NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's lacrosse team hosts Ivy League rival Brown Saturday (1:00 p.m.,
ESPN+). Both teams are seeking their first win in league play after falling to nationally ranked Ivy teams last weekend. Yale has won seven of the last eight games in the series.
Last Game
Yale (2-2, 0-1 Ivy League) held No. 9 Penn to its season-low in goals (tied), but the Quakers had enough firepower to top the Bulldogs 11-5 last Saturday at Reese Stadium. Yale fell behind 3-0 but rallied to get within 5-3 heading into halftime. The Quakers scored the first four goals of the second half to take control. The Bulldogs outshot Penn 32-31 but were stymied by 18 saves from Penn's goalies -- the most saves in a game by any Ivy League team. Junior midfielder
Olivia Markert (Centreville, Va.) led Yale with a pair of goals, while junior defender
Kelsey Dunn (McLean, Va.) and sophomore midfielder
Payton Vaughn (Concord, Mass.) tied for the team high in caused turnovers with three each.
Ball Control
Yale is averaging only 10.5 turnovers per game, the best in the nation. No other Ivy League school is averaging fewer than 14 turnovers per game.
Keeping Goalies Busy
Yale is second in the nation in shots per game (38.5), trailing only American (40.2). The Bulldogs are eighth nationally in shots on goal per game (28.25).
Clearly Getting Better
Yale is fourth in the nation and best in the Ivy League in clearing percentage (.929). The Bulldogs have made a major improvement in that category compared to last year (.835) and the year before (.776).
A Good Duo
Yale's goalies, sophomore
Clare Boone (Stewartstown, Pa.) and junior
Amelia Drake (Morristown, N.J.), have combined to stop nearly 48 percent of the shots they have faced. Only Penn (59 percent) is better among Ivy League teams. Boone's .509 save percentage ranks third in the league individually.
Youth Movement
Twenty-seven of Yale's 47 goals this season (57 percent) have come from first-year players or sophomores. Those two classes have combined for 32 games started, spread among 10 players.
Carrasquillo Leads the League
First-year midfielder
Bri Carrasquillo (Alpharetta, Ga.) leads the Ivy League in draw controls per game (7.00) and is 17th in the nation in that category. She has had at least four draws in every game this season, with a high of 10 in the season-opening 16-12 win vs. La Salle.
Multiple-Goal Markert
Junior midfielder
Olivia Markert (Centreville, Ga.) has scored at least two goals in every game this season and has five straight multiple-goal games dating back to last season. She is fifth in the Ivy League in goals per game (3.25) and tied for fifth in points (3.75). Markert's single-game high in goals is five, which she achieved once in her first year and once earlier this season.
Scouting Brown
Brown (3-2, 0-1 Ivy League) has had three straight games decided by three goals or fewer, including close losses at No. 18 Boston College (13-10) and vs. No. 15 Dartmouth (12-11 in overtime last Saturday). The Bears beat Holy Cross 14-11 on Tuesday, getting 10 saves from Erin Tucker. Brown leads the Ivy League in shooting percentage (.508).
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