The UConn women’s lacrosse team (5-3) got within one goal of Yale in the third quarter of Wednesday afternoon’s contest, but the Huskies fell short for the third time this season, losing 17-8.
Yale got off to a fast start on Wednesday, with Jenna Collignon scoring just over a minute into the game. Moments later, Fallon Vaughn added another for the Bulldogs off a free position attempt. Eliza Bowman opened scoring for the Huskies with a bounce shot that found the back of the net. Collignon scored twice more, and Taylor Lane added a goal to give Yale a 5-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Huskies were outshot 17-4 in the first frame.
The second quarter started much slower, as both teams failed to score until UConn’s Rayea Davis netted a goal with a little over seven minutes left. Twenty-three seconds later, Davis scored again, cutting the deficit to two. Yale quickly stretched their lead back to four with goals by Collignon and Sky Carrasquillo. Before heading to the locker room, the Huskies grabbed some much-needed momentum, as Davis cut in front of the net and tallied her fifth hat trick of the season to make the score 7-4.
Emma Dacey opened the second half with a goal for the Huskies off a nice feed from Megan O’Brien. Yale quickly responded with another Collignon goal. With 10:13 left in the third, Eve McGrogan saw an opening and scored in the top left corner of the net. Nine seconds later, Jenna Giardina scored to bring the Huskies within a goal. The score held at 8-7 for over four minutes, and it seemed like the fourth ranked Bulldogs were on the ropes. However, Yale found a second gear and responded with a flurry of goals to close out the third quarter. Carrasquillo and Collignon each scored once, and Lane scored twice to make the score 12-7 heading into the fourth.
It was more of the same in the fourth quarter, as Yale’s lead reached double digits as Vaughn scored three unassisted goals and Carrasquillo. In addition, Taylor Everson added goals of their own. The highlight of UConn’s day came with 1:06 left in the fourth quarter, when Davis scored her fourth goal of the day and one hundredth for her career. Despite Davis’ big day, the Huskies fell 17-8.
Collignon led the way for Yale with six goals. Davis continued her hot start to the season with four goals for the Huskies. Jenna Giardina kept her season-long streak of recording multiple points in each game alive. She finished the day with three.
Graduate goalkeeper Tori Cini was kept busy in net. Cini faced thirty shots on goal and managed to save thirteen of them. UConn only managed to fire eleven shots on net but was able to convert on eight of them.
UConn will look to get back on track next Wednesday, March 19, as they head to New York City to face off against Columbia.