Sarah Martin's Five Points and Six Draw Controls Lead Women's Lacrosse Past Yale, 13-7
BOX SCORE
NEW HAVEN, CONN. – University at Albany women's lacrosse (5-3, 1-0 AE) handed Yale (5-5, 2-1 Ivy League) its first home loss of the year on Saturday in a 13-7 decision. Sarah Martin won six of UAlbany's 12 draw controls in the victory.
The Great Danes got out to a slow start, as three turnovers on consecutive possessions gave Yale the opportunity to take a 1-0 lead. UAlbany had its first good look on net with a Kaylee Rickert free position shot, but the freshman fired wide.
Alie Jimerson took matters into her own hands to put the Purple & Gold on the board. The sophomore rolled inside of her defender at the top of the crease to score unassisted, sparking a 4-0 Great Danes run. Sarah Martin gave John Battaglino's squad the lead unassisted 30 seconds later, while Jimerson (unassisted) and Savitcheff capped off the four-goal rally on a Martin dish.
The Great Danes took the first five draws of the game to recover from their 1-0 hole, but dropped two midway through the half to give Yale breathing room. The Bulldogs made the margin 4-2 with just over 10 minutes to play.
The defense stepped up to regain control, as Andrea Flood forced a turnover with Yale looking to score. On the other end, Kaylee Rickert found Martin at the top of the crease. Martin was pushed into the crease on the play, but made good on the ensuing free position shot.
Martin hit Savitcheff again curling around the crease for a 6-2 UAlbany advantage at the 7:55 mark. With the goal, Savitcheff broke into the UAlbany Division I program top-10 in career points with 129.
Savitcheff tallied one more goal before the end of the half from Jimerson, and Emma Powlin wrapped up scoring in the opening stanza as the Purple & Gold took an 8-4 edge at the break.
After the first 30 minutes, UAlbany led in shots 11-7 and draw controls 9-4.
Yale kicked off the second period with success on the free position to narrow the lead to 8-5, but Rickert responded with a bounce shot to the far post to make the score 9-5.
As UAlbany possessions ticked more and more time off the clock, Yale upped its defense in an attempt to get the ball. Despite the increased pressure on the ride, Sierra McIver broke through from the back line to find Rachel Heidenreich in a two-on-one opportunity for the Great Danes. McIver recorded her first career point with the assist.
Emily Mizer notched two unassisted goals down the stretch, as the Bulldogs continued to leave pockets of open field deep in their own territory. Heidenreich tallied her second goal of the game from Martin with 1:25 on the clock.
UAlbany handed Yale its first home loss of the year in the 13-7 win. Sarah Martin led the way with five points on two goals and three assists. Dakotah Savitcheff finished with three goals, and Alie Jimerson recorded two goals and one assist. In her second career start, Heidenreich has scored two goals in back-to-back games in her redshirt freshman campaign.
Next up, UAlbany women's lacrosse hosts Binghamton (4-7, 0-1 AE) on Wednesday, April 6 at 2:00 p.m.
