April 1, 2006
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Seven different players scored goals for Harvard to lead the Crimson to an 11-8 win over Yale Saturday afternoon at Johnson Field. The win was Harvard's first in the series since 1994, snapping an 11-game string of Yale wins. Kathryn Tylander made 12 saves to lead a strong Crimson defensive effort. Lauren Taylor paced Yale with three goals.
The Bulldogs (5-5, 1-2 Ivy) fell victim to a season-high 23 turnovers, failing on 7 of 18 clear attempts. Harvard (3-4, 1-0 Ivy) picked up its second win in a row after a four-game losing streak earlier in the year.
The Crimson controlled the opening draw, but a turnover allowed Yale to get on the board first. Jenn Warden fed Kat Peetz for the 1-0 lead at 28:40.
Harvard responded with a goal by Caroline Simmons, but another Crimson turnover gave Yale the chance to re-take the lead. Meredith Callahan's goal, assisted by Taylor Fragapane, made the score 2-1.
The Bulldogs controlled the draw after that goal and scored again just a minute later as Taylor notched her 28th of the season.
The Crimson closed to within 3-2 on a goal by Margaret Yellott, but Yale goalie Ellen Cameron then came up with the save on a free position shot by Tara Schoen. Tylander denied Peetz, though, and after a Bulldog turnover the Crimson knotted the game at three on a goal by Kaitlin Martin.
The Bulldogs called timeout after that, but another Yale turnover enabled the Crimson to take the lead for the first time on a goal by Casey Orr.
Simmons extended the lead with a goal 9:32 before halftime. The Bulldogs battled back with a Warden goal, assisted by Lara Melniker, but Schoen answered two minutes later.
A turnover caused by Sarah Scalia allowed Marya Myers to feed Sara Greenberg for the final goal of the half, bringing Yale within 7-5.
On what started as a sunny day, the skies opened up shortly after halftime and the game became a defensive battle. Tylander made several key saves to keep the Bulldogs at bay, but Taylor finally broke through, assisted by Peetz, to pull Yale within one with 14:59 remaining. That ended a string of nearly 17 minutes without a goal for both teams.
The goals started coming with greater frequency after that. Another Bulldog turnover enabled the Crimson to score a minute after Taylor's tally, with Natalie Curtis scoring on a free-position shot for the 8-6 edge.
Yale once again closed within one, this time on a free-position goal by Taylor with 9:28 to play, but the Crimson soon began pulling away. Goals by Curtis and Perry Barlow extended Harvard's edge to three goals with 6:59 remaining, and forced another Yale timeout.
The Crimson played keepaway for much of the game's final minutes after that. The Bulldogs did not get the chance to go on offense until 2:30 remained, and when a Bulldog pass bounced out of bounds behind the Harvard net the Crimson quickly got the ball back.
The teams traded turnovers, giving Harvard a chance to get a goal by Barlow with 41 seconds left. Carli Vogler tacked on a goal for the Bulldogs with 23 seconds left for the 11-8 final.
Cameron finished with 6 saves.
Yale returns to action on Wednesday against Holy Cross at 3 p.m. at Johnson Field.
report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity