NEW YORK – Junior Michele Fiorentino and sophomore Augusta Hixon have been key parts of Yale's defense all season long. On Wednesday at Columbia they got involved in the offense too, as Fiorentino scored her first career goal and Hixon got her first career assist. That, combined with four goals from junior attacker Jessica Sturgill and three each from sophomore midfielder Ariana Papier and senior midfielder Jenn Warden, lifted the Bulldogs to a 12-6 win.

"It was great to see, because most of the time the defense doesn't get into the stats," said Anne Phillips, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse. "But often it's that first pass out from the goalkeeper that creates the offensive opportunities. It was nice to see Michele and Augusta show up in the offensive stats, because they have been so solid defensively all along."

Hixon's assist came on the first goal of the day, as she fed Papier at 23:32. The Bulldogs extended the lead to 2-0 when senior midfielder Taylor Fragapane drew a free position attempt and passed to Sturgill for a goal at 20:57.

Attacker Brittany Shannon's free position goal ended a stretch of nearly 12 scoreless minutes for the Lions at the start of the game. The first of four yellow cards on Yale then gave Columbia a chance to draw even, but freshman goalkeeper Whitney Quackenbush came up with a save on attacker Lauren Olsen. Olsen then got a yellow card of her own, accidentally hitting junior midfielder/defender Natalie Reid in the face with her stick and sending Reid to the sideline with a cut near her eye. Freshman midfielder Erin Velez came on for Reid, who was able to return later in the game.

After another yellow card on the Bulldogs Columbia evened the game with a goal from Shannon at 11:52, prompting a Yale timeout. Papier got the draw control that followed, but Columbia keeper Emma Mintz made a save on a free position shot by Sturgill. The Lions then had two big chances to take the lead. Quackenbush stopped a free position shot from attacker Holly Glynn, popping the ball to a teammate near the cage. After the Bulldogs turned it over right in front of the cage after that, Quackenbush reacted quickly to deny a follow-up shot by midfielder Taylor Gattinella.

Papier put the Bulldogs up 3-2 with an unassisted goal at 6:53, but a free position goal by midfielder Rachael Ryan tied the game two minutes later. Warden got Yale back on top by winning the draw control to herself and earning a free position attempt that she buried high on Mintz.

Mintz made a save on a low shot by Sturgill right before halftime, but the Bulldogs seized momentum early in the second half. An interception by sophomore defender/midfielder Kaitlyn Flatley after Columbia got the opening draw enabled junior attacker Jenna Block to set up Sturgill for another goal. Flatley would finish with three caused turnovers for the game, giving her eight in her last two games.

"She's playing really well," said Phillips. "She's playing with confidence, anticipating the passing lanes and checking the ball cleanly. She's also helping in transition."

After a goal by Glynn cut the lead to 5-4 at 26:30, the Bulldogs went on a run. Quackenbush made a save on a free position shot by Shannon and Fiorentino cleared the ball into the Lions' end of the field. As she was headed in, a shooting space call against Columbia gave Fiorentino the rare opportunity to line up for a free position shot. She took full advantage of it to score, and was promptly mobbed by her teammates.

1 2    Next  »

2009-04-09