NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The postseason begins Friday for the No. 8 Yale women's lacrosse team. The Bulldogs host No. 23 Harvard in the Ivy League Tournament Semifinals (7:00 p.m.,
ESPN+,
International Stream,
Live Stats,
Tickets). The winner advances to Sunday's Ivy League Tournament Championship game.
Yale is the No. 1 seed in the Ivy League Tournament for the first time in school history. The Bulldogs won the Ivy League Championship outright for the first time, finishing the regular season 7-0 in Ivy games.
Last Game
Yale (13-2, 7-0 Ivy League)
beat Columbia 18-5 last Saturday to claim sole possession of the 2024 Ivy League Championship. The Bulldogs outscored the Lions 6-0 in the second quarter to take control. Eleven Bulldogs had at least one point, and seven scored goals.
Ivy League Tournament
Yale is the No. 1 seed in the Ivy League Tournament for the first time in school history. The Bulldogs will host the tournament, which includes semifinal games on Friday May 3 (4:00 p.m. No. 2 seed Princeton vs. No. 3 seed Penn and 7:00 p.m. No. 1 seed Yale vs. No. 4 seed Harvard) and the championship game on Sunday May 5 (12:00 p.m.). All games will be streamed on ESPN+. Ticket information is available by clicking
here.
This will be the 13th installment of the Ivy League Tournament since 2010.
Yale's Ivy League Tournament History
This is Yale's third appearance in the Ivy League Tournament.
- 2022 (No. 2 seed) at Princeton:
- 2023 (No. 2 seed) at Penn:
Ivy League Title History
With a
21-8 win at Cornell Apr. 20, Yale clinched at least a share of the 2024 Ivy League Championship. The Bulldogs then won the title outright for the first time in school history by
beating Columbia 15-8 Apr. 27 at Reese Stadium to finish with a 7-0 Ivy League record.
The Bulldogs have won the Ivy League title two other times:
- 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)
Yale's Best Ivy League Seasons
- This season Yale went 7-0 in Ivy League games for the first time in school history.
- Yale won six Ivy League regular season games in a season four times. The 2003, 2007 and 2022 teams all finished 6-1 in Ivy games.
- Yale has gone undefeated against Ivy League opponents in the regular season three times – all before the league went to a seven-game schedule. The 1976 team finished 3-0 against Ivy opponents and the 1978 team finished 4-0-1 against Ivy opponents. In 1980 – the first year the Ivy League recognized an Ivy League Women's Lacrosse Champion – the Bulldogs went 4-0-2 and shared the title with Penn.
Vaughn Named Ivy Midfielder of the Year, Wright Academic All-Ivy and Bamford Ivy Coach of the Year; Eight Earn All-Ivy
Yale had 10 individuals honored by the Ivy League on Tuesday as the league announced its annual awards.
- Junior midfielder Fallon Vaughn (Concord, Mass.) was named Midfielder of the Year unanimously.
- Junior defender Marymegan Wright (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) was named Academic All-Ivy League.
- Erica Bamford, Yale's Joel E. Smilow Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse, was named Ivy League Coach of the Year unanimously.
Four Bulldogs earned first team All-Ivy League recognition:
Penn was the only other Ivy League school with four first-team selections.
Two Bulldogs earned second team All-Ivy recognition:
Two Bulldogs earned honorable mention All-Ivy recognition:
Seniors Honored
Yale honored its senior class after the Columbia game:
Among Yale's Best
Yale's 13 wins this season are the Bulldogs' most in a season since going 13-3 in 2007 (the last time the Bulldogs made the NCAA Tournament). The school record for wins in a season is 14 (1978, 1979, 1995, 1999, 2003).
RPI and the Ivy League
Here are the Ivy League teams in the latest RPI rankings from the NCAA:
4. Penn
8. Yale
15. Princeton
21. Brown
28. Harvard
35. Dartmouth
38. Cornell
82. Columbia
The ACC, the Big 10 and the Ivy League are the only conferences with four or more teams ranked in the top 25 of the RPI.
