Lacrosse primes to face Yale in single-game affair

The women’s lacrosse team will host Yale (3-8, 0-4 Ivy) in a Wednesday afternoon contest at Baker Field, with both teams searching for their first wins in Ivy play.

Columbia (5-5, 0-4 Ivy) is coming off a 15-10 loss at the hands of league rival Brown. While the Lions led 8-4 at the half, the Bears, lead by Katelyn Caro’s four goals, stormed back to outscore Columbia 11-2 in the second period.

Yale, on the other hand, will enter the contest coming off a 15-6 defeat to 15th-ranked Princeton.

The history between the two programs would indicate a significant advantage for Yale coming into the match. The Bulldogs are 12-0 against the Lions since the two schools began playing against each other in 1997. That run includes last season’s 16-8 victory, in which the Bulldog’s jumped out to an 8-1 lead, a deficit from which the Light Blue never recovered. Yale displayed a balanced attack in last year’s match, with two four-goal scorers and eight players notching points.

Before Saturday’s contest against Princeton, Yale’s defense had been stifling opponents, holding their previous three adversaries to eight goals or fewer. Princeton broke that streak by scoring 15, but Yale will look to get back on track against Columbia. In its previous contest against Holy Cross, Yale tallied a season-high 10 assists. The squad will look to regain that offensive form against Columbia on Wednesday.

The Lions, however, have struggled on defense in their past four games, allowing at least 15 goals during the span. This deficiency has masked Columbia’s most recent burst of offense. The Lions scored 11 goals against No. 3 ranked Penn, marking the most the Quakers have allowed all season. In addition, the Lions have three 20-goal scorers—Brittany Shannon, Holly Glynn, and Rachael Ryan. Glynn. Glynn has 24 goals this season and holds the record for most career goals in the program’s history.

Goalie Emma Mintz has been consistent for the Lions all season, with a .418 save percentage and 11.88 goals against average this season.
The two teams will slap sticks at 4 p.m. at Baker Complex on April 8.