March 28, 2006

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Yale wrapped up a stretch of four out of five games away from Johnson Field with a 6-5 upset at No. 13 Dartmouth on Saturday. The Bulldogs (4-4, 1-1 Ivy) now start a stretch of six out of seven games at home by hosting local rival Fairfield Wednesday at 3 p.m.

The Stags (3-2, 0-0 MAAC) are led by senior attacker Beth Loffredo, who is one goal away from becoming Fairfield's all-time leader in that category. Her 20 goals on the year give her 119 for her career. She also has 10 assists, giving her 153 career points - good enough for third all-time at the school.

Fairfield's other main scoring threats are freshman midfielder Abbey Goodwin (18-1-19), the MAAC Rookie of the Week three weeks ago after scoring nine goals in three games, and junior attacker Ashley Chappell (10-8-18). Chappell managed to score three goals in a span of 41 seconds in the team's 11-9 win over LIU.

Yale found success against Dartmouth - its first win over the Big Green in four years and just the fourth in the last 22 games in the series - by slowing down the pace. The two teams combined for just 38 shots in the game, 19 each. Yale's previous seven games had seen an average of 53 shots.

In contrast, the Bulldogs had 41 shots by themselves in last season's meeting with Fairfield (the Stags had 23). Junior attacker Marya Myers (Ardsley on Hudson, N.Y.) led the way with four goals in the 19-4 win, while sophomore midfielder Lauren Taylor (Manhasset, N.Y.) and senior attacker Carli Vogler (Phoenix, Md.) had three each. Senior goalkeeper Lonnie Sarnell (Short Hills, N.J.) had 12 saves and 1 goal allowed in 42:02 in goal, while junior goalkeeper Casey Littlefield (Acton, Mass.) stopped 3 and allowed 3 in 17:58.

Yale is 7-0 all-time against Fairfield, located just over 20 miles south on I-95. The closest call for the Bulldogs was a 13-8 win three years ago.

After the Fairfield game, Yale returns to Ivy League play when it takes on archrival Harvard Saturday at 1 p.m. at Johnson Field.

report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity