• Yale Women's Lacrosse Schedule

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Six games against teams that made the 2025 NCAA Tournament – including a rematch of last year's second-round game vs. Syracuse – highlight the 2026 schedule for the Yale women's lacrosse team. The schedule was announced today, with the season opener set for Feb. 14 at UMass Lowell. 
 
The 15-game slate includes seven Ivy League games and eight non-league games. The Ivy League women's lacrosse tournament, in which the top four teams in the regular season standings compete for the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, takes place May 1 and May 3 at the site of the No. 1 seed.
 
The Bulldogs aim to build on their recent accomplishments, which include advancing to the NCAA Quarterfinals in each of the last two seasons. They won the Ivy League Tournament each of the past two years as well. In 2024 they secured the first outright regular season Ivy League Championship in program history (Yale shared the Ivy title in 1980 and 2003). The Bulldogs' 17 overall wins in 2024 were a school record, and last year's 16 wins rank second. Yale was ranked No. 5 in the final 2025 IWLCA national poll.
 
Yale returns 22 players from the 2025 season for 2026, including five who started nine or more games. The Bulldogs' captain is senior defender Emmy Pascal (Lorton, Va.).
 
This is Yale's 11th year under Erica Bamford, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse. Assistant coaches Molly Palella and Colleen Smith are back for their ninth and 10th years, respectively. Brooklyn Neumen returns for her second season as an assistant coach. 
 
Here is a breakdown of the schedule:
 
The Basics

• Yale's regular-season schedule consists of 15 games. 
• That includes seven games against Ivy League opponents (Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn and Princeton).
• In addition to the Ivy League, Yale plays games against teams from seven other conferences:                
  • America East Conference (UMass Lowell)
  • Atlantic Coast Conference (Syracuse)
  • Big East Conference (UConn)
  • Big Ten Conference (Michigan)
  • Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (Quinnipiac)
  • Northeast Conference (Central Connecticut State)
  • Patriot League (Army West Point, Boston U.)
• There are nine regular-season home games and six regular-season road games.
• Yale plays games in six different states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York).

• Yale plays seven games against teams that were ranked or receiving votes in the final 2025 IWLCA national poll (No. 6 Penn, No. 7 Princeton, No. 14 Michigan, No. 16 Syracuse, No. 20 Brown, No. 22 Army West Point, No. 25 Harvard). Yale was No. 5 in the final poll.
• The schedule includes six games against teams that played in the 2025 NCAA Tournament: 
  • Penn and Princeton advanced to the quarterfinals before losing.
  • Michigan and Syracuse advanced to the second round before losing.
  • Army West Point and Brown lost in the first round.

• On Saturday Apr. 18 vs. Harvard Yale will host Senior Day, as the Bulldogs pay tribute to the six members of the Class of 2026:         
  • Attacker Megan Kitagawa (Syosset, N.Y.)
  • Midfielder Jordan Messina (Sayville, N.Y.)
  • Attacker Ashley Newman (Manhasset, N.Y.)
  • Defender Emmy Pascal (Lorton, Va.)
  • Defender Bella Saviano (Severna Park, Md.)
  • Defender Sarah Waits (McLean, Va.)

• The top four teams in the Ivy League regular season standings will take part in the Ivy League Tournament, which determines the team that receives the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. The No 1 seed hosts the tournament. The semifinals are on Friday May 1 (No. 3 vs. No. 2 and No. 4 vs. No. 1). The championship game takes place on Sunday May 3.
  • Yale is the defending Ivy League Tournament Champion. The Bulldogs have won each of the last two Ivy Tournaments.
• The NCAA Tournament includes 29 teams. Fifteen conference champions qualify automatically; the balance of the field is selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Committee. The top eight teams in the 29 team bracket are seeded. The top three teams receive first-round byes. 
  • Selections for the NCAA tournament will be announced on Sunday May 3 on ESPN2.
  • The first round (May 8), second round (May 10) and quarterfinals (May 14) take place at non-predetermined campus sites. 
  • The semifinals (May 22) and championship (May 24) take place at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium in Evanston, Ill., and are hosted by Northwestern. 
  • North Carolina is the defending NCAA Champion.

• Live video of home games and select road games is scheduled to be available on ESPN+.
  • International viewers will be able to watch home games and select road games via Stretch Internet.
• Links to live stats for all games will be posted on the schedule page of yalebulldogs.com.
• The schedule is subject to change. Check yalebulldogs.com for updates.

• Yale Women's Lacrosse Schedule