The Eli Era: How Yale Went from Ivy Cellar to Final Four Sleeper

Yale University is a juxtaposition of old and new.

The history-rich university is at the forefront of technology and innovation. David Bushnell is credited with creating the first submarine used in combat while studying at Yale in 1775. Justin Kan created the first live streaming platform, now known as Twitch, in 2007 just after graduating.

Upon arriving at Yale, most freshmen live on Old Campus, the oldest area of Yale that comprised most Yale College’s grounds upon arrival in 1718. The brick construction of the 1700s and 1800s made way for the Gothic architecture of the 1900s — each a reflection of the architectural breakthroughs of the times.

The latest architectural marvel at Yale was built just recently. The Tsai Lacrosse Field House, which opened May 31, 2021, is a state-of-the-art facility that serves as home to Yale’s lacrosse and soccer teams. Nestled within the walls of the 34,800-square-foot building is a 2,000-square-foot space dedicated to athletic medicine that includes hydrotherapy pools, an aquatic treadmill, a physician’s office and a diagnostics space with x-ray and DEXA scan equipment, which measures bone density and the composition of fat and muscle in the body.

The Tsai Lacrosse Field House offers women’s lacrosse coach Erica Bamford yet another weapon to use in recruiting. Named the program’s head coach on July 1, 2015, Bamford inherited a program with previous success under Amanda O’Leary before she departed for Florida but had been stuck in a rut, going 43-63 under Anne Phillips between 2009-15.

The rocky road continued in Bamford’s first four years. The Bulldogs compiled a 25-36 record from 2016-19, but there was something brewing. During that time, Bamford was busy recruiting the future classes of Bulldogs that would bring Yale back to its glory days — and even exceed them.

Bamford just didn’t know it at the time. Those future Elis didn’t know it either. They had faith, though. Faith in themselves, and perhaps more importantly, faith in Bamford, a former U.S. National Team member who spent seven years as an assistant under O’Leary at Florida before taking her first head coaching job at Yale.

“I just really believed in Erica,” said senior Fallon Vaughn, an up-and-down midfielder who Bamford calls generational. “She’s extremely hands on. My sophomore year, I was having a shooting rut, and Erica would come out to shoot with me before some of the games. That’s pretty unique. When Erica has faith in you, it means so much.”

That’s “Erica,” not “Coach Bamford.” Some call her “Coach,” Vaughn said, but Bamford has established such an easy, comfortable culture that she’s more collaborator than authoritarian.

“I just love playing for Erica,” junior defender Emmy Pascal said. “She created a very strong culture at Yale, and that was something I was looking for. She had so much confidence in the people she was recruiting with the coaching staff that they could have a lot of success.”