NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Senior Day at Reese Stadium Saturday wound up providing another chance for the Yale women's lacrosse team's stellar Class of 2025 to make its mark in program history. Senior midfielder
Fallon Vaughn's goal with 2:11 left in the second half of the first overtime gave the Bulldogs a thrilling 16-15 win vs. Cornell and clinched a spot in the Ivy League Tournament. This will be Yale's fourth straight Ivy Tournament appearance. Prior to the arrival of this class in 2022 the Bulldogs had never made the Tournament, which started in 2010.
Vaughn's game-winner would not have been possible without another senior, midfielder
Sky Carrasquillo, delivering the game-tying goal with 59 seconds left in regulation. That capped a furious comeback by the Bulldogs, who trailed 13-8 with 4:28 left in the third quarter.
Prior to Vaughn's game-winner, Cornell had two overtime possessions end in turnovers – including one caused by senior midfielder
Taylor Lane. The deciding play began with Vaughn getting the ball behind the cage and curling counterclockwise through the 8-meter arc. She got slight separation from one defender as she passed the middle of the fan, and as a second defender slid to her she fired a shot into the upper left corner of the goal.
No. 6 Yale (12-3, 5-2 Ivy League) now turns its attention to an Ivy League Tournament semifinal matchup against No. 15 Penn. The Bulldogs are the No. 2 seed and the Quakers are the No. 3 seed.
Cornell (9-6, 3-4 Ivy League) was eliminated from Ivy League Tournament contention with the loss.
GOALS-ASSISTS-POINTS
OTHER STATISTICAL LEADERS
- Carrasquillo and Lane had a team-best five draw controls.
- First-year goalkeeper Niamh Pfaff made 10 saves on 23 shots (.435). She got a brief respite when senior goalkeeper Cami Donadio came in to play 2:05 in the third quarter.
- Lane, Pfaff and junior defender Bella Saviano had a team-best three ground balls.
TURNING POINT
- After Cornell went ahead 13-8 with 4:28 left in the third quarter, the Bulldogs allowed the Big Red only two more goals in the final 23:17.
KEY STAT
- Yale scored on five of its six shots in the fourth quarter.
NOTES
- Yale finished the regular season with a 7-1 record at Reese Stadium, outscoring opponents 113-62.
- Pfaff's 10 saves were the most by a Yale goalkeeper this season.
- Carrasquillo has now passed the 100 career goal mark, finishing the day with 102.
- Vaughn, a Tewaaraton nominee, has a long list of accomplishments in her Yale career. But until Saturday, scoring a game-winning goal in overtime was one thing she had not crossed off her to-do list. Her classmates Lane (to beat Penn 10-9 in last year's Ivy League Tournament Championship Game) and Collignon (to beat Penn 10-9 two weeks ago) are the only other current Bulldogs to have scored an OT game-winner.
- Vaughn has now tied her career high in assists (23) in addition to establishing career highs in goals (40) and points (23) this season.
- Vaughn has five or more points in four of the last five games. She has totaled 19 goals and 11 assists in that span.
- Lane has also had five or more points in four of the last five games. She has totaled 12 goals and 11 assists in that span.
SENIOR DAY
- Yale honored its 16 seniors after the game:
AROUND THE IVY LEAGUE
- No. 24 Harvard 18, Columbia 4
- No. 15 Penn 11, No. 18 Brown 7
- No. 5 Princeton 15, Dartmouth 11
WHAT'S NEXT
- Yale plays the No. 3 seed, Penn, in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals Friday (4:00 p.m.) at Princeton. The winner plays in the Ivy League Tournament championship game Sunday at 12:00 p.m. against the winner of Friday's Brown-Princeton semifinal matchup. The Ivy League's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament is at stake.
