Yale stuns women's lacrosse in first Ivy League loss

Yale lacrosse is like a really faint but persistent beeping noise — no one ever really expects it to cause any harm but it never really goes away either, eventually developing into an underrated annoyance for historically stronger programs like Princeton.

Last year, for instance, the Elis delivered men's lacrosse its first league defeat since 1995, with Eli goaltender Eric Wenzel registering 14 saves toward the 15-13 result. Princeton's 37-game streak, which was snapped at the hands of the Elis, came just two wins shy of the Ivy record set by Cornell from 1972-79.

So now the women have received the same unsettling jolt, and the general consensus among the players seems to be a peculiar mixture of shock and agitation. How could they relinquish a paltry 7-6 defeat to a team that until Saturday they had defeated eleven times in a row and by six goals last season?

The first ten minutes in Saturday's women's lacrosse game against Yale gave no indication of what was to come.

In typical fashion, the Tigers (7-4 overall, 2-1 Ivy League) leaped immediately ahead two minutes into the game when senior attack Sarah Small fired a pass to sophomore midfield Lindsey Biles, who slid the ball past Yale's goalkeeper Amanda Laws for her tenth goal of the season. Yale (8-3, 3-1) retaliated with two goals in a row, but senior attack Alex Fiore quickly evened the score off a pass from Biles.

That, however, was the closest Princeton would come to regaining the lead, as the Elis went on a three-goal run that gave them a cozy 5-2 advantage at the half and would ultimately lead Yale to a 7-6 victory.

Statistically, the Tigers outshined their opponent in more ways than one: they took ten more shots than the Elis and collected 31 ground balls compared to Yale's 22.

What went wrong?

"It's hard to say what went wrong," Small said. "I think the fact that we had so many shots was a good sign that we opened up a lot of opportunities for ourselves, but we just didn't place anything in."

As of April 7, the Tigers were ranked fifth in the International Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association. They had dropped three games early in the season against Loyola, Virginia, and Duke — who, not surprisingly, are currently ranked No. 1, No. 4, and No. 3, respectively.

Following that short slump, Princeton redeemed itself by going on a six-game winning streak. This included two relatively tidy conference victories against first Columbia and then Cornell, who, soaring at No. 7 on the IWLCA list, had been considered as the most formidable league opponent the Tigers would have to deface in order to defend their conference crown and extend their 11-game winning streak versus Ivy opponents.

Yale had entered Saturday's game with a 7-3 record that included losses to James Madison, Dartmouth, and most recently, Rutgers. The Elis' national ranking at No. 14, considerably below Cornell and Princeton, overshadows their current high standing in the Ivy League, second only to Dartmouth (6-2, 3-0), which has not lost a conference game yet.

"We just didn't come out ready to play," sophomore goaltender Sarah Kolodner said. "We were slow in the beginning and we let them outplay us."

The Elis took care of every opportunity they were given, even though the Tiger defense did not provide many.

"I don't think they shot that much," Kolodner said, "but the shots they did take were all really good while a lot of ours missed the net. It's ridiculous that they beat us by only scoring seven goals."

"Flatness was the theme," Small added. "And little breakdowns that they capitalized on and we didn't."

In order for the Tigers to salvage the No. 1 place in the Ivy League, they'll have to beat first-place Dartmouth, whom they play Saturday, April 26 in Hanover, N.H.

"Beating Dartmouth is crucial," Kolodner said. "If we beat Dartmouth we can still be the Ivy League co-champs."

But before that Princeton must not overlook its next two Ivy matches against Harvard (1-8, 0-3) and Penn (5-7, 2-2).

For while those two teams are ranked only sixth and seventh in the Ivy standings, respectively, the Tigers learned all too well this weekend that those making the weakest noise can often deliver the most damage.