March 18, 2008
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Two teams jockeying for position in the national polls meet Wednesday afternoon as No. 14 Yale visits No. 15 BU (4:00 p.m., Gametracker, Pay-per-view video on BU All*Access). The Bulldogs picked up a pair of wins on their swing through Massachusetts last week, so they will look to recapture that magic Wednesday coming off a 10-4 loss to No. 8 Penn in the Ivy League opener last Saturday.
Yale (4-2, 0-1 Ivy) had its second-lowest goal output of the last four seasons in the loss to Penn. The Bulldogs' fortunes seem more and more dependent on getting production from sources other than senior midfielder Lauren Taylor (Manhasset, N.Y.), who has 11 of the team's 51 goals this year. Over the last two seasons Yale is 17-1 in games where the players other than Taylor combine to score four or more goals, 0-5 in games where they do not.
Yale has won three of the last four games against BU. Taylor had four goals in last year's game, a 13-5 Bulldog win. Junior midfielder Jenn Warden (Edgemont, Pa.) had two goals and an assist. The Bulldogs actually trailed 5-3 before reeling off 10 unanswered goals in the last 33:46, limiting BU to just four shots in the second half.
BU (3-2, 0-0 America East) has an explosive offense that averages nearly 14 goals per game. The Terriers are led by midfielder Lauren Morton, who has a team-high 17 points, 15 goals and 16 draw controls. Morton was a second team All-Region selection last year.
Midfielder McKinley Curro, an America East All-Rookie Team pick last year, has 10 goals and five assists. Five-foot-nine-inch midfielder Sarah Dalton, who is on the Tewaaraton Award watch list, has nine goals. She was ranked No. 15 on Inside Lacrosse's list of the top 20 women's lacrosse players in the preseason.
Rachel Klein has played all 300 minutes in goal for the Terriers and has a .456 save percentage and an 11.20 goals-against average. She has held opponents to an 11-for-33 (.333) performance on free-position shots.
The Terriers have made three straight NCAA tournament appearances and have won three straight America East titles.