colgate (0–3, 0–0 Patriot League), beating them 19–2 at the ​​Andy Kerr Stadium in Hamilton, New York. The Great Danes held the Raiders scoreless until the fourth quarter, when they took their feet off the gas a bit, only scoring two that quarter.

Albany is still searching for its first home win this season, after narrowly losing to Stanford (1–2, 0–0 Pac-12) 15–14 two weeks ago.

The Great Danes are predicted to be strong this year, being tapped second in the America East Preseason Poll. Regardless, the Elis are excited for the competition, having prepared for a series of tough teams they will face this season.

“After the win last weekend in crazy conditions with snow, wind and power outages, we feel prepared to take on Albany. As long as we play our game and stick to the offense and defense we’ve been practicing, we’ll be golden,” Chloe Conaghan ’24 said.

The Bulldogs played well on defense last week, only letting up four goals, and held the opponent off until midway through the second quarter before letting one in. The team was also solid offensively, with Fallon Vaughn ’25 and Bri Carrasquillo ’24 both scoring hat tricks. 

Albany will look to keep up its defense this week, having to guard senior Hailey Carroll and sophomore Katie Pascale, who have nine points apiece.

“Defensively, our focus is locking down cutters and playing solid 1v1 defense,” said Conaghan.

The Bulldogs have done well on the offensive side as well, but will surely have tougher matchups than last week. They had 44 shots throughout the game and 28 on cage, with 15 of those hitting the back of the net.

Aside from that, the team has been looking to improve their transition offense. Yale has been strong in picking up ground balls, getting about 63 percent of them last week. As a result, transition offense could play a key role in taking the team to the next level.

“We have been working on becoming a strong transition team in hopes of giving our offense more time to work with one another and put a goal on the board,” Meghan McCarthy ’25 said. “Our team feels confident and prepared going into this game, and we are ready for any challenges that Albany throws at us.”

The women’s lacrosse team will kick off its first away game at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26 at John Fallon Field in Albany, New York.