Syracuse women’s lacrosse: Yale preview and game thread

The Orange have another ranked matchup on their hands for a mid-week trip to New Haven.

With Senior Day in the rearview mirror, the Syracuse Orange now begin a three-game road swing in New Haven against the Yale Bulldogs.

This game also continues the Orange’s crazy schedule as it marks their fourth straight contest against a ranked team, their ninth in the last 10 and their 10th overall in 13 games. ‘Cuse is No. 6 in this week’s media poll while Yale comes in at No. 13.

The Orange and Bulldogs are set for a Wednesday matinee with an opening draw at 1 PM on ESPN+.

• All-time series: 5th meeting; Series tied, 2-2
• Last meeting: Syracuse W, 19-9, on May 16, 2024 in NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal
• Syracuse this season: 8-4 overall, 4-2 ACC
• Yale this season: 7-3 overall, 1-2 Ivy

Yale has been on an adventure this year. After winning their first seven games of the season, they jumped all the way up to a No. 4 ranking in the national polls for multiple weeks. Since then, they’ve lost three games in a row and have tumbled down to No. 13.

They have wins of note over Michigan, Rutgers and UConn, while their losses have come to Stanford, Brown and Princeton.

Scouting Yale

Yale’s a very strong all-around team that’s proficient in most aspects of the game.

The Bulldogs rank third in the country in scoring defense (7.6), 10th in draw control percentage (60.8), 21st in caused turnovers per game (10.2), 23rd in ground balls per game (18.3), 24th in scoring offense (14.3) and first in turnovers per game (10.0).

In every phase of the game, they perform well. They start with strength on draw controls, and combine that with offensive efficiency and defensive stinginess to control the game over their opponents.

Attacker Jenna Collignon (36G, 2A, 48DC) is one of the main reasons they’re able to do that as she leads the team in goals, points and draw controls. The 5’10” senior will be a real matchup problem for the Orange to deal with.

She’s joined by a trio of midfielders who do a bit of everything for the Bulldogs in Fallon Vaughn (21G, 12A, 19GB, 16CT, 24DC), Sky Carrasquillo (25G, 3A, 11GB, 32DC) and Taylor Lane (14G, 12A, 16GB, 10CT, 39GB).

That trio plus Collignon make up the core of Yale’s team. They combine for 67 percent of the team’s goals, 60 percent of their points, 30 percent of their ground balls, 30 percent of their caused turnovers and a whopping 94 percent of their draw controls. When the Bulldogs are having success, that quartet is invariably at the center of it.

In goal, Cami Donadio (30SV) has been the primary starter and has an 8.42 GAA with a 38.0 save percentage in eight starts. Niamh Pfaff (17SV) has started the other two games and has a 6.97 GAA with a 43.6 save percentage.