Yale lacrosse sticks it to Ivy League rivals

Women's lacrosse

When it comes to varsity lacrosse at Yale, it's ladies first. While the men struggle to find their stride, the women have propelled themselves from a preseason 15th ranking to the eighth spot in NCAA Division I. Though posting winning seasons for the past eight years under the leadership of Head Coach Amanda O'Leary, the team was unable to overcome perennial Ivy powerhouses Dartmouth and Princeton. But last year, after sending the Big Green back to Hanover with five goals to spare (13-7), Yale is one step closer to demonstrating that it is a winning team. Period.

Courtesy Sports Publicity

"We want to win the Ivy League Championship and gain a berth in the NCAA tournament for the first time," Captain Liz Gardner, DC '01, said. "We have four Ivy games left and keep reminding ourselves that every game affects us in the long run." Competition within the Ivies is especially tough because the league has only one automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Yale, currently atop the league, trails Princeton by just one game. When Yale plays the Tigers on Sat., Apr. 7, nothing less than the Ivy League title will be on the line. Currently ranked third in the nation with a 7-1 (2-0 Ivy) record, Princeton, guided by nationally known Head Coach Chris Sailer, has three All-Americans, and placed second in last year's NCAA Championships. "They have no weak link," O'Leary said. Recognizing Princeton's strengths does not mean that Yale is intimidated, however. "Lacrosse is a team effort and the game really comes down to how we work together. Whoever rises to the occasion is going to win," O'Leary added.

"We have five really strong seniors who want to win the Ivy title and to make the nationals. They've been able to carry this spirit over to the juniors, funneling down to the sophomores and now the freshmen," O'Leary said. The seniors' confidence has helped inspire the rest of the team. "We span the entire length of the field," Gardner said. "Just having us out there, with our experience of living through seasons in which we would come so close but never quite win it in the end helps to deliver a sense of urgency."

Indeed, it was just that energy that enabled Yale to squeeze past Harvard on Sun., Apr. 1. Although Yale scored the first goal, Harvard answered with three consecutive scores. The Crimson's Alli Harper '01 tied the game at 4-4 with 10 seconds left in the first half. Harvard kept pace with Yale during the second half as well, forcing Katherine Myers, PC '01, to take a do-or-die shot with 1.9 seconds left in the game. "We couldn't gain any momentum and didn't have the intensity we had in some of our other games," Megan Strenski, MC '02, said. Sarah Queener, PC '03, was supposed to take the final shot for Yale but found herself surrounded by three Harvard defenders with just 20 seconds remaining. In their rush to collapse on Queener, the Cantabs left two of Yale's leading scorers, Clarissa Clarke, JE '03, and Myers wide open, giving Myers room to hit the winning shot. "She was definitely the hero of the game," Queener said. Myers, however, modestly downplayed the heroics of the last play. "The ball just landed near me. There was no time to set up the shot and I just kind of shoveled it in," she said. Although Yale emerged with a victory against Harvard, the team was not satisfied with its play. Gardner said, "Harvard outplayed us on Sunday, but there was enough of a determination to win, a sense of confidence that we won't let ourselves go down in this game and that we will find a way to do it, either during regulation or in overtime."

Looking ahead to the Princeton game, Clarke believes that attitude will be among the most important factors in Saturday's game against Princeton. "After the Harvard game, I felt that we weren't playing as well as we'd like to be since the Dartmouth game. But we need to go in with an attitude of 110 percent when we face Princeton," she said.

If Yale was feeling a little bit off-stride early this week, its resounding 15-4 midweek victory against Holy Cross (8-4, 1-1 Patriot League) put the women once again firmly at the helm of their game. Princeton may have three All-Americans, but when the opening whistle blows this Saturday, the Elis will be hungry to show the rest of the lacrosse world that they are a new team with a new attitude.

Photo of Megan Strensky, MC '03, courtesy Sports Publicity.

Men's lacrosse

BY RACHEL LUBERDA

In the Bulldogs' 13-4 loss against fourth-ranked Princeton, the men's lacrosse team started off strong. At halftime the Tigers maintained only a 4-2 lead. However, Princeton's offense sparked in the second half, especially in the third quarter, when the team increased its lead to 10-3. According to Head Coach Mike Waldvogel, his players need to play consistently for all four quarters to prevent competitive teams like Princeton from securing a victory in one quarter. While preparing for games against Brown and Duke, Yale has focused on playing competitive offense and defense from start to finish.

Rebecca Rosenthal/YH

After slipping to 1-3 in the Ivy League, the Elis now recognize how crucial the remainder of their games will be in determining postseason berths. In order to secure an appearance in the playoffs, Yale must win most, if not all, of its upcoming competitions, including games against formidable opponents like Dartmouth and Harvard. "Our games this week will be a good test," Mike Morris, TD '01, said. "We expect and almost have to win all of these games to get into the postseason." Waldvogel added that the Bulldogs do not have an easy task ahead of them. "The teams that we will be playing are very similar," he said. "A lot of these teams play up-tempo games and have big, powerful guys in the cage. But, if we play our type of game, then we should be able to pull off victories."

To improve upon their performance, the Elis have re-evaluated their offensive performance. Morris noted that one of the team's strengths this season has been its offense, but the players need to continue working together on the attack. "When all six of us come together as a unit, we're very competitive on offense," he said. Additionally, the Bulldogs plan to practice running a more creative attack that should enable them to both surprise their opponents and seek quality shots. "On offense, we're working on generating more scoring opportunities as the season progresses," Waldvogel said.

The Elis' offense may receive a boost from attackers Brian Hunt, TD '02, and Mike Scaglione, PC '03, who have scored 18 and 14 goals, respectively, thus far. Marko Lujic, TC '02, has also contributed with 12 goals. Against Princeton on Sat., Mar. 31 Hunt scored twice for Yale, while Scott Kenworthy, TC '04, and Morris helped with a goal apiece.

Defensively, Yale has often relied on strong individual play during games. Prior to the Brown game, goalie Eric Wenzel, JE '03, had a total of 67 saves this season, 24 of which occurred in Ivy League games. Still, Waldvogel asserts that the defense, as well as the offense, would benefit from an intensified team effort.

Heading into the Brown game, the Bulldogs anticipated tough competition that would challenge them to unify their offense and defense. But they hardly expected to be battling the Bears into four overtimes. In the third quarter, Yale held a 13-7 lead only to have Brown score seven straight goals, giving Brown a 14-13 lead in the fourth quarter. Ryan Floyd, BK '03, tied the game with 2:40 remaining and sent the game into overtime. Both teams went scoreless for three overtime periods until Brown's Chas Gessner '03 secured a 15-14 victory in the fourth overtime. Hunt and Scaglione both finished the game with three goals, and goalie Adam Oppen-heimer, SM '02, tallied 17 saves in the game. Floyd assessed the Bulldogs' performance against Brown. "We did really well pushing the tempo and playing the transition," he said. "Our greatest weakness during the game came on face-offs. We had a lot of difficulty winning face-offs, especially after we were up 13-7. Heading into the overtime, I'd have to say that we were pretty confident. Unfortunately, we had some opportunities to win and didn't capitalize." With a talented Duke team next on their schedule, the Elis expect a highly competitive match-up. "We have a great opportunity to really make a statement to the lacrosse community this weekend by beating Duke," Floyd said.

Photo of Brad Liff, MC '03, by Rebecca Rosenthal.

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