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Despite falling to Notre Dame on neutral territory in Florida, the Bulldogs bounced back to defeat Penn at home to improve their conference record to 2–0.

In its matchup against No. 15 Notre Dame (4–6, 1–3 ACC), Yale (5–2, 2–0 Ivy) fell in a 17–10 defeat. In the leadup to their matchup in Florida against the Fighting Irish, the Bulldogs had won four games and only lost to then-No. 1 Boston College.

“[We are focusing on] handling the game with composure no matter the time and score,” Chloe Conaghan ’24 told the News.

Though the Elis lost, they showed improvement throughout the game. Despite playing well with the Irish, the Bulldogs were unable to come back from a 6–2 deficit in the first quarter. Yale has made a habit of starting slow and picking up the pressure throughout the rest of the game. 

Though the Bulldogs have had their fair share of come-from-behind victories in the past, trailing Notre Dame proved to be an obstacle too great to overcome, and the Fighting Irish were able to retain their lead in the latter three quarters.

Last Saturday, the Elis returned to their winning ways when facing off against the University of Pennsylvania (3–6, 0–2 Ivy). The closely contested game saw Yale making a fourth quarter comeback to win the game 11–10 after starting the final quarter trailing 9–6. 

“I wouldn’t say anything really changed in the fourth,” Kelsey Dunn ’22 said. “We felt the whole game that defensively we were fine and knew that the attack was going to figure it out. In years past, a five goal deficit would have sunk us but even when we were down there was never a doubt that we were going to win the game yesterday.

The teams put up similar numbers throughout the game. Yale picked up 17 ground balls to Penn’s 14. The Quakers dominated draw controls 17–8. 

Though Yale’s defense was solid throughout the matchup, it took some time to get going on the offensive end. Jenna Collignon ’25 rose to the occasion, however, scoring four goals, three of which came in the fourth quarter. She scored the tying goal with six minutes left of regulation and the game winning goal five minutes later. 

“Our defense, led by captain Kelsey Dunn and goalkeeper Clare Boone, did an outstanding job competing and executing against a strong Penn offense,” head coach Erica Bamford said. “Credit to Penn’s defense and goalkeeper, Krissy Kowalski — it took us a while to gain any ground on the offensive end. We have a lot of season left, and we are looking forward to getting back to work in preparation for another tough Ivy opponent in Brown next Saturday.” 

The women’s lacrosse team will face off against Brown on Saturday, April 2 at noon at Reese Stadium in New Haven, Connecticut.