Yale Athletics

In the first round of the NCAA tournament, the No. 7 seed Yale Bulldogs (15–3, 5–2 Ivy) secured a hard-fought victory over the unseeded University of Albany Great Danes (9–10, 4–2 American East) in a hard-fought 12–9 victory. 

On a rainy Friday afternoon in New Haven, the Elis laced up the cleats and took the field at Reese Stadium. The Bulldogs kept fans on the edges of their seats, as they went into the fourth quarter trailing behind the Great Danes.   

“We came out a little flat but we stuck to it. We stuck to the game plan, and we got it done,” Sky Carrasquillo ’25, a midfielder who was named an all-America honorable mention this season, said in her post-game interview. 

Yale struggled to get into a rhythm early on in the game, trailing UAlbany for the majority of the game. The Great Danes stormed onto the field and scored three points in the first quarter, as Yale put up none.

In the second quarter, the Bulldogs came to life with three goals of their own to tie up the score. From there, the Great Danes put up two more followed by one from Yale’s Taylor Lane ’25 to close out the first half 5–4 in favor of UAlbany. 

“They got us on our heels early and did a phenomenal job on the draws,” Erica Bamford, Yale’s head coach, said of the Great Danes. 

Going into the second half, Yale needed to make some big plays to reverse the momentum and turn the tables on their unseeded opponent. However, UAlbany scored two in the beginning of the third quarter to extend their lead to 7–4, before the Bulldogs came back with two goals of their own. 

The Bulldogs finally turned up the heat in the fourth quarter. Although the Great Danes scored one goal at the beginning of the quarter, Yale answered with three straight goals. Carrasquillo scored two, giving the Bulldogs the lead they’d been looking for all game, and the Great Danes followed with a goal of their own — their last of the afternoon. 

From there, Jenna Collignon ’25 brought the Bulldogs’ victory home, netting two goals in the last two-and-a-half minutes, extending Yale’s lead to 12–9. 

Sophomore Ashley Kiernan ’27 also stepped up for Yale in the second half, putting up two points. While Colligion and the rest of the senior class has been stellar this year — four of them having been recently honored by all-America awards — Kiernan’s goals were certainly a boon to the Bulldogs’ win. 

The Yale women’s lacrosse team will play Syracuse this Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Reese Stadium.