NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The No. 10 Yale women's lacrosse team is all alone in first place in the Ivy League with a 4-0 Ivy record and three league games to go. The Bulldogs' opponent on Saturday (12:00 p.m.,
NESN,
ESPN+,
International Stream,
Live Stats), however, is archrival No. 22 Harvard – and the Crimson are only one game behind Yale in the standings.
Last Game
Yale (10-1, 4-0 Ivy League)
beat then-No. 7 Penn 16-8 this past Sunday at Reese Stadium. After Penn scored twice in the first 6:11 of the game, the Bulldogs shut the Quakers out for 12:13 and built a 5-2 lead. After Penn scored its third goal, Yale shut the Quakers out for 23:25 to get the lead to 14-3. Yale limited Penn to 19 shots.
RPI and the Ivy League
Here are the Ivy League teams in the latest RPI rankings from the NCAA:
4. Yale
7. Penn
18. Brown
19. Princeton
28. Dartmouth
30. Harvard
43. Cornell
84. Columbia
The ACC, the Big 10 and the Ivy League are the only conferences with four or more teams ranked in the top 20 of the RPI.
#Winning
Yale ranks fourth nationally in winning percentage:
1. Michigan .929 (13-1)
2(t). Fairfield .923 (12-1)
2(t). Loyola Maryland .923 (12-1)
4. Yale .909 (10-1)
Defense Among Best in the Nation
Yale ranks third nationally in scoring defense (7.73 goals allowed per game). Michigan (6.07 goals allowed per game) leads the nation. Individually, Yale first-year goalkeeper
Laura O'Connor (Greenwich, Conn.) ranks sixth nationally in goals-against average (8.28). Michigan's Erin O'Grady is the NCAA leader at 5.63.
That's Deep
Yale has eight players who have scored at least 10 goals this season. Brown is the only other Ivy League school with that many double-digit goal scorers; the league average is just over five per team.
Home Field Advantage
Yale has won six games in a row at Reese Stadium. That is tied for the ninth longest home winning streak in the nation.
Yale's Longest Winning Streaks
The Bulldogs' nine-game winning streak earlier this year was the team's longest since 2007, when the team won the final nine regular seasons games in a row (Mar. 21, 2007 through Apr. 21, 2007) en route to earning an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. Here are the longest streaks in school history:
- 13 games Apr. 25, 1994 through Apr. 12, 1995
- 12 games Apr. 24, 1995 through Apr. 6, 1996
- 12 games Apr. 23, 1977 through Apr. 15, 1978
- 9 games Feb. 17, 2024 through Mar. 30, 2024
- 9 games Mar. 21, 2007 through Apr. 21, 2007
Ivy League Title History
With a win over Harvard on Saturday and a loss by No. 17 Princeton at No. 25 Brown, Yale would clinch at least a share of the 2024 Ivy League Championship. The Bulldogs have won the Ivy League title twice before:
- 1980 (4-0-2 in Ivy League play, shared title with Penn)
- 2003 (6-1 in Ivy League play, shared title with Dartmouth and Princeton)
Vaughn Honored
After leading Yale with a team-best five ground balls and nine draw controls in two games, junior midfielder
Fallon Vaughn (Concord, Mass.) was
named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. She is the second Bulldog to earn a weekly award from the Ivy League this season, joining sophomore defender
Emmy Pascal (Lorton, Va.). Pascal was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week on Mar. 25.
Scouting Harvard
Harvard (8-2, 3-1 Ivy League) ranks fourth nationally in scoring offense (16.80 goals per game). Crimson shooters are particularly effective on free position shots, ranking sixth nationally (.596 shooting percentage).
Saturday Weather Forecast for New Haven
From the
National Weather Service: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. West wind 10 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.
Social Media
