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Yale Enjoys Best Offensive Performance in Five Years

from press release

HAMDEN, Conn. – The Yale women's lacrosse
team had its best offensive day in five years Wednesday afternoon
at Quinnipiac, scoring 19 goals to top the Bobcats 19-12. Five
different players had four or more points, led by sophomore
midfielder Cathryn Avallone with five goals and three assists and
senior attacker Devon Rhodes with six goals and one assist. Junior
attacker Jen DeVito had a pair of goals and three assists, while
sophomore attacker Kerri Fleishhacker had four goals and sophomore
midfielder Erin Magnuson had two goals and two assists. Sophomore
midfielder Christina Doherty added one assist.

Yale (1-1, 0-0 Ivy League) had fallen behind 8-4 in the first
half of a 16-13 loss at Holy Cross in the season opener Saturday,
but the Bulldogs made it clear from the start that Wednesday's game
would be different. On a cold and rainy day the Bulldogs stormed to
a 6-0 lead, including a pair of goals each for Avallone and
Fleishhacker.

After letting up three goals in the first two minutes,
Quinnipiac (0-1, 0-0 NEC) called timeout. That did little to slow
the Bulldogs down, as they proceeded to tack on three more goals.
Yale also won the first five draw controls, including three by
freshman midfielder Kelly Anne Sherlock, and Quinnipiac did not
even have a possession in Yale territory for the first four minutes
of the game.

"That is one of the things we have been teaching -- how to build
a lead, possess the ball and control things offensively," said Anne
Phillips, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of
Women's Lacrosse. "We did that really well today."

A brief delay in the game due to a clock malfunction six minutes
in did not faze the Yale attack. But after Avallone scooped up a
loose ball in front of the cage and deposited the goal that put
Yale up 6-0 at 23:29, Quinnipiac won the draw control and started a
5-2 run -- with a goalie change (Rachel Massicotte for starter
Samantha Tilts) sandwiched in.

With the lead cut to 8-5, Yale called timeout and reeled off
four of the game's next five goals. Avallone scored twice in a span
of 29 seconds to start the run, first by getting wide open in front
of the cage and depositing a feed from Rhodes and then by driving
in from the left side to create her own shot.

After Quinnipiac attacker Kyra Ochwat scored to stop the Yale
run, the teams each tacked on two more goals to make the score 12-8
Yale at halftime.

The Bulldogs then seized control in decisive fashion as the
second half began. Rhodes set the tone, scoring off a feed from
DeVito and then scoring on a free position shot to make it 14-8
within the first four minutes of the half. Neither team would score
again for nearly 10 minutes, but after the teams traded goals
halfway through the period Yale went on another run. Avallone
started it by scoring shortly after a yellow card on Quinnipiac,
and Rhodes and Fleishhacker then extended the lead to 18-9.

Quinnipiac avoided the possibility of running time by scoring
three of the game's final four goals, but never threatened the
Bulldogs in the final minutes. The only highlight for the Bobcats
was an assist by attacker Sarah Allen on the final goal, which made
her the school's career leader in assists with 112. But coming off
a season in which she led the NCAA with 64 assists, Allen was held
mostly in check by the Yale defense. She finished with one goal and
two assists.

This was the most goals scored by Yale since a 19-9 win vs. Holy
Cross Apr. 2, 2008. The last time a Yale player had eight points in
a game was Apr. 3, 2010, when Rhodes pulled off that feat in a win
over Harvard. Ten of Yale's 17 goals from the field Wednesday (the
Bulldogs scored two on free positions) were assisted.

"The offense played as a unit," said Phillips. "They clicked and
we shared the ball well. Devon played great. We were efficient and
shot well, scoring on 19 of 32 shots. We also got scoring from our
midfielders, which really helped."