Coming off a series of losses to Dartmouth, Bryant University and the Naval Academy, the women’s lacrosse team (3-4, 1-1 Ivy) faced a pivotal matchup against Ivy rival Yale (4-3, 0-2) Saturday.
Despite the recent unlucky streak, the team was able to turn the momentum around with a 14-11 win over the Bulldogs.
Momentum in the game swung back and forth for much of the first half. KC Williams ’20 opened scoring for Brown four minutes into the game, which was met with a response from Yale less than a minute later to level the tally at 1-1.
Emma DeGennaro ’20 then scored for the Bears with 24:19 left in the period, which the Bulldogs quickly followed with a point of their own seven minutes into the half.
Zoe Verni ’19 found the back of the net for Brown off an assist by Maggie Fowler ’21, giving the Bears the lead by a margin of one with 21:09 remaining to play in the first.
But Yale’s offense began to rally in the middle of the period. The Bulldogs put up two scores before a man-up goal from Sophia DeRosa ’22 tied the game at four apiece. This goal was the first of her collegiate career.
The Elis answered once more with a pair of consecutive goals, giving Yale a 6-4 advantage with 7:24 left to play in the half. But DeRosa struck again, scoring two goals within a 90-second span to tie the game at 6-6.
Yale followed with a goal with 3:51 remaining in the first half, the final tally of the period. Despite taking 15 shots in the first half, six more than the Elis, the Bears were unable to capitalize on the advantage, and entered halftime at a deficit of one.
Brown also struggled to secure draw controls in the first, as Yale dominated draws by a margin of 11-3 in the period.
Bruno won the draw control to open the second half, but Yale found the first point of the period, setting the contest at 8-6 two minutes in. In response, the Bears’ offense began to heat up and take control of the game. Alaina Parisella ’22 scored for Brown with 26:26 remaining in the period, and Risa Mosenthal ’21 notched a pair of goals in the next four minutes to put the Bears at an advantage of one.
Yale tallied another point to tie up the game once more at nine-all, but the Bears’ offense continued to build up steam. Back-to-back goals from Mosenthal and Claire Jeschke ’22 gave Bruno a two-point advantage with 19 minutes left to play. DeRosa and Mosenthal then scored their fourth goals of the afternoon at the 16:10 and 13:38 minute marks respectively, setting the game at 13-9.
Kelsey Shea ’22 finished the scoring for the Bears, putting Bruno’s 14th point on the board. Yale finally responded with a goal with 1:43 left in the contest, ending a 19-minute scoreless streak for the Bulldogs. The Elis then scored once more a minute later, and the game closed at a final score of 14-11 in favor of Brown.
The Bears’ fiery offense in the second half fueled them to their first victory over the Bulldogs since 2011. The second-half rally was a testament to the team’s cohesion and composure, said Emily Fryer ’20.
“It all came down to playing as a team,” Fryer said. “In the second half both teams are tired, but whatever team is more willing to play as a unit and play together … is the team that wins the game.”
“We said during halftime that we wanted to go up right away,” DeGennaro said. “That’s exactly what we did. The offense really started to work together and move the ball, and when you’re patient on offense, that’s when things go the smoothest.”
Another key factor in the Bears’ offense was their versatility. Eight different players scored for Bruno on the afternoon, four of whom were first-years.
“On attack, we always look at every player as a threat,” Fryer said. “Anyone can go to goal, anyone has the confidence to shoot at any time.”
The Bears have another tough Ivy League matchup coming up, as they travel to New Jersey to face Princeton Saturday.
“Ivy games have a different feel to them than other games, and especially Princeton,” Fryer said. “They’ve been doing really well this season, so we’ll obviously have to give them a good fight.”
