No. 23 Women's Lacrosse Edged In Ivy Opener By No. 21 Yale, 11-9

The 2024 Ivy League opener was as close a contest as expected between No. 23 Princeton and No. 21 Yale on a soggy afternoon at Class of 1952 Stadium, but in the end it was Yale who hung on for an 11-9 win.

McKenzie Blake had a hat trick, while Ellie Mueller had two goals and an assist. Lane Calkins had four caused turnovers for the Tigers while Samanth DeVito had three caused turnovers, four ground balls and two draw controls.

Jenna Collignon had five goals and five draw controls for Yale, while Lane Taylor led all players with eight draw controls.

12:04 (2Q) Dodge. Duck. Dip. Drive. Score.

Kari Buonanno does it all to give us a 6-4 lead! pic.twitter.com/sCcIJmMPQb
— Princeton Women's Lax (@princetonwlax) March 2, 2024

The first half was as close as could be. There were six ties and three lead changes in the opening 30:00 of play and neither team led by more than two goals -- a margin secured by the Tigers when Kari Buonanno scored with 12:04 left in the second quarter to give Princeton a 6-4 lead. Yale's Jenna Collignon would counter with the next two goals to again bring the game even at 6-6 before Grace Tauckus gave the Tigers a 7-6 lead with a free position goal with 4:49 remaining in the half.

That goal was the 100th career goal for Tauckus who is Princeton's active leading scorer with 123 points.

That's ??!

The 100th career goal for Grace Tauckus is a laser on the free position to give the Tigers a 7-6 lead.@ILWomen | @USALacrosseMag | @NCAALAX pic.twitter.com/YprB7Be4Ee
— Princeton Women's Lax (@princetonwlax) March 2, 2024

It was also the last goal Princeton would score for the next 29:14 of game play as Yale clamped down on defense and kept Princeton off the score board for the entire third quarter and deep into the fourth before McKenzie Blake scored with 5:35 remaining.

That goal from Blake kept the Tigers in range, because Yale was not producing much offensively in its own right in the second half. After the two teams combined for 14 goals in the first half, they tallied just six in the second. Yale had the only three goals of the third quarter and added a fourth in a row 1:27 into the fourth to extend their lead to 11-7. That goal from Sky Carrasquillo was the final one Yale would score as it was Princeton's turn to dial up a defensive stand.

Time was starting to run out on the Tigers as Yale looked to wash away the game, but Blake's goal with 5:35 left gave the Tigers some life. She would add one more with 1:08 remaining after Samantha DeVito interpreted a Yale clearing pass and quickly fed a wide open Blake to cut the deficit to a pair with time remaining for the Tigers to get even closer.

1:08 (4Q) PRINCETON GOAL!

McKenzie Blake with another after a Devito caused turnover and we're down, 11-9! pic.twitter.com/hV0bBAaSmn
— Princeton Women's Lax (@princetonwlax) March 2, 2024

Sophie Whiteway would win the ensuing draw, and after a green card was issued to Yale Samantha DeVito had a chance to pull Princeton within one with 0:50 remaining but her shot was saved by Laura O'Connor and the Bulldogs were able to run out the rest of the clock.

The Tigers complete a three-game homestand against Monmouth on March 6 at 7 p.m. at Class of 1952 Stadium.

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