NCAA Women's Lacrosse Preview: No. 6 Yale Hungry for More

USA Lacrosse Magazine is beginning its countdown to the 2025 women's lacrosse season by releasing one team preview per day beginning on Monday, Jan. 13.

We continue the countdown with No. 6 Yale, a team with 16 seniors hungry to improve upon an already historic 2024 campaign.

During a season-long celebration of Yale’s 50th season as a program, head coach Erica Bamford and a group of 16 seniors have their sights set on once again raising the bar.

Last season, by all accounts, was Yale’s best ever. The Bulldogs’ 17 wins were most all time. They won the Ivy League crown outright for the first time ever. They were a real threat in the NCAA tournament, too.

That’s why there’s so much excitement in New Haven as the season approaches. Yale returns just about everyone … literally. Bamford has the privilege of once again coaching one of the best attackers, midfielders and defenders in the country. And the team’s leadership isn’t satisfied with how last season ended.

That’s a formula that adds up to a team nobody wants to face.

TOP RETURNERS

Jenna Collignon, A, Sr. (67G, 4A) 
Fallon Vaughn, M, Sr. (32G, 23A, 33GB, 26CT, 53DC) 
Emmy Pascal, D, Jr. (22GB, 15CT)

All three earned USA Lacrosse Division I Women’s Preseason All-America honors and are among the best at their positions in the country. 

KEY ADDITIONS

Sophie Straka, M, Sr. (missed 2024 due to ACL injury)
Olivia Weston, M, Fr. (St. John’s College High School, Md.)
Kelly Holmes, A, Fr. (Darien High School, Conn.)
Niamh Pfaff, G, Fr. (Garden City High School, N.Y.)

Straka earned captain responsibilities after sitting on the sideline last season with an injury, but she earned the respect of her teammates while she was a leader in the huddles and of the defense.

As for freshmen finding key roles, it’ll be difficult with a 16-player senior class and other upperclassmen ready for more. But don’t sleep on Holmes and Weston. Pfaff could play her way into the goalie conversation, too.

NOTABLE DEPARTURES

Graduations: Chloe Conaghan, A

X-FACTOR

Laura O’Connor, G, So. (.399SV%)
Cami Donadio, G, Sr. (.440SV%)
Niamh Pfaff, G, Fr. (Garden City High School, N.Y.)

Someone’s gotta win the job, and while O’Connor got the bulk of the work as a freshman in 2024, it was Donadio who backstopped Yale during the postseason.

Bamford wanted to keep her cards close to her vest but promised that it’s not a bad situation to be win.

“We have a great situation with our goalies right now,” she said.

THE NARRATIVE

The women’s lacrosse landscape is often dominated by the ACC and Big Ten. After all, only two programs currently outside of those conferences — James Madison (2018) and Princeton (2002-03) — have won NCAA championships in the new millennium.

(Northwestern played in the American Lacrosse Conference from 2002-14 but has since been a member of the Big Ten. Maryland was an ACC member from 1997-2014 before joining the Big Ten in 2015.)

Bamford wants to encourage you to not discount the Ivy League, both for its rich history and its national potential.

“I believe the Ivy League is such a strong conference,” she said. “We’re not affected, at the moment, by conference realignment. You’ve been playing the same schools for 50 years. There are deep rivalries in our conference, and it can be anyone’s game on any day.

“That said, we can’t control the perception of other conferences, and that’s it. We let that speak for itself.”

The two-conference dominance of the sport doesn’t exclude party crashers. Denver (Big East) and Florida (AAC) are the most recent examples of strong programs from other conferences earning NCAA semifinal berths.

There’s no reason Yale can’t do the same — and maybe more — in 2025.

“The belief has always been there,” Bamford said. “They just have to do it.”