ILWomen/IWLCA Poll
Here is a look at the top 10 in the latest ILWomen/IWLCA Poll:
| Rank |
Team |
Conference |
Record |
Next Game |
| 1 |
Northwestern |
Big Ten |
13-2 |
May 2, Johns Hopkins (Big Ten Semifinals) |
| 2 |
Boston College |
ACC |
16-3 |
TBD (Regular season and conference tournament complete) |
| 3 |
Syracuse |
ACC |
14-5 |
TBD (Regular season and conference tournament complete) |
| 4 |
Notre Dame |
ACC |
15-3 |
TBD (Regular season and conference tournament complete) |
| 5 |
Michigan |
Big Ten |
14-3 |
TBD (Regular season complete; eliminated in Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals) |
| 6 |
Virginia |
ACC |
14-4 |
TBD (Regular season and conference tournament complete) |
| 7 |
Loyola |
Patriot |
15-2 |
May 2, Lehigh (Patriot League Semifinals) |
| 8 |
Yale |
Ivy League |
13-2 |
May 3, Harvard (Ivy League Semifinals) |
| 9 |
Florida |
AAC |
15-2 |
May 2, Vanderbilt (AAC Semifinals) |
| 10 |
Penn |
Ivy League |
12-3 |
May 3, Princeton (Ivy League Semifinals) |
Defense Among Best in the Nation
Yale ranks third nationally in scoring defense (7.87 goals allowed per game). Michigan (6.88 goals allowed per game) leads the nation. Individually, Yale first-year goalkeeper
Laura O'Connor (Greenwich, Conn.) ranks sixth nationally in goals-against average (8.33). Michigan's Erin O'Grady is the NCAA leader at 6.68.
More Ivy Success
Dating back to a win in the final Ivy League game of the 2020 season, Yale is 18-4 in its last 22 Ivy League regular season games.
A Decisive Shot Advantage
Yale has outshot its opponents 471-292 this season, an average margin of +12 shots per game.
Clearly Better
Yale is 261 for 277 (.942) on clears and has limited its opponents to a 212 for 246 (.862) performance on clears.
Classy
Here is the breakdown of starts by class this season for Yale:
- Seniors 15 starts (all by one senior)
- Juniors 93 starts (nine juniors have started at least one game)
- Sophomores 28 starts (two sophomores have started at least one game)
- First years 44 starts (three first years have started at least one game)
Iron Women
Nine field players have started all 15 games of the season to date:
Carrasquillo, Collignon, Lane, Vaughn and Wright also started all 17 games last season. Lane and Vaughn have stared all 49 games of their Yale careers.
A Unique Set of Skills
Only one player in the Ivy League has:
- 25+ goals
- 40+ points
- 25+ ground balls
- 20+ caused turnovers
AND
- 40+ draw controls
That player is Yale junior midfielder
Fallon Vaughn (Concord, Mass.) (25 goals, 44 points, 26 ground balls, 22 caused turnovers and 40 draw controls).
Lane Honored by League
After leading Yale with a game-best three caused turnovers in Saturday's win vs. Columbia, junior midfielder
Taylor Lane (Norwalk, Conn.) was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week. The league announced the award Monday afternoon. Lane is the third different Bulldog to earn that honor this season.
A Veteran Coaching Staff
This is Yale's ninth year under
Erica Bamford, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse. Assistant coaches
Molly Palella and
Colleen Smith are in their seventh and eighth years, respectively.
NCAA Tournament
NCAA Tournament selections for 2024 will be announced Sunday, May 5 at 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The 29 team field includes 15 automatic qualifiers and 14 at-large selections. The 15 conferences with automatic bids include:
- American Athletic Conference
- America East Conference
- ASUN Conference
- Atlantic 10 Conference
- Atlantic Coast Conference
- Big East Conference
- Big South Conference
- Big Ten Conference
- Coastal Athletic Association
- The Ivy League
- Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
- Mid-American Conference
- Northeast Conference
- Pac-12 Conference
- Patriot League
The three top overall seeds earn a first-round bye, with the remaining 26 teams playing first-round games at campus sites on Friday May 10 (between 12:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.). The second round (May 12) and quarterfinal round (May 16) take place at campus sites as well.
The semifinals and championship game will be played on May 24 and 26 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.
Scouting Harvard
Harvard (10-4, 4-3 Ivy League) won six of its final nine games – but the three losses were to the other three teams in the Ivy League Tournament. That included a
16-8 loss to Yale at Reese Stadium on Apr. 13. The Crimson ranks sixth nationally in scoring offense (16.43 goals per game).
Friday Night Weather Forecast for New Haven
From the
National Weather Service: Partly cloudy, with a low around 46. Southeast wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
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